bike shorts under wet suit?

Most Tri suits and tri shorts have padding, though less than your typical bike shorts and designed to dry faster.

I think it is perfectly legal, but my one experince with a wet suit says your clothes are going to get wet, so I don't know that you want that big of a soggy pad on when you get out of the water.

Don't you do that anyway with a trisuit/tri short… (under the wetsuit that is)

Wet suit? Swim Suit? What exactly are you talking about? A triathlon specific wet suit will provide buoyancy. It's about the neoprene, not air bubbles.

Just the thought of riding with a soaking wet chamois is making me chafe.

A possible combo that DeSoto reccommends for long course, non-wetsuit races is wearing their 400 mile bib shorts under their Liftfoil swim skin (with the shoulder straps of the bibs around your waist). Shed the swimskin in T1, pull up the shoulder straps of the bibs and put on your chosen top. This combo adds bouyancy to your tailend during the swim by having two pads. The 400 mile bib pad will dry on the bike, minus sweat. If they fit properly, running in the 400 mile bibs/shorts isn't bad at all.

Although I've tried running in the 400 miles bibs, it's not my prefrence. It certainly is NOT like running in a soggy diaper. It's really not bad at all. I just like a thin pad with my Cobb saddle instead of the thicker pad.

So to answer your question.... yes, people do this and yes a double pad may add bouyancy. Is it enough to correct poor swim form? Sadly, no. The above combo is not ?currently USAT ?prohibited (to the best of my knowledge).

A wet suit is not designed to have an air bubble trapped.  That would be a dry suit.  A wet suit is designed to allow water past the seals creating a thin layer of water between your skin and the suit.   The lack of buoyancy might be related to form or you may have a skin suit.

Ok, this discussion is having me 2nd guessing myself. I am completely new to triathlons and my first one is actually in a month. Tommorrow I am going to look and possibly purchase a wetsuit. I'd put a little bit of thought into what I would be wearing on race day and this is what I was thinking...

I'd wear the wetsuit (obviously) with a pair of Orca Core Triathlon shorts that I have (similiar to these) underneath. Once getting out of the water I'd take off the wetsuit and put on a performance shirt and go....is this totally off-base?  Would the chaimos in my tri shorts make for an uncomfortable ride? If so, can someone provide a link of what is preferred apparel?

Thanks!

To synthetic and husker:

Wear tri specific clothing under the wetsuit.  DO NOT WEAR BIKE SHORTS.  You will get wet, even with a wetsuit.  You do not want the pad in bike shorts to soak up water.  Wear top and bottoms (or a 1 piece tri suit) under wetsuit.  DO NOT TRY TO PUT ON CLOTHES IN T1.  This is very difficult and time consuming to do when wet and you may become the next hit YouTube video.