At least within the tropics it seems that white or some particular lighter color can be a better choice than darker colors.
A decision was made to change the uniform colors of our kid's triathlon team. I suggested to design one with as much white as possible because here in Mexico (and in Hawaii I guess) the sun can raise the surface temperature of darker colored clothing more than lighter colored clothing. They asked for proof of this and I asked my maintenance chief to lend me his infrared thermometer.
I placed a piece of "Lycra" (actual brand or blend unknown) of different colors stapled on cardboards on the roof of my house for 5 minutes and took readings.
The readings for each color in °C were:
White: 39.1
Neon Pink: 40.9
Neon Orange: 41.0
Royal Blue: 42.6
Neon Lime: 43.3
Yellow: 43.5
Turquoise: 44.8
Red:45.6
Dark Blue: 49.4
Black: 49.5
As you can see the difference between the white and black "Lycra" type clothing was a little bit more than 10 °C (more precisely 18.7 °F)
Just as a reference the average "normal" body temperature for humans is 37 °C. In practice a person with just 3 °C over his normal temperature is considered to have a high grade fever.
I remember Matt Reed complaining about how the "hot" weather affected his performance when he competed in an ITU World Cup here in our home town Mazatlan. For my kids who raced in the same event, born and raised in Mazatlan's tropical weather it was actually great weather and even a little cold in the morning. I guess that for the particular conditioning of Reed, he could have ran a little bit cooler (and probably perform better) in a white outfit instead of a red one.
Because we have kids as small as 8 year old in the team, the skinsuits have to be custom made for them. If someone has a "Lycra® Power™" fabric purveyor I will appreciate if the contact can be shared.
Best wishes,
Sergio Escutia
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Note: English is not my first language. Please read this translated post considering that.
A decision was made to change the uniform colors of our kid's triathlon team. I suggested to design one with as much white as possible because here in Mexico (and in Hawaii I guess) the sun can raise the surface temperature of darker colored clothing more than lighter colored clothing. They asked for proof of this and I asked my maintenance chief to lend me his infrared thermometer.
I placed a piece of "Lycra" (actual brand or blend unknown) of different colors stapled on cardboards on the roof of my house for 5 minutes and took readings.
The readings for each color in °C were:
White: 39.1
Neon Pink: 40.9
Neon Orange: 41.0
Royal Blue: 42.6
Neon Lime: 43.3
Yellow: 43.5
Turquoise: 44.8
Red:45.6
Dark Blue: 49.4
Black: 49.5
As you can see the difference between the white and black "Lycra" type clothing was a little bit more than 10 °C (more precisely 18.7 °F)
Just as a reference the average "normal" body temperature for humans is 37 °C. In practice a person with just 3 °C over his normal temperature is considered to have a high grade fever.
I remember Matt Reed complaining about how the "hot" weather affected his performance when he competed in an ITU World Cup here in our home town Mazatlan. For my kids who raced in the same event, born and raised in Mazatlan's tropical weather it was actually great weather and even a little cold in the morning. I guess that for the particular conditioning of Reed, he could have ran a little bit cooler (and probably perform better) in a white outfit instead of a red one.
Because we have kids as small as 8 year old in the team, the skinsuits have to be custom made for them. If someone has a "Lycra® Power™" fabric purveyor I will appreciate if the contact can be shared.
Best wishes,
Sergio Escutia
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: English is not my first language. Please read this translated post considering that.
