You Need To Know Before Buying A Tri Suit

1. WHAT EXACTLY IS A TRI SUIT?

A triathlon suit is the only clothing you will wear from the start of a triathlon until the finish line. As it is designed for swimming, biking, and running, the pad is thinner than on biking shorts, but it dries faster, and it is not disturbing you while swimming and running.

2. A TRI SUIT MAKES YOU AT LEAST 2 MINUTES FASTER IN TRANSITIONS

For me, not having to change clothes during a race is the biggest advantage of tri suits. For this reason, it is even on my must-have list for a first triathlon.

As I have been wearing a tri suit since my first race, I never had to change clothes. I have always thought it would take me around 30s to change clothes from the swim to the bike and an additional 30s from the bike to the run. However, after witnessing several triathletes changing clothes on race day, I can say that I was far off.

Without a changing tent, those triathletes needed to use a towel to avoid nudity, another one to dry their body, and some yoga moves to be able to wear their bib shorts. I didn’t check exactly how much time they lost, but I would estimate 3 to 4 minutes, and that was only in T1!

Sure, with some practice, triathletes can be much faster. However, I would be surprised if you could do it on race day (with the additional adrenaline) in under 2 min for the two transitions.

3. WITH A TRI SUIT, YOU WILL ENTER THE WORLD OF TRIATHLETES
It is really fascinating: as soon as you put a tri suit on, you enter the world of triathletes. No one thinks of you as a cyclist anymore