They're all the rage. As well they should be - there are significant time savings to be had, as well as UV protection and the ability to keep you cooler. I'm pretty sure we've done more testing with sleeved tri suits than anyone in the world at this point. Every aero test we conduct prioritizes position first, and then clothing. Here's the rub, I think for many athletes the suits are not working as intended for one very specific reason: fit. Paul Harder from Trek coined the phrase, "Skin is slow." This simple sentence is very true, but the problem is this...wrinkles are worse.
If these new suits do not fit correctly, they're likely slowing you down. Fit is the single most important factor which determines if a sleeved suit will provide benefit or loss. A properly fit top/suit needs to be tight; it needs to wrap you like a second skin. If it wrinkles while in your aero position, you've just slowed yourself down. I think, at this point, it's important to convey this clearly to all of you because there's very little knowledge in the retail world about the suits and, to be quite honest, not much more knowledge from many of the manufacturers who make them.
This presents a problem for consumers. How do you know of one of these suits will work for you? Well, without actually testing them, you don't; however, since not everyone can aero test, you need to try them on before buying them. Simulate the aero position or, better yet, bring your bike and drop into aero. Are there wrinkles (there will always be a wrinkle or two, but there shouldn't be much)? If so, no matter how much you like the suit, it likely isn't going to work.
Secondary to fit is materials used (I consider the suit's pattern part of the fit). Material is important, to be sure, but you could literally go buy yourself some lycra from a local store, have a suit sewn up to custom fit you, and it will be faster (possibly faster than most anything else).
As far as I can tell, there's really only two ways to help guarantee a sleeved suit will be faster. 1. Make multiple sizes of each size for different body types. You won't see this happen because retailers simply can't/won't carry that many sku's. 2. Custom make the suit to each individual athlete. Only Bioracer is doing this, I believe (at least with any type of consistency), and the price is pretty crazy. Funny thing is, there's a way to do it quite easily for a lot less, it's just no one has figured it out yet. It's right there in front of everyone, they just don't see it.
Okay, I felt I needed to get that information out there. Nothing that hasn't already been stated, but after Kona I'm sure there will be renewed interest. Oh, and just to get it out of the way:
Questions?
Jim Manton / ERO Sports
If these new suits do not fit correctly, they're likely slowing you down. Fit is the single most important factor which determines if a sleeved suit will provide benefit or loss. A properly fit top/suit needs to be tight; it needs to wrap you like a second skin. If it wrinkles while in your aero position, you've just slowed yourself down. I think, at this point, it's important to convey this clearly to all of you because there's very little knowledge in the retail world about the suits and, to be quite honest, not much more knowledge from many of the manufacturers who make them.
This presents a problem for consumers. How do you know of one of these suits will work for you? Well, without actually testing them, you don't; however, since not everyone can aero test, you need to try them on before buying them. Simulate the aero position or, better yet, bring your bike and drop into aero. Are there wrinkles (there will always be a wrinkle or two, but there shouldn't be much)? If so, no matter how much you like the suit, it likely isn't going to work.
Secondary to fit is materials used (I consider the suit's pattern part of the fit). Material is important, to be sure, but you could literally go buy yourself some lycra from a local store, have a suit sewn up to custom fit you, and it will be faster (possibly faster than most anything else).
As far as I can tell, there's really only two ways to help guarantee a sleeved suit will be faster. 1. Make multiple sizes of each size for different body types. You won't see this happen because retailers simply can't/won't carry that many sku's. 2. Custom make the suit to each individual athlete. Only Bioracer is doing this, I believe (at least with any type of consistency), and the price is pretty crazy. Funny thing is, there's a way to do it quite easily for a lot less, it's just no one has figured it out yet. It's right there in front of everyone, they just don't see it.
Okay, I felt I needed to get that information out there. Nothing that hasn't already been stated, but after Kona I'm sure there will be renewed interest. Oh, and just to get it out of the way:
- Pealr Izumi Tri Octane seem to still be King of the Mountain...if it fits.
- The 2015 Castelli T1 Stealth top is really, really good...if it fits.
Questions?
Jim Manton / ERO Sports
