Has equipment evolution in the name of speed gone too far? TJ Tolakson turned plenty of heads at the World Championship last week with what many believed to be a carbon fairing on the front of his aerobars. That designation would make it illegal under the rules. Yet there he was plugging along the course. At the end of the day, his bike split was less than speedy, relatively speaking of course. Joining Tolakson on front-end improvements was Faris Al Sultan with his Xentis Aero X1 aerobars. Very slick, but over the top? And it appears that swimskins have reached critical mass. Most, if not all, of the participants climbed out of the Pacific wearing these suits. So, some have started to wonder about the purity of a sport that so values equipment evolution to gain speed.
Paul Huddle, Bob Babbitt and Michellie Jones had a discussion about all of these inventions only to determine that enough was enough. Swimskins and fairings and aero water bottle holders are damaging the purity of the sport, they more or less concluded. But is it cheating when everyone has access to the products? Or is it cheating when even with all of these aids finish times are still - at best - about seven minutes off Luc Van Lierde's 1996 course record of 8:04:08? Perhaps we'll find out in the year's to come. But for now, nearly anything goes.
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