T-Mar

In case it is not immediately evident to members, these devices also doubled as a dual bottle holder. Like the (slightly) more aesthetically pleasing Profile PiggyBack, they were intended primarily for Ironman distance triathlons where you wanted to carry more water. The drawback was the increased height above the saddle. While they provided a relatively solid back rest to provide more driving force into the pedals, they could be an issue at transitions when mounting and dismounting. You get into the habit of swinging your leg just high enough to clear the saddle and I've witnessed several cases where riders forgot to compensate for the extra height of a PiggyBack, swung their leg into the device and knocked themselves and the bicycle over.

Similar situations used to happen with the Softride suspension beam bicycles, as you set the unloaded saddle height several inches higher than normal, to allow for compression when seated on the saddle. I saw one rider swing his his leg into the saddle, knock himself over and take down several other duathletes with him. It was almost like watching a row of toppling dominoes and despite their misfortune, it was hard not to laugh at melee of flailing arms and legs, accompanied by a plethora of cursing. Had my transition been a few seconds faster, I would have been in the middle of the fracas.