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Kona, Revisited   Bookmark and Share
images by Nick Salazar   •   Oct 10, 2011   •   hits 44,183

This is the view on Alii drive leading up to the finish line of the race. Not a bad way to complete a 140.6-mile journey, I'd say.
 
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Before we sign off for Kona, we thought we'd shot you just a few more bits and pieces from the Big Island, and some extra gear from the Ironman Village expo, open to the public all week leading up to race day.


This is the view on Alii drive leading up to the finish line of the race. Not a bad way to complete a 140.6-mile journey, I'd say.

There were a lot of cool age-grouper bikes in Kona, one of which was this custom-painted Cervelo P2C. Its owner had crudely drawn some Hawaiian themes in Sharpie, and written the names of family friends who had passed away from cancer. A bike with some meaning is something I can definitely respect.

Here's the downtube of that funky paint scheme. The names written here are cancer victims the racer wants to remember.

These little pigeons are everywhere on the island, especially where there are crumbs of food on the ground.

Linsey Corbin looks perpetually relaxed, and was strolling Alii with her husband Chris the day before the race, enjoying a snowcone. Linsey is triathlon's quintissential sweetheart. Like a super-fast, super-fit Julia Roberts.

Tim O'Donnell is one of triathlon's resident rockstars. Just check out those green shades! That's the Prestige model from Rudy Project.

Okay, Rudy. I want a set of these. But make them in TriRig Orange for me!

3T has officially announced the Brezza II Nano, a tiny 30cm bar that is better for very small riders, or those who want to eke out just a little more aerodynamics (less frontal area = less drag, all else equal).

Shown from the front, you can see how narrow it is - those hand holds are barely outside the arm cups.

3T's tiny bar will be called the Brezza II Nano.

3T had another surprise up its sleeve - a new disc wheel to complement its Mercurio set. It's slightly lenticular in shape. No word on weight or specs.

The 3T disc also has a sculpted valve hole, presumably to make things easier to use while improving aerodynamics on the other side.

Here you can see the lenticular shape of the wheel - a bit less pronounced on one side on account of the cassette body.

Pro triathlete Ben Hoffman is one of the new breed of athletes. He's a super biker, knows his gear well, and has won three 70.3 titles this year. Look for an interview I did with Ben about tech.

Hoffman makes it a point to know a lot about his gear, and was happy to answer questions for an age grouper who stopped by asking him about the Shiv.

Sean 'Wattie' Watkins showed up to put a little decal on Ben's bike, and to have a quick chat with Ben about the race on Saturday.

The madfiber boys made an appearance at the expo, though honestly didn't seem to be all that busy there. I suspect that if they want to make a dent in triathlon, they'll have to present a better story about why their wheels make sense aerodynamically, or some other reason why triathletes should buy them.

A replica of Chrissie Wellington's bike was on display at the Cannondale booth. It's a standard Slice Hi-Mod frameset, Di2 drivetrain, and HED takes care of the aero bits. Pretty simple and straightforward, much like Chrissie herself.

Saw this on an age-grouper's bike. This is a very zany way to mount a BTA bottle - double-sided tape to stick the bottles in place, and a semi-flexible wire to keep them in place. Um, you know cages work just fine, are much less hassle, and they weigh next to nothing, right? For all those wondering, I think this is one of those times that someone makes a solution where a problem never existed.

Past champ Michellie Jones was on site doing a demo of the LeMond Revolution trainer.

Years later, and Jones still has the legs to show who's boss. This year though, she'll just be commetating the race, not participating.

And Jones still gets the custom wheel treatment from Zipp.

Michellie still gets treated nicely by her sponsors - these Boxing Kangaroo shifters are actually custom-painted Zipp R2C's.

Another neat R2C modification I saw on an age-grouper's bike was this grip tape placed on top, which keeps the shifters from slipping under his thumbs. Nice touch.


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