- [Fraser] Bikes, bikes, bikes and more bikes,
this is the age group transition area
for Ironman 70.3 Oceanside.
So let's go take a look.
(upbeat music)
Have to talk about this Litespeed,
it has really caught my eye.
This is a titanium frame,
I mean I don't even know how old an Litespeed is
but these are the sort of frames that were around
when I just first started racing,
see these in the magazines in the late 90's early 2000's.
But what I'm really noticing with this bike is
it's got small wheels,
650 wheels, you do not see this on a bike anymore.
So, it's kinda nice to see an old school bike.
Another thing that's caught my eye in transition area
is a set of these, disc covers,
really, really good alternative and cheaper,
should I say alternative,
to a regular disc wheel.
This is a standard deep disc wheel,
add this disc cover on,
gives a far more aerodynamic benefit,
really cool.
(upbeat music)
So next stop in transition,
another bike that's caught my eye
is this Diamondback Andean.
I'll be honest,
I am not a huge fan of the looks of this bike
but it is quite incredible to look at, nonetheless.
It isn't my cup of tea
but it is like a spaceship.
(upbeat music)
Now the Oceanside transition area just keeps delivering
more cracking old school bikes.
I don't think I've a Kestrel like this ever in real life.
I don't know how old it is
but I do think it's pretty cool.
Again, old school spinergy, 650 wheels,
I haven't seen a set of those
since I was looking at magazines in the mid 90's.
Now we are at Oceanside 70.3
where the bulk of the race goes into the marine base
at Camp Pendleton,
I can't help but wonder
if there's a little bit of a coincidence here
that we've got I feel a camouflage looking bike here.
I love it, I think it's a really cool color,
I'm just not sure if he thinks
somebody's gonna steal his bike.
(upbeat music)
Now Trek bikes are famed for their Project One paint jobs
that they can do on bikes,
or rather you can pay for Trek to do on your bikes.
Well this one here is an absolute beauty.
I mean that fade from the luminous yellow
into luminous orange, I think it's amazing
and you're not gonna miss this athlete on course, are you?
Three bikes, three different hacks on each of them,
so I'm gonna get through them really quick
but the first bike didn't catch my attention
because of the hack,
it caught my attention because of this crazy down tube.
This is a Lynskey with some sort of twist to it's down tube.
It's a beautiful titanium frame,
old but absolutely stunning.
But what I did notice up here is
I think this person has a little bit of an issue with germs
'cause I've never seen a plastic bag covering the straw
in transition before, mad.
Even more mad, in my opinion, is the rubber gloves in there,
presumably to keep gels and nutrition clean,
same thing down here on the adapted bento box
for their gels and other things, mad,
never seen that before.
Really clever hack on this bike,
is some clothes pegs,
to keep this plastic bag over the electronic gearing
in case it rains tonight,
a lot of athletes like to do that,
it keeps things dry.
And on the keeping dry note,
this final bike, we got a swim cap on top of the saddle,
I don't think this person realizes
when they get out of the water they're gonna be wet anyway
but it keeps them happy.
Now a lot of people love to give themselves
a little treat pre-race
and clearly this person has decided to do just that
because this is a pretty funky new chain and cassette combo.
Gold KMC chain on this bike here,
brand new cassette, not a speck of dirt on that thing,
make them feel a little bit faster race day.
(upbeat music)
Right, we are in Oceanside, which is in the U.S,
so fortunately I have come across this,
which is a stunningly beautiful, stars and stipes themed
Diamond TT bike.
I mean the way the suns hitting this bike right now,
the paint is just shimmering
in this beautiful metallic fashion.
I love the stars and stripe theme, absolutely stunning.
Right, now, clearly in an Ironman
there are all shapes and sizes,
which is a brilliant part about the event
but I don't think I've ever seen a bike quite as small
as this one hanging on the rack.
It's a little bit windy today as you can see.
(upbeat music)
Now there is no end of funky paint jobs in transition here,
there is clearly a gold fetish on this bike,
definitely caught our eyes.
Gold KMC chain here again,
gold decals, even got a gold chain guard here as well.
The only thing I would notice is this
isn't a little chain ring
but I'm not gonna knock that
'cause the exit of transition here is a steep hill,
so this person has done their homework.
Now this is something I have never seen in a transition area
as far as I can ever remember,
I think this person has left their bike in transition
a little bit too long
because somebodies stolen their wheels.
I'm guessing there's been an issue
and their wheels have been given to a mechanic
and they're able to bring them in tomorrow morning
but I have never seen a bike without wheels in transition.
Now I always liked to have something on my bike
when I'm traveling to keep the rear stays firm
and basically safe so they don't get squashed.
This little tool here is definitely
something along those lines,
not necessarily to keep the stays from being squashed
but from keeping the chain tension an inline,
presumably in travel or in times like this when there's
no wheel on the bike, really cool.
(upbeat music)
Right so a lot of athletes like to prep everything
before race morning so they don't have to
think about anything
and this persons clearly one of those,
they've got their shoes on the bike,
they've got bags there, over the shoes
in case it pours with rain tonight I suppose.
Equally with nutrition,
they've already got it all taped onto the top tube here,
double wrapped in clingfilm again to stop them getting wet
I guess if it rains overnight.
And finally, they've bagged up their front end
to stop their electronic gears from getting wet.
So, we were in the expo earlier on today
and a very nice gentleman came up to us to say hello
and say how much he loved GTN,
now that was the owner of this beautiful Canyon Speedmax
that he has had custom painted by a friend
that lives nearby where he is,
in The Woodlands, near Houston, in Texas.
Now, it's a very beautiful blue,
it's some type of barbed wire effect I guess,
whatever it is I think it's amazing,
it really caught my eye.
He's also got his team racing logo on here,
you can see it on the crossover
between the seat stay and the top tube.
Valhalla Racing is his team
and that's the logo there,
you can also see it right across the disc, stunning.
Now, in a time when anything to do with hydration
in inner dynamics is quite simply
obsessed over to the nth degree,
it's really nice to see throwbacks to the old school.
A nod to this Profile Design era drinks bottle,
I used to have one of these,
well not quite as big as these actually
but essentially you just strap it here
in between your regular aero bars
and these yellow things, these sponges,
are effectively what stops the liquid
or anything you've got in there from splashing back out
but you can pour back down through it on the go.
Now, I've seen a lot of things in transition areas
over the years
but never in a 70.3 Ironman transition area
have I seen a full suspension mountain bike,
that is mental.
For 56 miles of bike riding,
on a hilly, hilly course,
this person must've decided they wanna give
themselves a proper challenge.
Right then, we have just finished a walk through
the Oceanside 70.3 transition area
and it is a bit of a monster.
It took us awhile
because there's nearly 3800 bikes in there
and as you'd expect covering the entire spectrum of bikes
from the super-bike right through to the trusty old steed.
But what I find really refreshing about being there
was that there was an entire section of bikes
that were just your normal, not expensive, bike,
the sort of bike you'd find in any persons garage
because you can do a triathlon, or an Ironman,
or an Ironman 70.3, on whatever you have.
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and if you wanna see a video that we did on
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you can find that here.