Over the last twenty years, the IRONMAN World Championships have had change after change. This year, of course, featured one of the biggest changes, as it was the first split venue IRONMAN World Championship, with the women’s race exclusively taking place in Kona. Two things remain constant, though: Slowtwitch is there, and we help with the Kona Bike Count.

Here’s some of the big trends we noticed with the bike count exclusively.

Cervelo Retains the Throne: Cervelo has long been either the top performer, or near the top, for going on fifteen years, stretching back to the original versions of the P2 and P3. That dominance returned in Kona, after ceding the crown to Canyon at the men’s World Championships in Nice. This isn’t particularly surprising. Cervelo (and second place Trek) are two of the companies that are easiest to find in local bike shops in North America, with the United States and Canada representing 50% of the registered athletes in the field.

It also helps that the current generation P-Series bikes are also some of the more affordably priced options on the market, with a well-equipped 105 series bike at $3,500. And no, 105 isn’t shabby. It’s a damn good groupset these days.

Quintana Roo Moves Up: The big mover of the bike count, QR doubled its percentage of bikes on the pier in 2023 to third, at 11%. I think there’s three distinct reasons for that:

1.) Ease of Purchase — Quintana Roo bet and bet big on a hybrid distribution model. But their direct-to-consumer purchasing flow is, for my money, the best in the business. It’s incredibly easy to select any of configuration needs you want, and see how that bike changes in the tool. From wheels to hydration to bars to any other component, you pick it, and watch the bike change. It’s awesome. And the pricing changes quickly, too.

2.) Ease of Customization — QR also offers their FitReady service, to ensure that a bike exactly matches your fit coordinates, for an additional fee. It’s well worth it. Getting the delivery and making your assembly take mere minutes, especially in an age of more and more difficult bikes to work on, is a life saver.

Then there’s the customization of paint. QR gives you far more options on paint choices than any other manufacturer. And although it does feature an additional fee, if the color of your bike is worth something to you, QR probably has that paint available for you. Having talked with a few women on board current generation QR bikes, the ability to pick paint was one of their top reasons for choosing to ride a QR bike, along with perceived value and fit.

3.) Ease to Work On — QR’s insistence on consistent bolt sizes for their bikes, beginning with the original generation PR series, just makes living with their bikes easier. And again, with bikes becoming more and more complex, having bikes that are easier to wrench is worth something.

Canyon to Watch: Canyon took pole position at the men’s IRONMAN World Championship, but slid down to fourth in the count in Kona. That’s likely due to a variety of factors, primarily related to COVID-era supply chain issues in North America. If you wanted to buy certain Speedmaxes, you had to be absolutely fast on the trigger to do so with few bikes allocated here. Although supply is improving, it’s still lighter than other brands, as Canyon hopes to avoid having excess inventory at the end of each year. It’ll be interesting to see how this trend changes with the women’s race in Nice in 2024.

Other Quick Notes: Traditional big bike brand stalwart Specialized continues to lose triathlon market share, now in sixth place, as it focuses less on the space. Liv was the largest of the women’s-specific branded bikes, with 82 of them on the pier. And Ventum cracked the top 10, tied with Cannondale, with 24 bikes.