More ice pockets, semi-custom fits and longer sleeves: how tri-suits could get better

A couple of years ago, the idea of having an internal pocket in a tri-suit to hold ice, so it trickles down your neck as it melts, would have seemed a gimmick. 

But that was before we realised the devastating impact of overheating on endurance sport performance – a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology concluded that a one-degree centigrade increase in core body temperature reduced VO2 max by 16%. In other words, the hotter you get the slower you’ll run and cycle. 

What’s more, sleeveless tri-suits used to be the norm until it dawned on apparel designers that fabric was faster than skin. I predict we could soon see top triathletes wearing longer sleeves. 

And as awareness grows about the importance of fit to aerodynamics, I think we could see more semi-custom sizing. 

Before looking at how triathlon racing onesies have improved, let’s recap the advancements the best tri-suits have undergone. 

The fabrics are now lighter, cooler and more breathable while the reduction in seams and stitches has improved aerodynamics and reduced chafing risk across the sports. 

The gulf between the chamois comfort of the best bib shorts has narrowed, so tri-suits are more comfortable than ever during long-distance triathlon bike legs. 

In order to maintain a high carbohydrate intake, you can now carry multiple energy gels in aero-profiled rear pockets, often with side access, and in leg cargo pockets. 

Nonetheless, there’s still room for tri-suits to improve in the following areas.

The trickle down of ice

Neck ice pockets are currently confined to premium tri-suits such as the Tri-Fit Vortex, but this feature should soon trickle down to cheaper suits. Amateurs and age groupers will also be racing in hotter conditions and spend longer on the course than pros, so cooling is also vital for them. 

A change to World Triathlon hydration rules, which Ironman has adopted, effectively limiting the volume of liquid you can carry on the bike to four litres could make in-built cooling more important. 

Before the restriction, pouring a bottle over your head to cool you down was less wasteful if you had plenty more with you. Limited to four litres though and hours from the next aid station, it would make more sense to save the water to drink. 

Therefore, I expect more brands to incorporate pockets for ice and cold sponges into tri-suits to fulfill the role ice-cold water bottles once did. 

More tailored fits

All things being equal, a fast tri-suit will be fast for everyone. But when you’re buying a tri-suit off the peg, they aren’t. With a close-fitting garment, the margin for error is tiny, so even if you’ve picked the right size, there’s a risk the suit bunches up, creases or is baggy somewhere. 

Any of these sizing imperfections will have a deleterious effect on drag and could even be slower than a better-fitting suit that’s in theory less aerodynamic. 

What can the consumer do about this? When buying online, apart from poring over the size guide and double-checking all the relevant measurements, not very much. It’s not usually feasible to try before you buy with tri-suits either. 

Of course, a custom tri-suit is beyond the budget of most age-groupers. Semi-custom sizing could offer a happy medium though. For the time being, Nopinz is the only brand I can see that sells its tri-suits in standard and tall fits for individual orders. In my experience of Nopinz skinsuits, this stops taller, leaner athletes from having to size up to get the desired length of arms and legs. 

It’s beyond me why more tri-suit manufacturers haven’t copied Nopinz, knowing how critical a crease-free suit is to triathlon speed. 

Even longer sleeves?

The days when most triathletes raced in vested tri-suits have gone. Sleeves are usually more aero than skin and don’t restrict movement in the water or cause heat build-up while running. 

So why not go further and wear full-length sleeves? Time-trial skinsuits almost always have long sleeves, so a similarly designed tri-suit would probably be faster on the bike.

A wetsuit makes you swim faster due to its buoyancy and partly its material’s improved hydrodynamics over skin. It follows, therefore, that a long-sleeved tri-suit, whose arms are already designed to glide through water, would be faster than a short-sleeved one. 

Admittedly, once out of the water, the arms of your tri-suit will take longer to dry. But as discussed above, the cooling effect of this could be beneficial on the bike.

While running, it would seem long sleeves would be more of a hindrance than help. However, if the suit has in-built UPF protection, this will save you arms from sunburn better than water and sweat drenched suncream.

And on mild-to-warm days, it’s possible that the sleeves won’t be too hot. Plus, the same argument was made about short sleeves in the vested era, and the pitfalls of those have been overcome.