Dan Empfield

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Dan Empfield (born 1957) is an American entrepreneur in the world of multisport, creator of the triathlon wetsuit in 1987, and the triathlon-specific racing bike in 1989. The original designs were manufactured by the Quintana Roo, [1] which he founded in 1987.

Empfield sold Quintana Roo in 1995 to Saucony [2] and managed that company's bicycle division until June 1999. He left to start the popular on-line triathlon news and commentary web site Slowtwitch.com, which he owned and managed from 1999 to 2022. [3]

His FIST-based protocol of road and triathlon bicycle fitting [4] was the first among today's dynamic bike fit protocols, and he coined the bicycle geometry terms "stack" and "reach" - corresponding, respectively, to the vertical and horizontal distance between the bottom bracket center and head-tube top; these terms helped normalize bike geometries across manufacturers. [5]

Today, Empfield remains an editor-at-large at slowtwitch.com.

Empfield has been inducted into the Triathlete Magazine Hall of Fame (2004) [6] and the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame (2014), [7] has received the World Open Water Swimming Association's (WOWSA) lifetime achievement award (2010), [8] and was named by Inside Triathlon as one of the ten most influential people in United States triathlon for 2012 [9] and 2013. He received Interbike’s Triathlon Industry Leader of the Year award in 2014. [10] He is a former board member of USA Triathlon. [11]

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References

  1. ↑ Williams, Jayne (2004). Slow Fat Triathlete: Live Your Athletic Dreams in the Body You Have Now . New York: Marlowe and Company. p.  165. ISBN   1-56924-467-7. dan empfield.
  2. ↑ "Saucony sells Quintana Roo, Merlin to Litespeed". Slowtwitch.com. June 30, 2000. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Time to Pass the Baton". Slowtwitch.com. October 1, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Instant Interview: Dan Empfield". Tri247. June 15, 2007. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  5. ↑ Empfield, Dan. "Stack & Reach Primer: Chapter One". Slowtwitch.com. Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Triathlete Announces New Inductees to Hall of Fame". Triathlete Magazine. Archived from the original on December 2, 2003. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Six named to USAT Hall of Fame". Slowtwitch.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Lifetime Achievement Awards Winners". OpenWaterSwimming.com. June 6, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  9. ↑ Murphy, TJ (December 14, 2012). "Inside Triathlon's 10 Most Influential People For 2012: #6 Dan Empfield". Inside Triathlon. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  10. ↑ Gottlieb, Justin (September 15, 2014). "2014 Interbike Awards". Interbike.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  11. ↑ "USAT Board of Director Meeting: Thursday Sunday, November 18-21, 2004". USA Triathlon. November 18, 2004. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2012.


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