Rent to ride?

Traveling cross-country to race this year? A company in New Jersey, Tri-Cycle Rental, is offering rentals of Orbea bikes, delivered to the race venue. The idea is that the triathlete would save on transportation costs, but the math just doesn’t make much sense to me.

They base the financial benefit on an airline fee of $300-$450 for round-trip transportation of your bike, plus the reduced hassle of dis-assembly/re-assembly. I’m not sure how comfortable I would feel, after training for hundreds of hours on my bike, to get to an Iron-distance race and saddle up on a rental. If you’ve already invested big $ to enter the race, train, and travel, what’s a little more to transport your bike?

Here’s the story that made the PR rounds:

Rent to ride enters the triathlon race-day market

By TOM HELD

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A start-up company in New Jersey has an idea to eliminate the bike transportation hassles for triathletes.

Tri-Cycle Rentals offers a race-day ready fleet of Orbea bikes for rent that athletes pick up at the race venue. Riders reserve the bike online, show up at the event to check out the bike, get fitted on it, then return the bike afterward at the race expo or transition area.

The story in the Bicycle Retailer and Industry News puts the price at $399, or $475 with Zipp 404 wheels.

According to Tri-Cycle Rentals, traveling via commercial airlines will cost you between $300 and $450 round-trip, depending on the carrier. Shipping your bike via a triathlon-specific service or FedEx/UPS will cost between $300-$400.

With all of the above options, racers have to take their bike apart and put it back together (or pay a bike shop to do it). They also have to own or rent a bike travel case ($50 to rent and $300-$400 to buy). They will also be without their bikes for 7-10 days prior to the race - critical training days leading up to the race.

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Podium Multisports - First Impressions

I visited the new Podium Multisports store on Saturday, March 25 for their grand opening celebration. I'll visit again once they've been up and running a while, but wanted to share my initial impressions.

The store is on Zonolite Road, an odd, semi-industrial strip wedged between the high-priced real estate of Morningside and Emory/Druid Hills. It’s an area that popped up on the radar of foodies in 1998 when Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison opened their critically-acclaimed Flotaway Café on the street in a former industrial building. Since then the area has attracted studios, light industrial, creative firms and, most recently, the Quickshot Indoor Shooting Range (which is, hands-down, the best in the city).

Podium Multisports has done a great job of creating a warm, inviting retail space with a modern industrial vibe that jibes well with the neighborhood. Inside, the open ceilings, skylights, polished floors and maple wood fixtures combine to welcome shoppers and showcase (almost) everything a triathlete needs - swim gear, cycles and accessories, nutrition and clothing.

Perhaps owing to his experience as a bicycle fitter, owner Matt Cole chose to prominently feature the fitting area on an elevated platform. A large mirror gives cyclists a great view of their form and opens up the space. Behind the fitting area is a carpeted, two-tiered spin area facing a flat screen TV.

The store carries a nice array of gear, with one exception – running shoes. The only non-cycle shoes I saw were from Karhu, a Finnish brand that seems to be devoting a lot of marketing dollars to developing a presence in Atlanta (they were a sponsor of the Publix Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon). With so many great running stores in town – Phidippides, Big Peach, Fleet Feet - I think it’s a wise choice to leave shoes to the specialists and focus on what you know best.

The only sour note I encountered was service – I spent more than twenty minutes browsing in the store and was never approached by an employee. Some were talking to each other, some were chatting with other customers, but to be completely ignored was a bit of a turn-off. I even stood in front of the checkout desk for 2-3 minutes without so much as a “can I help you?” I’m willing to cut them some slack since the whole vibe felt like more of a party than a retail event, but it wasn’t a great first impression. I’ll visit again in a couple of weeks to see how their service stacks up to other multisports stores in town.

Overall, I’m excited about this new option for Atlanta-area triathletes. I expect cyclists who made a point of seeing Matt when they bought a bike from All3Sports to be a key part of their customer base, and it will be interesting to see if other multisport athletes will make this a stop on their never-ending search for that one piece of gear that will get them on the podium.

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New Triathlon store opens in intown Atlanta March 26

Triathletes who live ITP (that's Inside The Perimeter for those not familiar with the lingo) won't have to travel far when Podium Multisports opens on Saturday, March 26 at 10:00 am.

The store is the brainchild of uber-fitter Matt Cole (formerly with All3Sports) and the location, on Zonolite Road in the Morningside/Druid Hills area, should be a big attraction for the intown biking and multisport crowd. According to their announcement, they will carry "the highest quality multisport equipment, triathlon gear, triathlon apparel, and all of the hard to find necessities that every athlete needs, including wetsuits, triathlon bikes, mountain bikes, road bikes, and bike travel cases, aero race wheels, hydration systems, aerobars, triathlon-specific clothing, and much more."

The grand opening will feature:

• Free food from American Road House Grill

• Free ice-cold beer from Sweetwater Brewing Co.

• Free transition clinic at 10:00 am


• 10% off all merchandise for USAT members


• 20% off for ACTIVE Team-in-Training members

• 20% off for K4K Team Members

Yes, the two favorite 4-letter words of many a triathlete: "free beer."

For more info, visit their website: http://www.goteampodium.com/

BTW - if you're into target practice, Podium is just across from one of Atlanta's best indoor ranges - Quickshot

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For Running Shoes, It’s Fit First and Price Last

How much do you spend on running shoes? The NY Times has a thought-provoking article that stresses shoe fit, not bells & whistles.

SHARON TANENBAUM has been a serious runner for six years. The Brooklyn resident, 30, has completed three marathons and several shorter races. Each week she logs about 20 miles.

Her favorite trainers? A $25 pair of Champion shoes she bought at Target.

Read the full article here.

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