Javier Gomez is wearing a Roka sleeved swim skin at the 70.3 Worlds swim this morning
.
Talked to Roka yesterday. It will be out by Kona.
I just wonder if it’s faster than sleeveless?
I’m curious to see how he wears his tri suit underneath. E.g. if it’s sleeved will he actually have the sleeves on his arms? Also, it looks like Rosa went with a different construction than the other two sleeved swim skins out there that I’m aware of. The arms and shoulders appear to be a separate and very thin piece.
I would still roll the sleeves of my tri suit down with this. The fabric on a swimskin can be stretchier than the tri suit
I would still roll the sleeves of my tri suit down with this. The fabric on a swimskin can be stretchier than the tri suit
For long course for sure. For short course I’m not sure what’s optimum.
Is covering the arms really faster? I don’t think we truly have a way to know because most of the tests on the Kiwami one were based off perceived effort
There’s some evidence from wetsuits as well: full suits consistently test faster than sleeveless.
There’s some evidence from wetsuits as well: full suits consistently test faster than sleeveless.
I’d like to see evidence that swim skins test faster than a well fitted tri suit let a lone the difference sleeves might make…
Can a wind tunnel-like test be done on wetsuits, swimskins etc be done in something like an endless pool?? That should be Kiley’s next shootout project as I imagine there is as much (or as little) difference in suits and skins as bikes.
Good question, maybe its the fabric that’s faster…or like you said in the other post, just a fad/gimmick
.
Talked to Roka yesterday. It will be out by Kona.
Price and date? I need to purchase a skin for Kona and keep dragging my feet between a Viper Pro and Blueseventy PZT4TX+
Talked to Roka yesterday. It will be out by Kona.
Price and date? I need to purchase a skin for Kona and keep dragging my feet between a Viper Pro and Blueseventy PZT4TX+
I have no idea but my guess will be is that it will be 20 to 50 dollars more than the viper x because of more material.
All I know is that they said by Kona. Which usually means the week of Kona. So October 9th?
Talked to Roka yesterday. It will be out by Kona.
Price and date? I need to purchase a skin for Kona and keep dragging my feet between a Viper Pro and Blueseventy PZT4TX+
I have no idea but my guess will be is that it will be 20 to 50 dollars more than the viper x because of more material.
All I know is that they said by Kona. Which usually means the week of Kona. So October 9th?
Ugh… that would mean I don’t get to use my discount (eye roll).
Now the question is… is it worth probably $200 to get the sleeved version over the Viper Pro?
I talked to Roka today. It will be out around Kona. Sit back and wait.
There’s some evidence from wetsuits as well: full suits consistently test faster than sleeveless.
I’d like to see evidence that swim skins test faster than a well fitted tri suit let a lone the difference sleeves might make…
+1
.
Hey Ya’ll
Thanks for the interest. Will jump in to try to contribute to the discussion.
How you run your tri kit under a swimskin is obviously personal preference. When Javi tested the new short sleeve swimskin in training before Chattanooga he really liked it and felt no resistance in the arms. However, when he wore a tri kit under it (not ours) he did notice resistance and found that to be the limiter. Since we didn’t have time to sort out a new kit under the skin before Worlds and since he really values feel while he races, he opted for a normal sleeveless tri kit for the race and wore a corresponding sleeveless swimskin. Whether or not he gave up some potential drag savings on the swim or aero on the bike, he obviously overcame that on the run for the win, so tough to say the net impact of sleeves vs no sleeves for him. He had a pretty good day at the office regardless. 
We work with other pros who like to swim with sleeves, and then there is a third set who prefer the roll down method under the skin. So it’s totally down to personal preference. What I will say is that we have considered fast and comfortable swimming in the design and patterning of our tri kits and believe our sleeved kits have much better feel through the shoulders than a standard tri kit. Best advice is don’t worry about what others do and figure out what works for you, taking into consideration both the skin and the kit as well as how much you like or dislike pulling up wet sleeves in T1.
Re: speed of sleeves vs skin, what we’ve seen in tri and competitive swim is that generally more coverage + some sort of coating (can argue hydrophobic vs hydrophilic) is faster. While data is great, am not sure the market size for this product warrants the investment to do a publishable testing protocol that would satisfy the intended audience. If someone wants to commission it and do it right, we’d be happy to support the research. Just having someone do some 50s and 100s though is not a real test, in my opinion. Net net, I personally feel people would still gripe about some element of the test or deny objective facts. We see that all the time in bike, helmet, wheel and other aero tests. So my personal take is that the better thing to do if interested is to attend a demo or spend 5 minutes on our site and buy a suit and try it at home. Decide for yourself if it’s right for you, and if unsatisfied you can return it within 30 days (even after swimming in it), for a full refund.
Re: availability of the suits, we will be making X and Pro versions of the short sleeved suit. The short sleeve Viper Pro will be available at Kona the first day of the expo and should be available online at roka.com the same time for folks doing other races. They are shipping now direct to Kona and to our fulfillment center in the US. The short sleeve Viper X couldn’t get finished before Kona and will be available at roka.com in late October/early November. We made super limited units of both styles for this first batch, and there is a good chance we will sell out. Of course, if we see solid interest at launch we’ll take whatever learnings we have on the product and follow-up with a much bigger order for next year. Hope that helps answer any questions.
Any constructive feedback for how we can get better, please hit me at rob@roka.com.
Best,
Rob
- Want one in Kona.
- Not arriving until Wednesday afternoon
- Any chance you’ll take my discount code at the expo?
-
Availability - It is first come first serve, to be fair. Sorry about that. Hypothetically, to maximize your chances you could order from our site earlier in the week and ship to Kona 1 or 2 day air and then return it at Kona if needed, but you’d eat the outbound shipping.
-
Pricing - Team codes are honored at expos and online generally and I believe would be allowed for this product.
Best,
Rob
Rob,
Do you think I will be able to get a sleeved viper x for IMFL (november 4th)? Willing to ship to race site if needed.
Thanks!