First-timer question: tri shorts

Many people do all 3 disciplines in the tri shorts. You wear them under the wetsuit, and you actually can swim in them, and they have a small padding in the butt area for biking. And the padding is small enough to still run in them.



Edited by auto208562 2005-04-06 1:43 PM

Are wetsuits necessary? My first race will be in a lake in NJ in May. I was not going to invest in one, and brave the cold. Would you ever swim in tri shorts without the wetsuit?

I think this is a personal question. Are you used to swimming in the temperature of that lake? Maybe you should try swimming the lake beforehand.

In my first tri, which was around 59 degrees in ocean water, I had a full wet suit on and I couldn't take it. It was freezing. But I had never swam in that temperature before.

People swam in their speedos that day, so obviously they were used to it.

In a shorter distance tri, you don't change clothes. Well, some people swim in a swim suit and throw on shorts for the bike and/or run, but you will be eating up precious time in the transition area if you do that. And, whenever you have 2 layers between you and the bike, you increase the likelihood of chaffing.

In the race I did and the ones I have coming up (Sprint & Oly) I will be wearing tri shorts, a sports bra and a tri jersey. I also will be wearing a wetsuit for the swim, but if the water was warm enough, I wouldn't. Some women, depending on body type can wear a tri top with support (though they don't have a lot of support) or a tri swim suit for the whole race - those have a small quick drying chamois or even a tri suit, which is a one piece shorts and jersey combined.

Check to see if what the water temp will be for the tri. They usually have that on the webpage for the race, and they will usually say whether they think wetsuits would be a good idea.

Victoria