For over a decade, when it came to counting the bikes in transition at the Ironman World Championship, the top brand was always Cervelo. The (originally) Canadian company had its roots in triathlon, so it wasn’t a stretch to see the brand become the first choice for so many Kona qualifiers. That changed last year for the inaugural men’s world championship event in Nice, where Canyon topped Cervelo in the bike count for the first time. In Kona, though, for the women’s race, Cervelo remained the most popular bike, and when you added the two events together, Cervelo remained ahead of Canyon.
That changed this year, though -while Cervelo remained the most popular bike for the women’s world championship in Nice, Canyon topped the list in Kona, and when you add the two races together, we have a new top dog in the Ironman World Championship Bike count – Canyon.
In Kona, Canyon topped the bike count list this year with 483 bikes, with Cervelo sitting in second at 413. Trek was the third-most popular bike on the Kona pier (338) with Specialized sitting in fourth at 175.
Canyon’s move to the top of the bike count status is no-doubt the result of an aggressive marketing program over the last few years, including sponsorship of a number of the sport’s top pros. (On the men’s side, Canyon has been the bike of choice for seven of the last nine world champions, and Laura Philipp added a women’s champ to the list this year.) While other companies have been decreasing the number of pros they sponsor, Canyon appears to have doubled down in the space. The company’s aggressive pricing and direct to consumer model has also likely helped the company deal with the trials and tribulations of chain supply issues coming out of the pandemic, too.
Click on the link above to see the Nice bike count numbers – here’s the list from Kona that was put together by various members of the media and industry on the Big Island:
| Bike | Count |
| Canyon | 483 |
| Cervelo | 413 |
| Trek | 338 |
| Specialized | 175 |
| Other | 112 |
| Quintana Roo | 110 |
| Felt | 97 |
| Argon 18 | 81 |
| BMC | 81 |
| Scott | 78 |
| Giant | 61 |
| Cube | 49 |
| Orbea | 35 |
| KU | 24 |
| Cadex | 23 |
| Ventum | 21 |
| Ceepo | 20 |
| Pinarello | 20 |
| Dimond | 17 |
| Cannondale | 16 |
| Factor | 13 |
| Willier | 10 |
| Colnago | 6 |
| Parlee | 5 |
| Ridley | 5 |
| Look | 3 |
| Airsteem | 2 |
| Focus | 1 |
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