What’s everyone’s opinion on wearing extra padding for the bike leg of a half ironman? Was thinking for wearing my De Soto bike shorts over my tri suit for the bike for some extra padding. Is that a bad idea? I’ve done it from time to time in training with no issues, but really don’t know if it benefits me or not. This is my first race, so I wanted to get some opinions out there. I’m just doing this as a challenge for myself and hoping to finish with a time starting with a 6…
not necessary.
I agree not necessary with any tri suit for a 70.3. If you have the newer DeSoto tri suit the pads are sweet on the bike and no issues with running.
What kind of suit and desoto shorts do you currentIy have? I use desoto tri suits that already have a small pad.
If your suit doesnt have a pad maybe looking into buying another suit or racing in tri shorts with a pad (maybehte desotos you already have depending on the model) and a jersey.
Typically shouldn’t be necessary, but if it helps you stay in aero for the whole ride go for it.
If it’s a wetsuit-legal swim the only time cost is removing the shorts.
How does the pad feel when it full of water for the first 30 minutes of your ride? If you’re OK with that and need the padding then go for it.
jaretj
Everyone here is telling you that it’s not necessary (for them). If it’s going to make you more comfortable by all means pull on another pair of shorts in T1 and take them off in T2 if you want. It’s your race, do what you think is best for you.
Would it be worth trying out the Desoto seat pad? That way the extra padding stays where you want it and you are not fiddling with multiple layers in transition.
They are short money so it would be a low cost experiment and could potentially solve your problem in the most effective and expeditious manner possible.
The entire point of using a tri suit is to have a piece of clothing that does everything without needing to change in transition. If you need additional padding then I would suggest there’s no point using a trisuit at all and I’d dispose with it altogether. The trisuit makes a compromise on swim and particularly run comfort in order to provide bike padding. If you’re going to put on bike shorts in transition anyway, then why live with that compromise? Just wear swim shorts, change into cycling specific gear and then change into running gear. It’ll only cost a couple of minutes. I’ve never tried it but I can’t imagine two sets of pads are going to be especially comfortable or stay in place reliably, and putting cycle shorts over wet tri shorts will surely prevent them from drying, may get very warm and will probably produce a big chaffing risk. I wouldn’t dream of doing it.
While tri suits do compromise on padding in order not to be cumbersome in the water and on the run and to dry quickly, most people - myself included, find the better ones perfectly adequate for long cycles without discomfort.
More padding causes me more problems. I can’t even wear bike shorts… even on a road bike.
I can’t imagine wearing tri shorts and cycling shorts at the same time.
The entire point of using a tri suit is to have a piece of clothing that does everything without needing to change in transition. If you need additional padding then I would suggest there’s no point using a trisuit at all and I’d dispose with it altogether. The trisuit makes a compromise on swim and particularly run comfort in order to provide bike padding. If you’re going to put on bike shorts in transition anyway, then why live with that compromise? Just wear swim shorts, change into cycling specific gear and then change into running gear. It’ll only cost a couple of minutes. I’ve never tried it but I can’t imagine two sets of pads are going to be especially comfortable or stay in place reliably, and putting cycle shorts over wet tri shorts will surely prevent them from drying, may get very warm and will probably produce a big chaffing risk. I wouldn’t dream of doing it.
While tri suits do compromise on padding in order not to be cumbersome in the water and on the run and to dry quickly, most people - myself included, find the better ones perfectly adequate for long cycles without discomfort.
This is the winning answer. Totally agree. For myself, I’m perfectly comfortable in an LG Course tri suit for IM. If I weren’t, and had a goal of finishing HIM in 6 something, for sure I’d take the time to change, be comfortable, and enjoy my race. I agree that two pads are likely to cause more problems than they solve. If I were concerned about the time lost changing, then I would resolve to work it out in training to find a tri suit that works comfortably over the disciplines and distance. Sometimes it just takes getting used to it.
If you want extra padding you might try one of those neoprene saddle covers. I have not seen them in years but I assume they are still available.
If it makes you feel more comfortable, do it. I’ve done it on each of my fulls.
The entire point of using a tri suit is to have a piece of clothing that does everything without needing to change in transition. If you need additional padding then I would suggest there’s no point using a trisuit at all and I’d dispose with it altogether. The trisuit makes a compromise on swim and particularly run comfort in order to provide bike padding. If you’re going to put on bike shorts in transition anyway, then why live with that compromise? Just wear swim shorts, change into cycling specific gear and then change into running gear. It’ll only cost a couple of minutes. I’ve never tried it but I can’t imagine two sets of pads are going to be especially comfortable or stay in place reliably, and putting cycle shorts over wet tri shorts will surely prevent them from drying, may get very warm and will probably produce a big chaffing risk. I wouldn’t dream of doing it.
While tri suits do compromise on padding in order not to be cumbersome in the water and on the run and to dry quickly, most people - myself included, find the better ones perfectly adequate for long cycles without discomfort.
Most half distance triathlons don’t have changing tents so either he’ll be changing with a towel around waist at his transition or running to porta potty. If running to the porta potty I bet it might be more than 2 minutes. I definitely would add cycling shorts on top of wet tri shorts. I have a feeling that would not turn out very well.
If you decide to do the bike shorts over tri suit thing, make sure to train this way quite a bit so you know how it will feel (wet tri suit and all). If I were in your situation, I’d consider taking the extra time to change into bike shorts and aero top from a swim suit.
My concern would be chaffing caused by two pads, but this is highly personal. If you are going to do this, I would make sure that you can handle 4 hour rides wearing both, and as others mentioned, starting with the trisuit wet. For me personally, I cannot handle anything under my bike shorts without chaffing. I learned this the hard way trying to ride with long underwear under my shorts on cold rides.
The entire point of using a tri suit is to have a piece of clothing that does everything without needing to change in transition. If you need additional padding then I would suggest there’s no point using a trisuit at all and I’d dispose with it altogether. The trisuit makes a compromise on swim and particularly run comfort in order to provide bike padding. If you’re going to put on bike shorts in transition anyway, then why live with that compromise? Just wear swim shorts, change into cycling specific gear and then change into running gear. It’ll only cost a couple of minutes. I’ve never tried it but I can’t imagine two sets of pads are going to be especially comfortable or stay in place reliably, and putting cycle shorts over wet tri shorts will surely prevent them from drying, may get very warm and will probably produce a big chaffing risk. I wouldn’t dream of doing it.
While tri suits do compromise on padding in order not to be cumbersome in the water and on the run and to dry quickly, most people - myself included, find the better ones perfectly adequate for long cycles without discomfort.
Most half distance triathlons don’t have changing tents so either he’ll be changing with a towel around waist at his transition or running to porta potty. If running to the porta potty I bet it might be more than 2 minutes. I definitely would add cycling shorts on top of wet tri shorts. I have a feeling that would not turn out very well.
Many have a tent but if that’s not the case a towel will do but will of course add time. There are of course two other options, neither of which I would choose but both of which seem better than the OPs proposition:
- Just wear cycle shorts for the whole thing. I’ve never tried swimming in cycle shorts but I don’t think it would be a huge problem. They won’t dry out as well as tri specific gear but we’ve all ridden in wet gear and its not a problem, right? I do have some experience running in cycling shorts. Before I got into triathlon and bought tri specific stuff, I did several duathlons and adventure races for which I just used my cycle shorts. They did feel slightly bulky on the run and might be a problem for longer distances but for the 10-15km distances they worked fine. I think they’d be okay for 70.3 but probably not an IM.
- Wear swim shorts or a cheap pair of tri shorts with the pad removed throughout the event and add cycle shorts for the cycle leg. This will still leave you wearing multiple layers but will at least avoid stacking pads and running with a pad when there’s no point.
Again, I wouldn’t do either 1 or 2, I’d use my trisuit only. But these stil seem better options than trisuit+cycle shorts. As with many things, when it comes to padding - more is not necessarily better.
Whatever way you decide to do it. Do a proper trial first so you don’t get any nasty surprises during the event.
Do what makes you feel most comfortable. If you have done it in training then you will know what to expect.
Just don’t forget to take off the bike shorts in T2 like I have done! I ran a whole 1/2 with my bike shorts on and 1/2 of a full with them on! D’oh. Oh and I did not have any issues…
Good luck!
BB
In the past, I have ridden IM races with DeSoto 400 mile bike shorts that I wore under my wetsuit.
I think you are asking for trouble stacking one pad over another.
The DeSoto 400 mile pad did not retain much water, so if you want to swim with bike shorts, then this would be a good choice.
In recent IM’s I have gone for comfort on the bike and spent the extra time to put on dry bike shorts after the swim.
If you do choose to go with a tri suit, just make certain that you train a few times on long rides before racing in them.
It is something you need to get used to before race day.
The entire point of using a tri suit is to have a piece of clothing that does everything without needing to change in transition. If you need additional padding then I would suggest there’s no point using a trisuit at all and I’d dispose with it altogether. The trisuit makes a compromise on swim and particularly run comfort in order to provide bike padding. If you’re going to put on bike shorts in transition anyway, then why live with that compromise? Just wear swim shorts, change into cycling specific gear and then change into running gear. It’ll only cost a couple of minutes. I’ve never tried it but I can’t imagine two sets of pads are going to be especially comfortable or stay in place reliably, and putting cycle shorts over wet tri shorts will surely prevent them from drying, may get very warm and will probably produce a big chaffing risk. I wouldn’t dream of doing it.
While tri suits do compromise on padding in order not to be cumbersome in the water and on the run and to dry quickly, most people - myself included, find the better ones perfectly adequate for long cycles without discomfort.
Most half distance triathlons don’t have changing tents so either he’ll be changing with a towel around waist at his transition or running to porta potty. If running to the porta potty I bet it might be more than 2 minutes. I definitely would add cycling shorts on top of wet tri shorts. I have a feeling that would not turn out very well.
Have done this in IMs before (bike shorts over wet tri shorts). Worked just fine. Low 5 hr IM bike at IMoo…so didn’t hurt me.