Raw Tech is Back at the Ironman World Championship. Here’s Why.

There was once a time when you’d walk down Ali’i Drive in Kona on Ironman World Championship week and the local shops were completely transformed into a mall of brand activations. There would be so much new gear and tech at the expo (and on pros’ and age-groupers’ bikes) that this gear editor could barely keep track of it all.

But for some reason (we’ll get to that in a second), there had been a notable drought in “thought-provoking” gear and tech basically since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

The reason for this drought is actually fairly simple (but strange): the split venue.

Why would two locations and two genders have any impact on the amount of interesting gear at the Ironman World Championship? It turns out that almost every brand I spoke to talked about the exorbitant cost of sending two teams to two expensive locations; if you’re in Europe, Hawaii is a horrifying 20-30-hour trek (everyone tells me), and don’t forget about shipping all of your stuff literally across the ocean; if you’re in mainland North America going the other way, the proposition is slightly less daunting, but still pretty bad and pretty pricey.

Then there’s the choice: Do we launch X Thing at the men’s race or the women’s? You can’t do one and ostensibly leave the other hanging, so many brands told me they just didn’t do either. Save some cash, don’t piss anyone off, launch whenever (virtually), and live to fight another day.

So when the men and women came back together again, and we now know the Big Island will once again be the forever home for the Ironman World Championship, R&D budgets get unlocked, prototypes get wheeled out, and even heritage bike brands that have had very little footprint in tri send a team of Italians to Hawaii to unveil a new ride. (Here, I’m talking about today’s Pinarello launch.)

Background aside, what were the main gear and tech trends I saw at the 2026 Ironman World Championship? Read on.

Mo’ money

This ties directly to the conditions above, but 2026 will mark a year where cash was spent by brands on the Big Island, probably in a way we haven’t seen for almost a decade.

The big (French) elephant in the room is a new Ironman World Championship title sponsor, Salomon. (Interesting side note: Hoka is technically still the official shoe sponsor of the 2026 event, but there was almost no Hoka stuff to be seen at all. In fact, they most notably didn’t even have a booth at the expo, which is kind of crazy.)

Salomon has typically been a big spender in trail running and outdoors, but to take over as a title sponsor (there’s a distinction here, not shoe sponsor, though they ostensibly also own that position) is a big deal. It shows a large, expensive commitment to triathlon, specifically. More on that below.

There have also been big, flashy activations all over town, actually cool expo booths, and more pricey-looking prototypes and modifications than I’ve ever seen. I also know that some (major triathlon) brands that haven’t sent so much as a single body to Kona in nearly a decade sent big teams, including people who have never experienced Ironman World Championships before. This costs a lot of money and previews a deeper future commitment by showing new people the event.

Case in point: I had a meeting with Nike folks at UTMB in 2025, and they told me they brought almost 20 people who knew very little about the sport with them. In 2026, Nike literally carpet-bombed the Chamonix Valley with activations (and cash).

I’d also be willing to bet after seeing the crowds at the expo (and at coffee and brunch and dinner) that more consumer money is being dropped in town than ever before, but that remains to be seen.

Mo’ triathlon

More subtly than sheer cash, this year showed way more tri-specific gear and tri-specific intentions than I’ve seen since the ‘10s.

Non-UCI-legal helmet from Ekoi with bonkers pre-production prototypes? Check. Cockpit and front hydration coolers (that can obviously only be used in triathlon)? Check. Like I said before: A brand-new, tri-specific bike plus on-island launch from Pinarello? Yeah, that’s kind of crazy.

If you need a visualization, one piece of gear that defines the “triathlon-only” aesthetic, look no further than the Omius Aeroshade that I bravely tested on Ali’i. If that and the Retro 1983 Zoot Mesh Jersey don’t scream TRIATHLON, then I don’t know anything about our sport. To quote one of my Trail Runner editors: “Every day I think I am closer to understanding triathletes, and every day I am wrong.”

Finally, looking into my own crystal ball, in the voice of Kristian Blummenfelt (if you haven’t seen the viral crystal ball video, you must): I see a French brand, making.

In behind-the-scenes conversations with the folks at Salomon, it seems clear to me that the French brand is interested in doing for triathlon what it did for trail running. The clear distinction being that Salomon is investing in triathlon because of triathlon, not as a springboard to something else. Most notably, they’re talking with their tri pros about shoe designs, which is surprisingly unusual if you look at the brands most of the top pros are wearing on race day.

Do you think Asics is getting feedback from triathletes on the Metaspeed Ray? I can tell you they did not. Do you think Nike is paying attention to triathletes’ needs? Nope. It’s unclear how much pro feedback triathletes had on recent Hoka super shoe designs, but I doubt triathlon drove the R&D.

Then there’s the Salomon CEO’s penchant for tinkering, which has manifested itself in their hydration vests that are the gold standard among trail runners — even bought and worn by unsponsored trail elites. He’s not afraid to get into a niche sport, like cross-country skiing or trail running or triathlon and tinker around to make that sport better. I’d expect some very tri-specific things — even if they’re not shoes — to come from that group in the near future.

Finally, we might be doing a little bit of missionary work as trail-running legend (and Salomon athlete) Courtney Dauwalter got to see the Ironman World Championship for the first time. She told Trail Runner’s managing editor Abby Levene while out on a run on Ali’i that “there’s probably a 100% chance I’ll try [Ironman]” after seeing the pre-race spectacle.

All of this is good for triathletes because it means we have stuff for us; not stuff we adapt to us.

Mo’ growing pains

However, if the apocalyptic takeover of Chamonix at UTMB this year was a cautionary tale, it proves that sometimes things can move too fast, too suddenly. This was also apparent in Kona this week, as brand activations and releases seemed a little … sloppy. Events were shifted, appearances canceled, then renewed, then canceled again. There were even semi-launches and new bikes and brand events that seemed to happen with literally no one knowing about them. Lots of money was spent, sure, but it seemed like some folks were a little rusty.

At the end of the day those growing pains don’t necessarily mean much for the everyday triathlete, or even one in Kona racing the Ironman World Championship, but it does prove that money can’t solve everything. There needs to be vision, direction, organization, and focus.

Maybe we’ll call the 2026 Ironman World Championship our shakeout for bigger things. A good start and sign of things to come, but also a reminder — just like in any triathlon — not to go out too hard too early.