#reqwip

After moving from New York back to my native state of Texas for grad school, I wanted to start running triathlons. I swam in high school and enjoyed running and road biking – I thought, heck, I’ll try all three at once and see how fast I can go.

As an overly ambitious first time triathlete, I signed up for the 2013 New Orleans 70.3.

My next task was getting tri gear ... and the list was massive: tri shirt and shorts, socks, helmet, shoes and clips, wetsuit, ten varieties of power gels, visors, aero and carbon bike add ons and wheel sets and if I can manage a new triathlon bike ... my head started hurting as I thought of the wallet bomb for everything I’d need to get to be competitive and comfortable during the race – I’m only a grad student after all!

For the first race, I picked up the necessary items and stuck with my 10-year-old road bike. However, even the most basic items were pricey and hard to find. Brick and mortar triathlon stores are few and far between in Texas, and the ones that do exist charge at least retail.

As I competed in more 70.3’s, I wanted to update my gear and get a tri bike – and yet again, I was confined to a small set of tri shops and anonymous and sketchy online postings for my search. There was no way I’d buy a $3,000 carbon bike from a random guy on Craigslist.

reQwip fills a massive void for the cash-strapped passionate athlete. By providing a secure, hyperlocal marketplace for triathlon, cycling, and outdoor adventure sports gear, I’m able to be a part of an athlete-to-athlete (A2A) transaction that works within my budget and is safe, trusted and authentic.

As reQwip catches fire in Austin and other passionate sports communities around the country, I can’t wait to finally update my gear at awesome prices and tear up another 70.3.