KAILUA-KONA, HI (BRAIN)—The Ford Ironman World Championship is complete and the final numbers are in.
Starting with the bike count, it’s clear that now almost all participants are riding some sort of carbon fiber aero bike, according to Triathlete magazine president of sales and marketing Sean Watkins.
“There are very few traditional road bikes in the race, certainly less than 10 percent,” Watkins said. “Through the years we’ve seen Kestrel, Cannondale and Trek dominate the leader board. But now that claim belongs to Cervelo who took a commanding lead in the overall bike count with 415 bikes ridden at the event.”
Scott has been a rising star and now tied with Trek for third.
“We are very pleased with our steady growth in this important segment,” said Scott Montgomery, general manager of Scott USA. “Sixteen percent growth when you are in the top three is something our staff should all feel very good about.”
Kuota (2nd) and Felt (5th) rounded out the top five in the bike count.
Zipp took the crown with 1,766 in the wheel category, while Fizik finally took down Selle Italia with 458.
Before the race, there was the first annual Ford Ironman World Championship Demo Days held over four days. The sold out event featured roughly 50 exhibitors with bikes and product to show the masses including major players such as Trek, Cannondale, Litespeed, Orbea, SRAM and Shimano, just to name a few.
“Being a first year demo event you never know what to expect in terms of foot traffic, or how many visitors are interested in taking a test ride, or better yet purchasing new products over the next couple of years,” said Bill Rudell, marketing manager for Cannondale. “I was pleased with the amount of traffic in the Cannondale booth and was excited to see such a wide span of age and range of athletes. To me that proves the sport of triathlon is strong and will be strong for years to come.”
For more on the final product numbers from Ironman and Demo Days, be sure to read the November issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News.
—Jason Norman
