Triathletes have a reputation for being obsessive when it comes to having the flashiest, most aerodynamic bikes available, complete with aero extensions, deep dish wheels and, of course, all-carbon everything.
And while the saying “aero is everything” might as well be the unofficial motto of triathlon, every so often you’ll come across an athlete who couldn’t care less about what bike they’re riding or their coefficient of aerodynamic drag (CdA).
At the Ironman 5150 race (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec on June 21, such athlete lined up at the start with an upright, basket-equipped Bixi bike share bike — the kind typically used for city commuting — racked in transition, ready for the 40-kilometre cycling leg of the event.
The athlete? Nicolas Malguy, who competed in the 25-29 men’s division and finished the race in a total time of 3 hours and 44 minutes, good for a division placement of 103th out of 118 starters.
Malguy, who is currently based in Montreal but hails from France, prefers basketball to triathlon but tries to do at least one short-course triathlon every couple of years.
“I did my first triathlon in 2015 with my uncle and ever since, have tried to do one every year or every other year with my family,” Malguy told Cycling Weekly. “But for this triathlon, I barely had time to train as I moved to Canada in December 2024 and wanted to spend my weekends exploring Canada and the U.S.”
While most triathletes follow a rigorous training regimen to prepare for their triathlon of choice, Malguy leaned on his fitness from pick-up basketball games and a handful of visits to the pool earlier this year. He didn’t do a single training ride ahead of the race.
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In fact, he didn’t even have a bike until three days before the event.
“I was supposed to bring my Decathlon road bike from France to Canada when I returned home for a bit in April, but that didn’t pan out,” Malguy explained. “Then I thought that I would rent a bike for the 5150 race, but the weeks passed and soon it was about two weeks before the race and I still didn’t have a bike, so I thought, let me reach out to Bixi. I’m already using them to get around town, so why not ask them for a bike to use for the race?”
Bixi was founded in 2014 and now operates more than 11,000 bikes in its Montreal-based bike share network. Intrigued by Malguy’s request, Bixi agreed to loan Malguy a brand-new Bixi bike from its Montreal headquarters.
Malguy picked up the bike on the Wednesday before the Saturday race. When he wheeled it into the transition area on Friday —Ironman rules requires athletes to check in their bikes the day before— it instantly turned heads. Parked between rows of sleek carbon-fibre triathlon machines worth thousands of dollars, this upright, heavyweight basket bike looked wildly out of place. It wasn’t long before photos of the unexpected ride started circulating on social media.
On race day, Malguy loved the cheers he received from the crowd as he hit the bike course on his Bixi.
“It was crazy because as soon as I took off on the bike, everybody was yelling and cheering like crazy for me,” Malguy said. “I was not prepared for that – it was so cool to have people motivating me during the race.”
With its hefty weight and limited gearing, the Bixi was hardly built for the hilly course, forcing Malguy to spend a good portion of the ride out of the saddle. It was enough to make him wish he’d trained just a little more, but he enjoyed himself all the same.
“The bike course went by quickly. Because I stood so much to climb the hills, I didn’t get glute or low back pain. My biggest concern the entire time was if my chain fell off, because it is not easy to access the chain on a Bixi,” he said. “But fortunately, all went smoothly.”
Malguy will return the borrowed Bixi in the coming days, but he’s already planning another Ironman-branded race — and again, on a Bixi.
“I think that maybe next year I will train for the half-Ironman [in Mont-Tremblant],” Malguy said. “I will try to do that race with a Bixi because now that I have done one race with a Bixi, I cannot do a race with a ‘normal’ bike.”
