Several years ago, I dropped $200 on a sleeved trisuit from 2XU. It was a great suit, but at the time I thought that was an insane amount of money for a piece of athletic wear. I’m now in the market for a new suit and came across Orca’s RS1 Kona Aero Race Suit which sells for an eye popping $350.00! This is crazy, no?
Out of all the expensive items in triathlon, I would say a quality trisuit is probably the most deserving of a big price tag
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Several years ago, I dropped $200 on a sleeved trisuit from 2XU. It was a great suit, but at the time I thought that was an insane amount of money for a piece of athletic wear. I’m now in the market for a new suit and came across Orca’s RS1 Kona Aero Race Suit which sells for an eye popping $350.00! This is crazy, no?
Do you have a link?
Is this the suit @ $270?
https://www.amazon.com/ORCA-Mens-Dream-Kona-Race/dp/B07B41SBP3
$270 isn’t bad - yeah $350 seems high
https://www.orca.com/us-en/men-rs1-dream-kona-aero-race-suit/
Admittedly a nice looking suit, but the price tag is crazy.
https://www.orca.com/us-en/men-rs1-dream-kona-aero-race-suit/
Admittedly a nice looking suit, but the price tag is crazy.
It looks fast and comfy. Would be really nice to have.
I got a Wattie Ink suit last year and was super expensive but no regrets. Look, fit, comfort and quality compared to other suits were well worth the price tag IMHO.
Out of all the expensive items in triathlon, I would say a quality trisuit is probably the most deserving of a big price tag
Why do you say that? My el cheapo weird chinese brand trisuit holds up just as well as my DeSoto $200+ trisuit. I haven’t noticed that triathlon places hard demands on the trisuit - I’ve gotten to the point where I rotate that $200 DeSoto into my weekly training (it’s now 9 years old!), it’s not super delicate. Neither is the el cheapo which also gets worked in.
Check eBay. Last Fall I was selling PI Elite sleeved tri suits there (new w/tags), and they were going for ~$75.
certainly a truely aero tri suit can be good speed/$
what i think we’re missing is data to justify it. orca for instance make some vague claims about “minimal resistance” but what does that mean in and of itself, letalone by comparison to other “aero” suits (without even getting into the likely high individual variances)
most other equipment is now getting to the point where there is a reasonable understanding of what is and isn’t fast, for most use cases. maybe suits will get there but they have more individual challenges
i’d struggle to justify that price without tunnel testing it against others myself which is not practical
If it doesn’t say Kiwami on it I’m probably not buying it and a few of those are $300+
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I don’t think I would buy the Orca suit… Pretty sure it has no pockets. I need at least one on the back.
For that amount, I would go custom. Ownway Apparel will do a fully custom suit for $345 or $385, respectively, for varying levels of material. Both price levels are high quality. I’ve tried many brands (Wattie, De Soto, Castelli, Kiwami, etc) and the higher-priced Trisuit is the most comfortable, well-designed suit I’ve ever had (available in “regular†shortsleeve or the kind of shortsleeve trisuit where it is like a jersey attached to shorts)
… which sells for an eye popping $350.00! This is crazy, no?
Not really. I think most people underestimate how hard it is to design a suit. It’s not just sewing some fabric together.
curved seams get treated differently than straight seams
do you build the arms to hand from the sides or in front
where do you put textured fabric for optimal aerodynamics and how much
how stretchy is it? too stretchy and it defeats the purpose, not stretchy enough and the suit doesn’t move with you
$350 is pricey but not unreasonable
ETA: A manufacturer may prototype 4-10 suits before deciding on which one becomes the production model. Those R&D costs all get factored into the price of the production model
Several years ago, I dropped $200 on a sleeved trisuit from 2XU. It was a great suit, but at the time I thought that was an insane amount of money for a piece of athletic wear. I’m now in the market for a new suit and came across Orca’s RS1 Kona Aero Race Suit which sells for an eye popping $350.00! This is crazy, no?
I have that suit and I paid $280 last year for it.
I got a Wattie Ink suit last year and was super expensive but no regrets. Look, fit, comfort and quality compared to other suits were well worth the price tag IMHO.
Theirs are at $450 now. They’ve kept raising the price!! My road bike was $600 used and tri bike was $1100 used.
Can’t drop $450 on a tri suit no matter how good they are. 
A good suit can be had for around $100-$150. 2XU and Tyr have decent suits in that price range. I bought two Castelli Suits on sale a three years ago for $130 a piece. They’re still in good condition and I’ve used them for multiple races, training rides and swims, etc.
I’d like a Kiwami or a Wattie Ink suit, but it’s simply not worth it for me. I do 2-3 IM 70.3s each year. If I’m going to spend money it will always be on my bike.
My experience is that tri suits show their wear very quickly. All the suntan lotion, skin lubricant, salt water, bodily fluids, etc., compile to distort the appearance and degrade the functionality. After a couple uses, that pleasure you get from a brand new suit is replaced by a sense of frustration at how crappy the thing looks. I feel a lot better about that when talking about a $180 vs $350 suit.
If you have entry level gear then ya $300+ seems like a lot but there is a ton of R+D that goes into these suits and the difference between a cheap suit and top end suit can be a bigger difference than training wheels vs race wheels so considering people spend thousands on race wheels, a well fitted suit can save more watts for a fraction of the price.
More isn’t always better as there are always things to take into considering with manufacturing ie. Wattie ink is $450 compared with Endura, Kiwami and Louis Garneau all being cheaper and also known as being much faster. Wattie you pay for comfort and patterns where others you pay for technology. Whether they are effective or not a lot of these high end suits have highly researched ribbing on the arms and all fabrics that better reflect heat.
Pros have even tested that a new suit is 6W faster than a suit that’s been used for a few races which really emphasizes the effect.
If you have entry level gear then ya $300+ seems like a lot but there is a ton of R+D that goes into these suits and the difference between a cheap suit and top end suit can be a bigger difference than training wheels vs race wheels so considering people spend thousands on race wheels, a well fitted suit can save more watts for a fraction of the price.
More isn’t always better as there are always things to take into considering with manufacturing ie. Wattie ink is $450 compared with Endura, Kiwami and Louis Garneau all being cheaper and also known as being much faster. Wattie you pay for comfort and patterns where others you pay for technology. Whether they are effective or not a lot of these high end suits have highly researched ribbing on the arms and all fabrics that better reflect heat.
Pros have even tested that a new suit is 6W faster than a suit that’s been used for a few races which really emphasizes the effect.
Sounds like the same arguement made for disc brakes…well the industry says they’re better so…I’ve yet to hear anyone say they lost a race because of a trisuit. Now if we’re talking a professional TT then you probably want top of the line to be on an equal footing and someone else is buying. For the 90% of age groupers, the $100-$150 suit will be just as effective as one priced $350-$500.
If you have entry level gear then ya $300+ seems like a lot but there is a ton of R+D that goes into these suits and the difference between a cheap suit and top end suit can be a bigger difference than training wheels vs race wheels so considering people spend thousands on race wheels, a well fitted suit can save more watts for a fraction of the price.
More isn’t always better as there are always things to take into considering with manufacturing ie. Wattie ink is $450 compared with Endura, Kiwami and Louis Garneau all being cheaper and also known as being much faster. Wattie you pay for comfort and patterns where others you pay for technology. Whether they are effective or not a lot of these high end suits have highly researched ribbing on the arms and all fabrics that better reflect heat.
Pros have even tested that a new suit is 6W faster than a suit that’s been used for a few races which really emphasizes the effect.
Sounds like the same arguement made for disc brakes…well the industry says they’re better so…I’ve yet to hear anyone say they lost a race because of a trisuit. Now if we’re talking a professional TT then you probably want top of the line to be on an equal footing and someone else is buying. For the 90% of age groupers, the $100-$150 suit will be just as effective as one priced $350-$500.
What’s your argument here? That 90% of age groupers don’t need an expensive suit? Couldn’t agree more! I would argue 90% of age groupers don’t need a disc or race wheels either. But the point isn’t whether everyone should get one but in fact whether the price is justified and just like a disc wheel, it’s justified but most won’t appreciate the benefits.
If your argument is no one has lost a race based on a tri suit you’re right, because anyone who is competing for a podium in all likely has dropped money on a decent suit.