- If you're looking to shave time off your triathlon,
then transitions are a great way of doing this.
Anything you can do
to shorten that part of the race is worth a shot.
And that's where these things come in, elastic laces.
It's not because triathletes don't know how
to tie their own shoe laces,
although, that may be an issue for some, who knows.
These are actually for performance.
It's an opportunity to save time
going from the bike to the run,
and personally I've never done a triathlon without them;
although, I do know a lot of athletes that don't use them.
So there's clearly some personal preferences at play.
There's some pros and cons.
So today I'm gonna be running through some of those.
I'm going to be putting them through a bit of adversities
so that I can help you make your own mind up.
(upbeat music)
Okay, so when we're talking about elastic laces,
we're often referring to these,
just a stretchy piece of elastic
that we use to replace the standard laces
on our running shoes.
But there are, obviously, a number of alternatives,
and I've had a little rummage through some of my old kit
and pulled out these.
So, I've got a set of Flatlines.
Now these are really similar
to your swimming goggles straps,
and they work in a very similar way to the elastic laces.
And then we've got something a little bit different.
We've got the Greepers.
Now these are actually very similar
to your standard fabric laces,
but then they have this very clever locking mechanism.
Now, a really interesting option,
and we'll cover a little bit more on those later,
but for now, let's take a closer look at the elastic laces.
(energetic music)
Right, the idea behind these elastic laces
is so that you can slip your feet
into your shoes in one swift motion,
obviously saving the time
of having to tie your shoe laces as you normally would.
And not to forget, of course, having to slip your feet
out of your shoes if you're doing something
like a duathlon and running first.
So what happens is the elastics stretch
as you put your feet into your shoes
and prevent you from misshaping your shoe,
and then actually equally has enough tension
to hold your foot well and securely within the shoe.
Right, I've spoken enough about these laces now.
Let's see what their difference is
through a timed transition.
(upbeat music)
Right, I'm gonna do a mock T2,
so imagine I've got my bike shoes off already.
All I need to do is
put my running shoes on, and away I go.
So for this, I'm gonna start the clock here at this point.
I'm gonna run towards my run shoes.
I'm gonna whack those on,
and then I'm gonna stop the clock
when I pass this point here.
I'm gonna start with with the standard laces,
and I'm actually gonna do three runs on each.
So, I'm gonna do without socks,
and I'm gonna do a run with the socks,
and I'm also gonna do a run
where I put my socks on within the transition,
but I can explain why later.
For now, let's get ready for run number one.
Let's go.
(energetic music)
Sixteen seconds, (puffs).
Run two with the socks.
Three, two, one, skipped.
(energetic music)
(puffs) Fourteen seconds. Two seconds quicker.
Okay, the third run with the standard laces,
and I put my socks ready in my shoes
so that I put my socks on and then my shoes, and away I go.
Three, two, one.
(energetic music)
Twenty-eight seconds.
Quite a bit slower.
Okay, so that's the standard laces done,
and I went 16 seconds on the first run without socks,
14 seconds with the socks.
So, two seconds quicker,
and I think that's because basically
feet are a little bit clammy when
they haven't got the socks them,
so that just caused a little bit of friction
as you're putting the shoe on.
Obviously I would normally recommend putting talcum powder
in the shoe if you are going barefoot.
And then obviously I did the final run
where I timed putting the socks on as well.
Mainly because if you are going to be putting
socks on in your triathlon,
you need to account for that time.
And that came out almost double the time,
28 seconds, 14 seconds slower than my quickest run,
which isn't a masses of time,
although, it's double the time,
but we'll weigh out the pros and cons,
but to that later on, but for now,
let's take these standard laces out,
and put the elastics on.
Okay, so I've got my elastic laces on,
and it's worth noting that elastic laces often come
with these little locking mechanisms.
Now I personally never bothered with them.
I've come from an ITU racing background
where every second counts,
so I normally just tie them to a good tension,
so I can get my foot in easily,
and also they're tight enough that they hold
the foot securely and well.
But the locking mechanisms are really good for you
tightening them or loosening them on the move,
so that is personal.
It's entirely up to you,
but for now, let's just test these elastic laces
on the three runs.
(upbeat music)
Three, two, one.
(running music)
Three, two, one.
(running music)
Okay, so that's the runs done with the elastic laces.
Times are in.
I went seven seconds with the first run with socks.
So, half the time of my quickest run
with the standard laces, so considerably quicker.
Then I went a second quicker again
with six seconds with the socks,
and then obviously I timed myself putting the socks on
and then shoes, and I went 19 seconds on that run,
which is quicker than the previous time with standard laces,
but I have to say, I could have done that quicker.
I did mess it up a little bit.
But clearly, elastic laces are much quicker,
and yeah, I mean that's all very well
saving a few seconds through transition,
but what's it like
when you're out running on the road or through the trails?
And unfortunately, that's where things
get a little bit fuzzy for elastic laces
because I'd love to be able
to show you a time difference between the two,
but that'd be near impossible,
and there's so many variable factors at play.
But there's clearly so many pros and cons to both.
(rockabilly music)
As I've shown already, quite simply,
elastic laces are quicker through transition.
Pro.
Some argue that elastic laces allow too much movement
for the foot within the shoe,
and therefore affecting the athlete's communication
between their foot and the sole of the shoe
and then their running performance.
Con.
But standard laces can feel a little constricting at times,
particularly as a race goes on and your feet heat and swell,
whereas elastic laces allow a little more flexibility
for the shoe to expand and relieve any unnecessary pressure.
Pro.
With the increased movement whilst using the elastic laces,
there is the risk of developing blisters.
Con.
Now it's not uncommon to get cold hands during a triathlon,
certainly if you're racing in the UK like us.
And given that you're not doing much
with your hands on the bike,
it can be quite a bit asked to try and get them
to tie some laces up as you go onto the run.
But that's where elastic laces come in.
Pro.
But the give that elastic laces allow
could affect an athlete's biomechanics,
and if used over time for all their training,
it could cause injury.
Con.
Well then there is the distance in terrain to consider,
so if you are running off road,
you might want your foot
to be a little more secure within the shoe,
particularly if you're running over uneven surfaces.
As for distance, as the distance increases
the transition becomes a far smaller percentage
of your overall race time.
So that need for a quick transition
becomes far less important,
but maybe the comfort becomes a little more important.
As I've mentioned already,
I came from an ITU racing background
where very second counts.
And I stepped up to Half Ironman as a pro,
so that quick transition was still
big of value in importance for me,
whereas for Heather, she came to triathlon
at half or middle distance,
then stepped up to full distance.
So she really prefers using standard laces.
And if we take a look at the pros,
there is a mix within them,
though a lot of them are still using elastic laces.
But there is this reduction in importance for a quick T2,
which is where I think Greepers comes in
and are a really interesting option.
So it's still that standard laces,
good support, but with a quick fastening mechanism.
So it really does come down to personal preference.
What works for you, your different racing styles,
distances, the terrains you're racing on,
and really what you're happiest using.
And as always, we love to hear what you're doing currently,
or what your thoughts are on it.
So do drop them in the comments section below.
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And if you'd like to see another versus,
socks versus no socks, just click up there.
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