Why a skinsuit, aerosuit or speedsuit?
- 28 March 2024
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Three names for a time trial suit that should bring you different benefits. Others btw say that all the different words are correct. Let’s first make it clear that you can’t confuse them with a Triathlon suit. Firstly, these have a much thinner pad, and secondly, they are meant for both cycling and swimming. A skinsuit is a garment for cyclists that consists of one piece. It was originally designed to give the cyclist an aerodynamic advantage. The fabrics used are designed to reduce air resistance. Significant advantages during a race, you would say!
How much faster are you in a skinsuit?
This point has been investigated many times, and Cycling Weekly has tested it in practice. It turns out that a time trial suit can make you cycle about 21 seconds faster over a distance of 40 kilometers at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour. And if you also exchange your regular road bike for a time trial bike, this could increase to about 28 seconds. Crucial seconds during a race! These might not be significant benefits for the average cyclist, but in competitions, wearing a regular cycling outfit versus a time trial suit can mean the difference between winning and losing.
Which skinsuit is the fastest?
It’s really tough to prove which time trial suit is the fastest. Just kidding, it’s definitely TD Sportswear’s! Below, you’ll see a photo of Ryan breaking a world record in a TD time trial suit. Ryan managed to break two world records in a TD skinsuit! Including the fastest time from the lowest point (Badwater in Death Valley, -85 meters) to the highest point (Mount Whitney, 4421 meters) in the US! He did this in just 13 hours, breaking the record by over an hour.
Really?
Of course, that was a joke, but it doesn’t make us any less proud to deliver a good suit! However, the differences between suits are so minimal, and another factor comes into play: comfort. Having a comfortable pad, a comfortable fabric, or a suit that doesn’t fit quite right? All factors that are likely to have a greater impact on your speed than the suit itself. A good pad can give you more watts than a good time trial suit. The fact remains, developing a time trial suit is an expensive hobby. Wind tunnels and endless tweaking of the design definitely contribute to your chances in a race. Our advice is just not to focus too much on the price. A suit for 400 euros won’t give you significant advantages over a suit for 200 euros in our opinion. Ryan’s suit was 125 euros. Not bad for a double world record suit 🙂 And for those interested: he wore the Elite 1200 time trial suit.
Beauty and comfort
We can’t skip this point. A time trial suit seems like a great option. No more worries about shirts riding up, and it’s also great to ride in a suit that fits you perfectly. However, there’s a big but. The eye also wants something… And everything, really everything, is visible in a tight suit. A bit of a belly can’t be hidden.
Do you want your own custom skin suit? Check out this link and start designing your own suit.