April 09, 2026

What’s the Next Big Innovation in Triathlon? | David Lipman

1 hour 28 minutes

Innovations like the aerobar, power meter and GPS watches have shaped triathlon and endurance sports in the last decades. But what comes next? What will be the next big innovation to shape triathlon? Dr. David Lipman returns to the podcast to discuss what the next big innovations will be, and which ones might fall flat. We also take a stroll down memory lane to look at past innovations that succeeded and failed, and try to parse what it takes for an innovation to really stick.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:

Past innovations that succeeded and failed - David and I list five each from both categories. Do you agree with our takes here?

We predict the future of current or “coming soon” innovations. Will technologies like continuous sweat sensors, ventilation sensors, 3D-printed running shoes and many be huge hits or will they flop?

Where were we right and wrong in the past? We each name one innovation that we called correctly (as success/failure) and one that we called incorrectly in the past

What separates successful innovations in endurance sports from failed ones

Why many promising physiological sensors struggle to achieve widespread adoption despite valid scientific rationales

How network effects and ecosystem adoption influence technology success

DETAILED EPISODE SHOWNOTES:

We have detailed shownotes for all of our episodes. The shownotes are basically the podcast episode in written form, that you can read in 5-10 minutes. They are not transcriptions, but they are also not just surface-level overviews. They provide detailed insights and timestamps for each episode, and are great especially for later review, after you've already listened to an episode.

The shownotes for today's episode can be found at https://scientifictriathlon.com/tts692/

LINKS AND RESOURCES:

David’s website, Substack, Podcast and Instagram

David’s previous appearance on That Triathlon Show: David Lipman | EP#414

WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NEXT?

If you enjoyed this episode, I think you'll love the following related episodes:

Information, decision making, training and technology | EP#452 - In this episode I am the interviewee. Among the topics covered, we discuss evaluatingf new products, technology, and metrics. Highly related to today’s episode

Q&A on gear and technology | EP#400 - Carbon shoes, barefoot shoes, lactate meters, VO2master, Moxy/NIRS, etc.

François Modave, PhD – Artificial Intelligence in triathlon | EP#455 - Key concepts of artificial intelligence and how it could be applied (and to what level of success) in a triathlon context.

You can find our full episode archives here, where you can filter for categories such as Training, Racing, Science & Physiology, Swimming, Cycling, Running etc.

You can also find separate archives for specific series of episodes I've done, specifically Q&A episodes, TTS Thursday episodes, and Beginner Tips episodes.

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