(robotic soundtrack)
- Now then, just in case you're confused.
I think that triathlon is superb
and I will be a fan for life without question.
However, there's no denying that one of
the very real downsides of the sport is its expense.
I mean, the required kit list alone can just seem to be,
never ending and much of that equipment can seem
to be frighteningly out of budget.
Now, although there are lots of shiny bits
of equipment out there, and we have joked in the past about
the magpie stereotype here in the channel.
You needn't feel you must have lots of expensive equipment,
simply to be able to take part in a triathlon.
So today, I'm going to run through what we hear
at GTN feel are your best value upgrades
to get some more speed for your spend.
(upbeat music)
Right, So I get things started with these upgrades
in the water, With the swim leg.
And kicking off is the wetsuit, because this is essentially
the first bit of equipment that you're going to need
when you're towing the start line on your race day.
Now, interestingly, with wet suits an upgrade
needn't necessarily mean spending lots and lots of money.
And an awful lot of people do fall into the trap of assuming
that they need to buy the top of the range wetsuit,
assuming fairly so that spending lots of money
will be the best option.
But actually, this isn't always the case
and that might not be the most suitable option for you.
What do I mean by that?
Well, a lower range or less spec wetsuit tends to
be constructed from neoprene that is thicker,
and those thicker neoprene panels equal more buoyancy,
which is a big advantage for those
who don't have the best position in the water.
So that is a big plus.
And that is much different to a top of the range wetsuit
that tends to be constructed from neoprene
that is much thinner, especially around the arms
and up into the shoulder regions.
Because of general, stronger swimmers will tend
to have better flexibility.
So what's the best bet for trying to get
a wet suit that fits you?
I would say that you need to make sure
that through the shoulders, the neck and the arms,
you've got good fit to your wetsuit.
And they'll stop lots of water flooding down
the back of your neck when you're swimming.
And that will ensure if you get it right, that you're going to
have a lot of time savings if you opt
for an upgrade on your wet suite.
And that, I bet will take plenty time of your swim split.
(upbeat music)
Right and I'm still sticking with the swimming theme.
And, although this might seem like a little bit of a luxury.
I'm going to suggest a new pair of goggles for race day.
Now I'll be honest, I remember years ago,
friend of mine telling me that he had brand new goggles
every time he race.
And I couldn't believe it.
But, hear me out here for a moment because there is
a lot of upsides to having a brand new set
of goggles when you're swimming.
Nolly is the perfect vision that you get out
of a lens that's never been used before.
And that means, not only are you hopefully you can be able
to see all those marker boys to get your running
the course much easier.
You should also have a vastly improved spatial awareness.
Meaning that you should be far more comfortable knowing
where all the other swimmers are right about you.
Hopefully, preventing you from bumping into people
a lot more often which should save you a chunk
of time when you're out there and the water.
Now To be honest, I amn't suggesting you have
to have brand new goggles every time you race.
But if you do want to have race specific goggles,
that would be a pretty good idea.
Pop them back in a box and just keep them
to next time your swimming.
For all of your regular swim training sessions,
just use some old swimming goggles doesn't really matter
what happens to the lenses and nose.
But honestly, I really think that if you invest
in some new goggles for race day,
you will definitely notice, this has been
a very good value upgrade.
Give it a try.
(uptempo beat)
Now moving on, to the bike.
But with this upgrade suggestion, am not actually going
to be adding anything per say, onto my bike.
Because what I'm talking about just now is how to be
as comfortable as possible whilst riding it.
And the easiest way to do that.
Is well, to get yourself
a good quality professional bike fit.
Now, it's only a few years ago
that there wouldn't have been anyone other than
the very committed
even considering doing something like this.
But it's become a very mainstream notion these days,
and for some very good reasons too.
Now granted, you will hear or read a lot about being
as aerodynamic as possible.
And yes, here on the channel, we will talk about all
the latest bikes and fancy bits of gear as used
by the pros to try and access those coveted aero gains.
But the truth of the matter be told, for the vast majority
of you out there.
What you won't be able to do,
is be as comfortable as you can.
And that's what a bike fit comes in.
Because ideally what that fit will provide is
an aero position that you can stay in longer,
because you're able to maintain that position, comfortably.
Whether that be for a sprint distance, or the full Ironman.
And that means, that you're then hopefully, going to be able
to get off that bike in T two and run far more easily
because of that comfortable bike position.
So in that reason alone,
I'd say a bike fit is a very sensible upgrade.
(hiphop beat)
Now happily admit, I have just talked about the fact
that aerodynamics aren't necessarily the Beal and Angle
when we're sitting on the bike.
However, we can't discount the fact that it is us,
the rider that presents the most amount of drag to the wind.
So we have to try and do our level best,
to try and reduce how much of our frontal area
we do present to the wind.
So, if you don't have a full time trial set up on your bike.
Fear not.
Because with a good set of these and clip on aero bars,
that are well fitted to your position.
You can go a long way to juicing how much of
that frontal later you're presenting to the wind.
And as a result, go quite a bit faster indeed.
Sure, a top end arrow full TT set up on your cockpit,
would be the end goal.
But, if you choose your clip home bars wisely,
then, you can be going a good bit faster without nearly
as much of the expense.
And, I guess for that reason alone,
I'd say these are a seriously good upgrade to consider.
(hiphop beat)
Okay, so this next upgrade, I'm going to touch on,
quick quickly because helmet choice can be
a little bit more personal.
But what we'll see is, it is quite easy to see pictures
of the pro and elite athletes,
wear full tailed long aero helmets with full visors and,
feel the need that you have to get something like that too.
But, in actual fact these can be well quite negative
in their impact on your race time.
And that is because it's quite hard to keep those helmets
in the right position for the duration of your race.
Especially if it's an Iron Man.
You can start moving your head right and especially
if you like down that tail is going to be pointing up
in the air and actually start acting as a drag or
an anchor rather than a sail.
So a good option is actually some of these types of helmets,
which are essentially a hybrid between a regular road helmet
and those full aero versions.
Now, these are suppose are called aero road helmets,
and they're nice and that they still have
a bit of a vented option, but not as many events
as a road helmet,
a little bit more aero in their construction design.
So I think they take that bracket quite nicely.
So, I would give these think about
as your helmet upgrade option.
(soft pop music)
I'm going to finish with this bike specific section
of upgrades, by talking about what is,
a most expensive option.
And these here are some aero wheels or as
they're often described, deep section, carbon wheels.
And there's no denying that the type of wheels that you have
on your bike are going to have a significant impact on
how fast you're able to travel in your race.
And as with many of these upgrades I've already talked about
in this video, the longer that that race is,
the more of an impact that these can potentially have
on influencing how fast your finished time is.
When it comes to describing these types of race wheels.
They are often referred to with regards to their rim depth.
And that can start anywhere
for race wheels around about forty mils.
And that number can more than double as riders
are seeking evermore aero gains from their wheel sets.
(tecno music)
So, I'm just going to finish up here with a fairly simple,
but I'd say really worthwhile upgrade.
And that is elastic laces for your lunches.
Now, there is less of a point in wasting all of
the hard earned, time savings you've just hopefully gained
from perhaps listening to the upgrades I just talked about
on the swim and the bike.
Only to hit t to plunk yourself down and meticulously tie
your shoelaces up and effectively fritter away a lot of
those hard earned gains,
because you've now got elastic laces.
Now a simple thing that I used to do when I was racing,
was just double check that these were nice
and secure before race day, before I maybe put all my stuff
in transition, I'd have a quick double check that
the tension wasn't too tight.
Bear in mind, you're probably going to have socks on too.
So don't forget that.
Do a couple practice runs that you can slip your feet
in a nice and easily, and also make sure
that both shoes match up too.
Cause you don't want to have one nice and tight
and the other one far too floppy
and falling off of the heel.
These are really simple upgrade,
I think you'll save some time with them.
So case off the velocity laces.
Well, that's been my quick and fairly distilled list
of good value upgrades, that will hopefully make you go
a little bit faster in your next race.
But crucially without breaking the bank either.
And of course, these are simply my ideas and thoughts
on what could be good value upgrades,
but if you've got some that you can suggest.
And please get involved down there
in the comments and let me know.
I would love to hear about those.
Hopefully you have enjoyed this video and it's been useful.
So please hit that thumbs up light button.
Find the globe on screen to get, all the other videos
that we've made GTN.
And if you want to see a video about that magpie stereotype
and many others that we talked about in six types
of triathletes, we all know, you can find that here.
And for choosing your type of wetsuit,
well there's been a video of all about that made here.