MEN’S Elite Aero II
Short Sleeve Tri Suit
Built on the foundation of our battle-tested debut tri suit, ROKA is proud to launch Generation II Tri Race Apparel. Key performance upgrades gleaned from our time in the Wind Tunnel, our Pro Cycling Collection and your incredibly valuable feedback, our new suits are faster, more breathable, and more comfortable.
The one-piece men’s short-sleeve tri suit is designed to provide the optimal balance of aerodynamics, race day function, and premium comfort for triathlons of any duration, from sprint to full iron distance. Available in eight sizes (including talls) and crafted with multiple premium Italian and proprietary fabrics, the Elite Aero II kits provide a compressive race fit, high shape retention through the race season, and coveted aerodynamics. The suit was tested not just in the tunnel and on the road, but also in the water to be comfortable, flexible and free on the swim. This kit is designed to fit under your wetsuit or swim skin and will not bag out when wet. Full Coldblack treatment ensures best of breed temperature regulation. The addition of our own no-sew premium knit fabric eliminates sausage leg while retaining optimal compression. The elastic interface, low profile foam chamois moves with the body providing comfort and speed on the bike and support on the run with no diaper butt!
The Generation II Tri Suit is a major step forward. The ultimate in race day comfort, utility and performance.
I have some “laser cut” LG tri shorts. It’s a legitimately noticeable improvement. My first Roka tri suit was very comfy so I may give this one a go as well for wetsuit legal races.
“Please also note that because of the highly textured material, mesh, exposed pockets and front zipper, we do not recommend swimming in this suit without a wetsuit or swimskin over it. The fabric is not coated to repel water, and you will be much faster with a swimskin or wetsuit. We are certain that time saved on the swim will outweigh the few seconds you trade-off in transition at T1.”
This is what was written for the earlier version of the product. I’m assuming it applies to this one as well.
It might work just fine by itself but this description implies that you’d be giving up significant time. Maybe I’m reading too much into what they’re saying … idk.
And this version says
The suit was tested not just in the tunnel and on the road, but also in the water to be comfortable, flexible and free on the swim. This kit is designed to fit under your wetsuit or swim skin and will not bag out when we
I think they are trying to say this new version will work well with a wetsuit or swimskin but also by itself (free on the swim). Actually I’m quite confident that if someone from Roka reads your post they will be scrambling to explain that their description was not meant to convey what it incorrectly did to you (and probably others).
And this version says
The suit was tested not just in the tunnel and on the road, but also in the water to be comfortable, flexible and free on the swim. This kit is designed to fit under your wetsuit or swim skin and will not bag out when we
I think they are trying to say this new version will work well with a wetsuit or swimskin but also by itself (free on the swim). Actually I’m quite confident that if someone from Roka reads your post they will be scrambling to explain that their description was not meant to convey what it incorrectly did to you (and probably others).
I think they mean you can swim with it zipped up and still have good mobility.
Brilliant marketing. There will naturally be a generation 3 and beyond. Only minor differences but y’all better get on it and upgrade. You can’t be seen wearing the old crap now, can you?
“Please also note that because of the highly textured material, mesh, exposed pockets and front zipper, we do not recommend swimming in this suit without a wetsuit or swimskin over it. The fabric is not coated to repel water, and you will be much faster with a swimskin or wetsuit. We are certain that time saved on the swim will outweigh the few seconds you trade-off in transition at T1.”
This is what was written for the earlier version of the product. I’m assuming it applies to this one as well.
It might work just fine by itself but this description implies that you’d be giving up significant time. Maybe I’m reading too much into what they’re saying … idk.
Significant time based on what data and what is significant? I think they only buy that in the hope you buy a Roka swim skin as well IMO…
Lemme add a bit to the convo and see if it helps clarify or resolve any misconceptions.
1. Launching an incremental upgrade - what’s up with that.
The Gen II tri line is an incremental upgrade, and we are proud to launch it. We actually had hoped to get these new features in our first launch but couldn’t get it done, due to manufacturing challenges that have now been overcome, so we did a relatively fast follow. We felt this is better for the consumer than arbitrarily waiting for some traditional merchandising cycle. And since we’re mostly a direct brand, we have the luxury of being nimble.
2. Scope of improvement
As we flagged on our website and in other communications, we’ve made the suits more comfortable by eliminating elastic cuffs on the arms and legs. As good as those were, these are better. The internal silicone print and clean laser cut finish on legs are similar to what we do on our cycling kits, and they have been really well received. Better distribution of pressure and zero sausage leg. We also removed seams on the back of the suit to improve aero and breathability and changed the leg fabric from textured to smooth, both of which we had previously identified in wind tunnel testing do make the suit faster. Re: the all black fabric, this fabric is treated with Schoeller’s Coldblack technology, which was empirically proven to work by them and validated by other brands long before we started using it. Note: we will be launching a white/black suit this fall and next year for non-believers and folks with different aesthetic preferences who don’t want an all-black kit. Will likely have a very small number of units at Kona. Very small. Should have more stock for late season races like Arizona, Austin 70.3, etc. Again, could have waited to next year but trying to move as fast as we can.So overall, this isn’t a major upgrade but nonetheless one we didn’t want to delay getting to the market. If you own the original suit, you may not need or want to upgrade. All good. If you were on the fence, hopefully this new line will tip your interest.
3. Swimming in just the tri suit without a swimskin or wetsuit over it.
The copy from our site is correct: we don’t recommend racing in just the tri suit. The pockets on the back, the decoupled front zip, and the porous aero textured material all cause way more drag than wearing a swimskin. How much and whether it is significant is relative. If you are middle of the pack or back of the pack swimmer, you may not care about marginal time gains. No worries. If you are a front of the pack swimmer and care about every second and spend $5-10k+ on your bike and do everything to eek out free speed, then we recommend you do wear a swimskin over it in warm water. (And of course wear a wetsuit over it). Based on our swimskin sales, a lot of our customers are very competitive, so we definitely bias that way naturally in our product copy. YMMV. This tri suit is not a “speedsuit” meant to be worn without a wetsuit or swimskin. Just wasn’t designed for it. If anyone has bought one of our Team USA suits, you’ll note those are a bit different in materialization and assembly. There, the material is more like what we use on our swimskins, warp knit or stretch woven with dwr, etc, hence those garments are much closer in speed and drag, which is why it wasn’t an issue for pros or age groupers to wear those Team USA kits alone, without swimskin, in USAT events.Based on the success we’ve had with our Team USA suits, we may consider making a tri kit that is better designed to be worn alone, like a De Soto Liftfoil or Kiwami suit or another competitor suit. Those suits are great, but to date, we’ve found pretty limited demand from our customers for that style of suit, as most people we interact with who race in warmer water prefer going with a swimskin and then getting maximum flex out of their tri suit on the bike and run with more pockets, decoupled front zip, better breathability and moisture transfer, etc. As with anything, YMMV. All good!
Hope that clarifies any questions or concerns. If you all have suggestions about how we can get better, please feel free to email me at rob@roka.com. I may not respond immediately but would love any and all constructive feedback. And of course feel free to take advantage of our 30 day return policy if you want to try them and decide for yourself.
