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- Now, when it comes to buying a race kit for a triathlon,
there's two options available to us, really.
We can have a one-piece,
or we can have a two-piece bit of kit,
which essentially does what it says on the tin.
You've got something for your bottom and for your top half.
There are some other complicated factors,
like sleeved or non-sleeved suits,
but today we're simply gonna focus on
choosing between one piece or two piece.
- Well, irrelevant of whether you
choose a one or a two piece,
the idea of a tri suit
is you wear it for the full triathlon,
so, it's important that it's comfortable for the swim,
the bike, and the run.
And in the majority of cases,
you're probably going to be wearing a wetsuit for your swim,
so, in that case, you'd wear your tri suit underneath it,
and then when you get to transition,
whip your wetsuit off,
and you'll be wearing a tri suit for the rest of the event.
- So, to give you some sort of comfort
when you're on the bike,
most tri suits, well, they come with the chamois pad,
which is really very similar to what we have
in our cycling shorts,
just not as thick.
And the idea of it is that it gives us, well,
just enough padding to be comfortable on the bike,
but, crucially, not so thick that it soaks up
most of the water in the swim,
and then makes us feel like we're running in a nappy.
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- Okay let's start by taking a closer look at the one piece,
also sometimes known as a single piece
or simply a tri suit.
And the most obvious thing is it's simple.
It's straight forward,
and there are obviously less openings for drags,
so, say for example, you're doing a non-wet-suit swim,
or a pull-away swim,
then it's gonna be better for something like that.
- Yeah and it's also a lot more aerodynamic as well,
because it is just this one piece of kit that we're wearing.
There's a lot less openings and seams that can cause drag.
And if we think of it as something like an aerodynamic
one-piece skinsuit that you see cyclists wearing,
for example, they are really tight-fitting
to kind of beat the wind,
and stop any turbulence being caused.
And these one-piece tri suits are very much like that.
And another fact, as well, that through the waist,
they're just a little bit more compressive
and tight fitting too.
- Yeah, and I think that's probably why you see athletes,
who are doing the shorter distance races,
those sprint or Olympic,
pretty much always going for a one piece,
because it is just simple, straightforward,
and it kind of somehow feels a bit faster.
- But, that changes as we go up through the distances,
when we're racing for longer,
because, well, what happens if we need to stop
to go to the bathroom when we're racing?
You can do it in a one-piece suit,
but, trust me,
it is a lot harder trying to take one of these things off,
and actually even harder again to try and put it back on
when you're a sweaty mess,
so, I really would suggest that two piece is better
in that example.
- Well I think that leads us nicely on to the two piece.
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Well, as Fraser mentioned,
wearing a two piece is much easier
and quicker when it comes to going to the bathroom.
That's because the top can just stay in place.
But, with that said, it does mean you're going to need
a fairly tight waistband on your shorts
or a drawstring just to keep them in place.
And, some people don't like that feeling.
It can be a little bit restrictive,
and even give the feeling of love handles,
which isn't necessarily very flattering.
- No, perhaps not,
but they can actually be a lot less restrictive,
which is definitely a good thing as we go up the distances,
and particularly, if we're racing in a hot climate.
I mean, a short-sleeved vest like this, for example,
just allows more airflow to hit the body,
and then the heat escape better.
- Now, the problem with a one piece,
you've got to literally find a suit that will
fit your whole body proportions.
And we're all different shapes, as we know,
so a two piece, you can quite often mix and match.
It doesn't matter if the top slightly overlaps the shorts,
so you've got a little bit more leeway
when finding that really perfect fit.
- Although, the two piece can perhaps lack
an aerodynamic advantage compared to the one piece,
you can find that the top will bunch up a little bit,
because obviously, it's not connected
to the shorts that we're wearing,
you might find that the zipper
will kind of crunch and bunch up,
which could maybe cause a little bit of chafing.
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Alright, then, Heather, what are we gonna choose?
- Well the first thing to consider is whether
the event you've entered is wetsuit legal,
or whether the majority of events are wetsuit legal.
If they're not, you're gonna be swimming in your tri suit.
Irrelevant of whether it's a one piece or a two piece,
you want to, ideally, have no pockets or minimal pockets,
because they're just gonna fill up with water
and add drag to your swim.
- Yeah, they certainly are,
and we definitely don't want to do that,
but one way that we can get around that,
if it's allowed in the race that you're doing,
is to wear a swimskin.
Now, these are more hydrodynamic.
They definitely make us swim faster
when we're in the water.
But, then when we get out of the swim,
and we get to T1,
we just take it off,
as we would with our wetsuit.
It is worth pointing out, however,
that these are a much more performance-oriented suit,
and, therefore, you might not want to have to invest
in that extra suit.
- Well, as a general rule of thumb,
a one piece is best suited to the shorter distances,
and then a two piece for the longer,
and, that's actually a rule that I've used so far.
So, for my ironman races,
I have a one or two piece.
I've actually gone as far as changing my top for the run,
but obviously, it's still very personal,
and it is subjective,
and the most important thing when you're finding a tri suit
is to get something that fits you comfortably,
and that you're happy wearing.
- Absolutely, and if you've got any descriptions
of how you've decided to choose your race kits,
then please let us know in the comments below.
If, of cause, you've enjoyed this video,
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And, if you want to see a video
about how to choose a wetsuit,
you can find that up there.
- And, if you want to see a video in a swimskin
versus a tri suit, that's just here.