I‘ve bought a beautifu Zoot race suit with a floral design in 2019 and wanted to race it at Roth 2020. So of course with cancelation etc. this never happened so I rode it on the day roth should have been held.
Turns out for my taste the padding is not sufficient, there barely isn‘t any padding (compared to for example my 2xU or a Castelli bin short I own).
It‘s the following suit:
Zoot Tri Aero 83 Aloha ‘19 (with sleeves).
So my question is:
Did I pick the wrong suit for long distance (I could ride it for an Olympic no issue but after 90k it‘s killing me)? Are there suits with more padding or is that just the padding Zoot suits are made with?
Would love to buy another one because I actually like the design but just for hanging it into the cupboard I wouldn‘t do it
For me the padding of the racesuits needed some time to get used to. I had problems with some chafing, but now i am very happy with them. No issues with the thickness.
Yeh you got the fleece padding. At best Olympic distance and under. A lot of zoots stuff was like this in days gone by to the point where I didn’t even look at their suits again because sometimes there nice designs had those exact pads. Next to useless
You might be able to find someone skilled enough to replace the pad, if you like the design enough. Materials and labor would probably be similar to a new race kit!
That’s not the same pad I have in my Zoot trisuits. That looks to be a fleece “padâ€. Can’t imagine doing 112 miles on that. There aren’t really any Tri pads that scream “I wanna ride 112 miles on theseâ€. But the Zoot pads are on par with others.
She could probably develop a small side business… If she could source a couple of useful pad types and offer ‘send me your worn/uncomfortable pad shorts/bibs and I’ll replace the pad with this one or that one…’ Probably only feasible for high end stuff (or sentimental kits)…
I have done several IMs with that Zoot pad . . . I thought it was great and had no problems. Of course, in the old, old days I did IMs in an unpadded speedo.
I think you just need to get used to the padding, or lack of padding. I don’t ride in the winter and the first few rides of the year are rough on my sit bones, to the point where I can’t ride 2 days in a row (I’m riding in bike shorts with a pretty thick chamois). By the end of the summer, I can ride without any padding for any distance and have no issues.
Just a reminder when you hear anecdotes on this thread, that everyone is different when it comes to chamois and seats. And male and female anatomy is different.
Getting that out of the way, I have done IMs and halfs with the Zoot felt pad. I have an older, more padded saddle that is the norm today, so that might help. I am comfortable on the bike and the felt pad works very well on the swim and run. Other pads I tired felt like I was wearing a diaper.
I had a hard time getting used to the thin padding in trisuits. Experiented with a few suits and the it hit me: why not try a cycling-specific suit. Ordered the Rapha Aerosuit and it’s surprisingly awesome. Plush on the bike and didn’t find it more uncomfortable on the swim and run. It even has a full size zipper to make easy use of number 1’s. I’ll also add that I’m 95kg, so might not be necessary for everyone, but some food for thought.
