Give it a TRI

[reteid]

a wetsuite used for triathlon and for surfing are not the same thing.water in mossel bay normally makes it a wetsuite optional swim.if i were you i would rather swim without a surf wetsuite than with one but the best would be to either rent or buy a second hand one.many tri wetsuites will be floating around for sale after durban 70.3 as a lot of athletes only do it as a bucket list.my 2 cents worth

[Avo]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Very much appreciated. We are going to go with the option to rent.

[Shebeen]

On 1/8/2026 at 11:06 AM, Gripen_85 said:

Hello folks,

In preparation for the 5150, we are looking for ways to help get our time down, without breaking the bank.

Unfortunately, it is too expensive to buy road or gravel bikes, so we will be riding our trusty MTB's.

 

Would fitting a slicker tyre make an impact on our performance?

The Chaoyang Flying Diamond 29x1.5 caught my eye. 

We currently run a tubeless setup on the bikes, and I have no idea what to look for with regards to rim compatibility with the Chaoyang.

 

My bike has the Titan Racing rims, which have a number of 622x23.6mm on them. Whatever that means.

And my partner's bike has the Sun Ringle Helix TR27 SL rims.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

(I'd love to buy R1500 tyres, but we have invested in wetsuits, so the budget is rather min at the moment).

hey, so see further up you entered a 5150 @ R1k per entry, which is super cheap for Tri - they don't like to make things affordable as there is a money making ecosystem driven on hype! Awesome to see some people doing it on a budget - train properly and you will fly past people on fancypants stuff.

But definitely get some slicks, you will be training too so whatever distance you ride on your mtb will just wear down the knobblies anyway! plus if you ever do a road race then you have that back. undoing the tubeless is a schlepp, but worth it.

Most of the fancy stuff you do not NEED to have, 

 

[Shebeen]

On 2/16/2026 at 3:14 PM, Avo said:

Howzit

My wife and I will be entering our first Half IronMan in Mossel Bay at the end of the year. Cycling and running we should have everything covered. It's the swimming that needs some attention - goal is to just get through the swimming and then make up some time in the cycling and running.

My Dad has given me his old wet suit. I think he used it for surfing in his younger days. Is this type of wetsuit allowed for the event? If I can save some money by using this wetsuit that will be great but want to make sure within the rules. Any advice regarding wetsuits will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

you can do a triathlon in this wetsuit.

either if you are raising money for charity or have lost a bet

 

[IceCreamMan]

Did you guys know that magnum pi entered an Ironman contest….didnt finish as he bailed on the bike leg. 
 

strues….. series one episode 18. Lots of history there. The estate it was filmed on belonged to the first Ironman female finisher ever. 

[Gripen_85]

22 hours ago, Shebeen said:

hey, so see further up you entered a 5150 @ R1k per entry, which is super cheap for Tri - they don't like to make things affordable as there is a money making ecosystem driven on hype! Awesome to see some people doing it on a budget - train properly and you will fly past people on fancypants stuff.

But definitely get some slicks, you will be training too so whatever distance you ride on your mtb will just wear down the knobblies anyway! plus if you ever do a road race then you have that back. undoing the tubeless is a schlepp, but worth it.

Most of the fancy stuff you do not NEED to have, 

 

I want to need a gravel bike...

I figure that it's ideal for the training on our roads with the glass and potholes, ideal for a gravel highway cruise, and more ideal for my back than an aggressive road or TT bike.

 

But I think for now, I will rather spend R2000 on slicks for the mtb's for this event, and look at the gravel beauties another time.

 

Curse the n+1 math.

[IceCreamMan]

Very interesting 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10051630/

[SwissVan]

How did the events go in PE this last weekend?

I saw a short clip of one of the swim starts where the competitors started in short intervals of 2 at a time, not sure if it was the 5150, half or full IM. 

Just wondering how it worked out, especially if there were a lot of competitors (1000 plus), the last to go would be faaaaar back from the beginning.

[Gripen_85]

35 minutes ago, SwissVan said:

How did the events go in PE this last weekend?

I saw a short clip of one of the swim starts where the competitors started in short intervals of 2 at a time, not sure if it was the 5150, half or full IM. 

Just wondering how it worked out, especially if there were a lot of competitors (1000 plus), the last to go would be faaaaar back from the beginning.

They did 4 people every 5 seconds for the 5150 and the full.

With the exception of the pro men and women on Sunday, who went out all at once.

 

For the 5150, you seeded yourself. There was no indication of where to stand: I was expecting people with boards with paces. But you just stood wherever.

 

For the full, you gave your expected swim time at registration and they gave the appropriate swim cap, so it was all colour coded.

 

No half event this year.

 

About 500 people did the 5150, and I think it was around 1500 who entered the full, but some 400 people never started: about 200 of those never even checked their bikes in, and the other 200 odd decided not to start on the day. (Second hand info)

 

I took part in the 5150 on Saturday, and the swim was absolutely brutal.

Strong wind, massive swell. It was rough. 

 

I'm going to do a write up from a noob's perspective.

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, SwissVan said:

How did the events go in PE this last weekend?

I saw a short clip of one of the swim starts where the competitors started in short intervals of 2 at a time, not sure if it was the 5150, half or full IM. 

Just wondering how it worked out, especially if there were a lot of competitors (1000 plus), the last to go would be faaaaar back from the beginning.

7:42...well the quick guys went quick.

 

this oke makes us normal people look bad. just did the epic and now klaps ironman win

 

https://www.instagram.com/matthewdmarquardt/reel/DPThvFcDbMo/

[milky4130]

2 hours ago, Gripen_85 said:

They did 4 people every 5 seconds for the 5150 and the full.

With the exception of the pro men and women on Sunday, who went out all at once.

 

For the 5150, you seeded yourself. There was no indication of where to stand: I was expecting people with boards with paces. But you just stood wherever.

 

For the full, you gave your expected swim time at registration and they gave the appropriate swim cap, so it was all colour coded.

 

No half event this year.

 

About 500 people did the 5150, and I think it was around 1500 who entered the full, but some 400 people never started: about 200 of those never even checked their bikes in, and the other 200 odd decided not to start on the day. (Second hand info)

 

I took part in the 5150 on Saturday, and the swim was absolutely brutal.

Strong wind, massive swell. It was rough. 

 

I'm going to do a write up from a noob's perspective.

you'll probably cover it in your write up but keen to know if you eventually changed your tires & used your mtb?

[ChrisF]

A friend did it, again.

 

Her best swim to date.  Conditions were good on Sunday, well a lot better than in recent years.

 

Ironically that also meant a faster than normal cycling leg, 50+ age cat ladies.

 

The run reset the field ... one "bad" cyclist was moving up the field in the run.  Many paying the price for going out to fast .... nerve-racking dot watching and giving feedback as to times and pacing and and .... making up one more spot in the last three km ...

 

EDIT - had a nice long chat with my friend about her race, and the conditions.

The photos showing a "nice calm sea" certainly does not do justice to what they had to swim through ....

Cycling route ... she says it felt like the wind was from the front on every section.  She is a good cyclist, have done the last 36one and similar events, but she says this was a particularly tough day in the saddle.

Thankfully her run went well.  Though it was interesting to note her comments about very poor lighting towards the stadium.  Nearly tripped on the last ramp in the stadium as the stadium lights blinded her after the last dark tunnel.

Only 2 minutes slower than her previous time, but she says it felt much tougher.

Edited 17 hours ago by ChrisF

[Gripen_85]

3 hours ago, milky4130 said:

you'll probably cover it in your write up but keen to know if you eventually changed your tires & used your mtb?

Indeed.

I used my Titan Dual sus (front and rear shock locked) with the Chaoyang (sp?) Flying Diamond gravel tyres.

And my partner was on a hardtail Titan with an old set of slicks.

 

We used Hoffies to transport the bikes down (fantastic service).

 

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ride my bike on my usual routes after fitting the gravel tyres, so I can't say for sure if they made a massive difference. But...

 

I don't think we went faster, but I do think that less energy was used, as I felt quite fresh on the bike, despite headwinds and crosswinds (or maybe I just wasn't pushing hard enough!), and my legs weren't too dead during the run.

[milky4130]

48 minutes ago, Gripen_85 said:

I don't think we went faster, but I do think that less energy was used, as I felt quite fresh on the bike, despite headwinds and crosswinds (or maybe I just wasn't pushing hard enough!), and my legs weren't too dead during the run.

Definitely made a difference time & energy, yeah not podium difference but personal effort & achievement. Well done, I heard of some people that missed the bike leg cut off by 6mins so kudos to you.

[Gripen_85]

We got to PE on Wednesday night. It was quite cool seeing all the people on the flight with their Ironman shirts from all over the world.

Thursday was a beautiful morning, and we used it to do an ocean swim. It was flat and warm.

I had been doing most of my training in the pool at the gym, but I also did 4 or 5 swims at Bass Lake, where I discovered I get claustrophobic if my goggles fog up, even though I am in a huge mass of water. And that I get anxious when I can't see the bottom of wherever I am swimming.

I also did a sprint triathlon at Prime View to get a feel for the transitions, and we did the Midmar Mile to get a feel for swimming in a big crowd: my biggest fear (apart from the claustrophobia) was getting kicked in the head. We also swam the Ebotse Mile.
I learnt that my anxiety is less in murky water for some reason (Bass Lake is clean and clear).

I had spent the two weeks leading up to the 5150 on holiday in Indonesia. My plan was to run and swim every day.
I did two runs, and two dedicated open water swims... oops.

But, I snorkeled a lot, and got used to the rolling motion of the swell, and salt water in my mouth.

Ok, so Thursday before the event. The swim went well, I felt good, but tired. And I established that just the gentle swell coupled with me turning my head to breathe made me VERY green. Anti-nausea tablets would be a non-negotiable for Saturday!

Our bikes arrived on Friday morning, and we did a slow run followed by a shake-out ride. 
On the ride, my partner's bike decided nope, and we had a puncture. 
We headed to a LBS and they sorted us out with a new tube, and new spare tubes (I forgot I was still carrying MTB tubes, which could work in a pinch, but I decided to get something more suited to the gravel tyres/slicks). This is why it's important to test your kit a day or two before.

I'm going to do a full write up of my entire training experience, so I'm going to skip forward to Race Day here.

It was cold! 12C, and windy!
Bike check-in was from 05:30.
The Prime View Sprint triathlon helped here, as it was the same format where you lay out your kit next to the bike.

Marshals walk the check-in area, and are generally quite friendly. As you face your bike, your kit must be placed to the left.
There was VERY little space between the bikes.
Also, the bike rack slot for the rear wheel is narrow! An MTB tyre would be difficult to get in and out.

There were loads of portaloo's and they were kept clean.

After a nervous wee, we kitted up in our wetsuits, and I was grateful for the neoprene as it kept the wind out.

You could head to the beach and jump in prior to the start. I stuck my toes in, and fortunately the water was warmer than the air, at about 17.6C. 
I use baby shampoo for my goggles, to prevent fogging, and gave them a rinse. And also filled them with sand in the process.
Fortunately after some spit from me, and gauze from the nearby paramedics, I had them nice and clean.

Then you herd yourself into the start pen.

There isn't a lot of fanfare here.

The start is 4 people every 5 seconds. This spaces everyone out nicely. 
Timing is mat-to-mat: you have 4hr20 to complete the entire event (initially it was 4hr flat, but they changed it). The swim cut-off was 60min (previously 50min).

Some people sprint into the water, others walk, I opted for a slow jog so as not to spike my heart rate.

I was aiming for a sub-40, but did not factor in the conditions, and at the first turn I told myself that a sub-50 would be great.
It was rough.

 

The wind was howling, and the sea was choppy with big waves. I didn't feel much of a current, at least.
I did the majority of my swim "tarzan crawl" style where you keep your head up and swing your arms in a freestyle fashion. This made sighting easy as I was always looking at where I was going.

Fortunately the conditions distracted me from my fear of not seeing the bottoms, and my anxiety was kept at bay.

Now... despite the conditions, at no point did I feel unsafe. The salt water and wetsuit make you super buoyant. There were people on SUP's every 10m or so, and boats patrolling. 
Swimmers were spread out, and it was only once or twice that somebody's feet came close to my head.

There was a sense of respect amongst everyone. And camaraderie. If people where taking a break and clinging to a SUP, others cheered them on. One guy decided he was done and rolled onto his back, and 4 other guys were there straight away, cheering him on and motivating him to continue.

The highlight for me was a pod of dolphins maybe 15m away. Even one of the surf rescue guys got super excited.

I did swallow water twice, and had to give myself big peptalks to not throw up. I had heard from a friend who has done several Ironman's that if they see you throw up, you get pulled out of the water and your race is done (choking hazard).

 

I managed to keep everything down, and mission on.

 

On the turn back to the start, things got easier: we were swimming downwind and the swell was such that I could get my head in the water and streamline myself. 

I could feel the swell, and would time the crests and troughs with my breathing.
I used a mix of bilateral breathing (changing sides every 3rd stroke), and alternating left and right, depending on where the biggest waves were coming from.

 

I managed a 38min swim, which I am really happy with, given the conditions (my fastest open water mile was 33min at Ebotse, under calm conditions).

Ok, transition. It was quite a run on little stones. Take it easy.

I had a mini Bar One ready, and chewed that while kitting up: it gets the salt taste out of your mouth.

 

Put your helmet on first! Then do the rest.

Out of transition, it was on the bike and down the beach at a whopping 30kmh. I thought "sheesh, there's no way the tyres can make THAT much of a difference!". Then I remembered I had a tailwind...

The bike route is scenic. The road isn't the greatest, but it isn't terrible: lots of undulations.

The wind did shift from a tailwind to a headwind after about 6 or 7km, with rolling hills. 

I tried to make the most of the tailwinds.

 

There was a marshal up and down the route on a motorbike, ensuring no one drafted. I was catching up to a guy, but two people already on their second lap were coming up behind me fast, so I moved behind the guy I was catching up to, to let them pass. Then I moved out, but saw the motorbike, so I moved back in to let them pass, and the marshal said "Stop drafting!" 
I just said I was waiting for people to pass and he gave me a thumbs up and carried on.

 

There was only one water point, at about 18km, with water and electrolytes. 

No gels (I thought Maurten gels would be supplied).

There weren't any tech stations. Nor any signs saying "if you have a technical, turn around/carry on". Some people were walking and would have had 5-6km before reaching the point where Ironman staff were stationed.

On the second lap they wind had picked up, but I have cycled in worse.

Transition for the run, super chilled.
I had gels on my race belt, which I put in my trisuit pockets as they weren't very secure on the belt.

The run started on a gradual climb, into the wind.
I thought my GPS was glitching as it said I was doing 6:35/km, and I felt like I was going a LOT slower.

 

I did take a few short walk breaks, just to give the heart a minute to calm down.

 

After about 2kmish of gradual climb, you reach the turn around and it's all downhill and tailwinds from there. Well, until you do the next lap.
There was a water point around 2.5km in, with portaloos (very clean, again), and they had water, Coke and electrolytes.

The final part of the run was chilled, and then you approach the final stretch, and you hit that Ironman carpet, and even though this wasn't a full Ironman, I couldn't help but grin.
It was such a cool feeling!

Lots of people, music, a really nice vibe.

 

Overall, I enjoyed it. I am very glad I did open water swims, and had spent time in the ocean prior to the event. 
A lot of people who were struggling said that it was their first open water swim.

Even if you just do an ocean swim the day before, do something!

I enjoyed both the cycle and run routes, and overall, it was a good day out.

[IceCreamMan]

2 hours ago, Gripen_85 said:

We got to PE on Wednesday night. It was quite cool seeing all the people on the flight with their Ironman shirts from all over the world.

Thursday was a beautiful morning, and we used it to do an ocean swim. It was flat and warm.

I had been doing most of my training in the pool at the gym, but I also did 4 or 5 swims at Bass Lake, where I discovered I get claustrophobic if my goggles fog up, even though I am in a huge mass of water. And that I get anxious when I can't see the bottom of wherever I am swimming.

I also did a sprint triathlon at Prime View to get a feel for the transitions, and we did the Midmar Mile to get a feel for swimming in a big crowd: my biggest fear (apart from the claustrophobia) was getting kicked in the head. We also swam the Ebotse Mile.
I learnt that my anxiety is less in murky water for some reason (Bass Lake is clean and clear).

I had spent the two weeks leading up to the 5150 on holiday in Indonesia. My plan was to run and swim every day.
I did two runs, and two dedicated open water swims... oops.

But, I snorkeled a lot, and got used to the rolling motion of the swell, and salt water in my mouth.

Ok, so Thursday before the event. The swim went well, I felt good, but tired. And I established that just the gentle swell coupled with me turning my head to breathe made me VERY green. Anti-nausea tablets would be a non-negotiable for Saturday!

Our bikes arrived on Friday morning, and we did a slow run followed by a shake-out ride. 
On the ride, my partner's bike decided nope, and we had a puncture. 
We headed to a LBS and they sorted us out with a new tube, and new spare tubes (I forgot I was still carrying MTB tubes, which could work in a pinch, but I decided to get something more suited to the gravel tyres/slicks). This is why it's important to test your kit a day or two before.

I'm going to do a full write up of my entire training experience, so I'm going to skip forward to Race Day here.

It was cold! 12C, and windy!
Bike check-in was from 05:30.
The Prime View Sprint triathlon helped here, as it was the same format where you lay out your kit next to the bike.

Marshals walk the check-in area, and are generally quite friendly. As you face your bike, your kit must be placed to the left.
There was VERY little space between the bikes.
Also, the bike rack slot for the rear wheel is narrow! An MTB tyre would be difficult to get in and out.

There were loads of portaloo's and they were kept clean.

After a nervous wee, we kitted up in our wetsuits, and I was grateful for the neoprene as it kept the wind out.

You could head to the beach and jump in prior to the start. I stuck my toes in, and fortunately the water was warmer than the air, at about 17.6C. 
I use baby shampoo for my goggles, to prevent fogging, and gave them a rinse. And also filled them with sand in the process.
Fortunately after some spit from me, and gauze from the nearby paramedics, I had them nice and clean.

Then you herd yourself into the start pen.

There isn't a lot of fanfare here.

The start is 4 people every 5 seconds. This spaces everyone out nicely. 
Timing is mat-to-mat: you have 4hr20 to complete the entire event (initially it was 4hr flat, but they changed it). The swim cut-off was 60min (previously 50min).

Some people sprint into the water, others walk, I opted for a slow jog so as not to spike my heart rate.

I was aiming for a sub-40, but did not factor in the conditions, and at the first turn I told myself that a sub-50 would be great.
It was rough.

 

The wind was howling, and the sea was choppy with big waves. I didn't feel much of a current, at least.
I did the majority of my swim "tarzan crawl" style where you keep your head up and swing your arms in a freestyle fashion. This made sighting easy as I was always looking at where I was going.

Fortunately the conditions distracted me from my fear of not seeing the bottoms, and my anxiety was kept at bay.

Now... despite the conditions, at no point did I feel unsafe. The salt water and wetsuit make you super buoyant. There were people on SUP's every 10m or so, and boats patrolling. 
Swimmers were spread out, and it was only once or twice that somebody's feet came close to my head.

There was a sense of respect amongst everyone. And camaraderie. If people where taking a break and clinging to a SUP, others cheered them on. One guy decided he was done and rolled onto his back, and 4 other guys were there straight away, cheering him on and motivating him to continue.

The highlight for me was a pod of dolphins maybe 15m away. Even one of the surf rescue guys got super excited.

I did swallow water twice, and had to give myself big peptalks to not throw up. I had heard from a friend who has done several Ironman's that if they see you throw up, you get pulled out of the water and your race is done (choking hazard).

 

I managed to keep everything down, and mission on.

 

On the turn back to the start, things got easier: we were swimming downwind and the swell was such that I could get my head in the water and streamline myself. 

I could feel the swell, and would time the crests and troughs with my breathing.
I used a mix of bilateral breathing (changing sides every 3rd stroke), and alternating left and right, depending on where the biggest waves were coming from.

 

I managed a 38min swim, which I am really happy with, given the conditions (my fastest open water mile was 33min at Ebotse, under calm conditions).

Ok, transition. It was quite a run on little stones. Take it easy.

I had a mini Bar One ready, and chewed that while kitting up: it gets the salt taste out of your mouth.

 

Put your helmet on first! Then do the rest.

Out of transition, it was on the bike and down the beach at a whopping 30kmh. I thought "sheesh, there's no way the tyres can make THAT much of a difference!". Then I remembered I had a tailwind...

The bike route is scenic. The road isn't the greatest, but it isn't terrible: lots of undulations.

The wind did shift from a tailwind to a headwind after about 6 or 7km, with rolling hills. 

I tried to make the most of the tailwinds.

 

There was a marshal up and down the route on a motorbike, ensuring no one drafted. I was catching up to a guy, but two people already on their second lap were coming up behind me fast, so I moved behind the guy I was catching up to, to let them pass. Then I moved out, but saw the motorbike, so I moved back in to let them pass, and the marshal said "Stop drafting!" 
I just said I was waiting for people to pass and he gave me a thumbs up and carried on.

 

There was only one water point, at about 18km, with water and electrolytes. 

No gels (I thought Maurten gels would be supplied).

There weren't any tech stations. Nor any signs saying "if you have a technical, turn around/carry on". Some people were walking and would have had 5-6km before reaching the point where Ironman staff were stationed.

On the second lap they wind had picked up, but I have cycled in worse.

Transition for the run, super chilled.
I had gels on my race belt, which I put in my trisuit pockets as they weren't very secure on the belt.

The run started on a gradual climb, into the wind.
I thought my GPS was glitching as it said I was doing 6:35/km, and I felt like I was going a LOT slower.

 

I did take a few short walk breaks, just to give the heart a minute to calm down.

 

After about 2kmish of gradual climb, you reach the turn around and it's all downhill and tailwinds from there. Well, until you do the next lap.
There

I enjoyed both the cycle and run routes, and overall, it was a good day out.

Brilliant.  That after event glow is priceless and makes everything worthwhile. 
 

edit,: just seen footage of the pod of dolphins. ( on LinkedIn of all places). Absolutely stunning. What an experience. 

Edited Tuesday at 10:14 AM by IceCreamMan