Compression shorts or quad only

[speedysi]

Hi I'm after some advice. There seem to be alot of compression garments out there and I have found these:
http://www.compressport.uk.com/index-2.html
I am leaning towards the forquad instead of something like SKINS shorts. Anyone any thoughts? Have the shorts any more benefits? Thinking that the quads might be better under cycling shorts. Or would the calf ones be better?
Sorry for the daft questions!! I thought there was only shorts and tights!!
Thanks again.

[stevster]

I bought the quad and calf guards the beginning of June with the view of wearing them for the Ironman UK 70.3.

Previously I have used skins elite tights, OCC compression socks, XSOCKS compression socks, 2XU compression socks.

I started by using them for a couple of training runs then started wearing them in the evening if me thighs were achy. I found them to help in both cases, and recovery (as far as I am concerned) was much faster.

I exchanged a few emails with one of the guys at compressport called Tim Williams who suggested giving them a rince after use then put them back on damp, the cooling affect is pure heaven.

The other good thing about these is you can wear them in the swim so no faffing about in T1.

I ended up using both calf and thigh guards at Ironman 70.3 and although I did get twinges of cramp (which I suffer a lot from) I didnt need to get off the bike or stop running unlike a good number of others.
The next day I did 30 min bike and 15 min run with no aches or pains.

I only tend to use them for recover and longer events now, anything over olympic however I just did the London Tri and wished I had worn the thigh guards on the run when cramp started to twing my right thigh.

So in summary....... for versatility I would go for the compressport products and the customer service is very good as well.

[hussler.]

I use the ForQuad's and they are excellent....they even seem to add some kind of springback to your legs to help you bring your knee through back to the start of each stride.

I also use 2XU calf guards but ill be buying the Compressport calf guards once the 2XU ones need replacing.

[anntaylor]

can any one tell me which fabric is more comfortable for shorts?

[Blinkybaz]

I dont tend to use compression shorts for Tri but its a must for me at football. I use addidas compression shorts and the shiney ones as they are more comfortable and not so thernal.
The effect of a compression short does differ slitghly from guards as they support/compress more of your glutes and in some cases lower back. I wouldnt be with out them when it comes to sprinting or football.

[Tesseract]

I'm happy to spend silly amounts of money on bling for my bike...but bizarely I'm a tight-wad when it somes to clothing.

£49 for a pair of the quad supports? f~ that ...£7 for a pair of large tubigrip, another £7 for medium/small and you've covered your entire leg, keep your cycling shorts on and your whole lower body is compressed and supported.

...admitedly not so good for racing, but works an absolute treat for recovery.