nairb49

hey,
doing my frist tri on sunday.

i plan on wearing my bathing suit (speedo-shorts) for the swim, bike AND run.
is this a bad idea?

ie. i don't have a wetsuit, and don't want to get one...yet

thanks!

jennings780

Get a pair of triathlon shorts.
They are tight like jammers and look like bike shorts. Have a slight bit of padding in the seat but they are quick dry.
Good luck.

RugbyToTri

My vote is to go with the speedo shorts if you have biked in them for training. The tri shorts offer more drag than jammers and the padding is of little help. They also make your crotch wet throughout the bike leg as the padding holds water like a sponge. You can always throw on a pair of bike shorts over the bathing suit if comfort is an issue.

MHR

Depends on the distance of your Tri
In the old days (mid 1980's) I did the whole race (olympic distance tri's) in a speedo (not speedo shorts)with no padding. If I were to do an Olympic Distance Tri today I would wear a speedo for the swim (use them as underware the rest of the day), in T1 pull on some Bike shorts over the speedo and wear a Bike specific Jersey. In T2 I would pull off the Bike shorts and pull on CWX shorts over the speedo (which look like bike shorts without padding, made for running) and throw on a running singlet.

My goal was to keep my transitions to 1:30 or less, and I did. These days I pretty much only do 1/2 IM an IM races - for those I use Swim specific (a Speedo FastSkin - Highneck/Kneeskin, and use a regular speedo as underware), then Bike specific and Run specific attire, but then again I'm old school. For me it's all about being dry as possible and comfortable - while still being fast. I gladly give up 30 seconds in T1 and T2 for the extra comfort.

ZackJones

Like MHR I used to do all of my tri's in just a speedo. Compassion for my fellow men and women prevents me from wearing one now since it would not be a pretty sight . For sprints I wear bike shorts for everything. I have had no problems with chafing and I don't notice them being wet when on the bike.

kfb

Just finished my first sprint this past Sat.

I did the whole race in 8" tri shorts. Worked just fine for the swim, and dried out extremely quick for the bike, I never noticed any wetness while biking (more padding for the bike would be nice). They were also very comfy for the run. I could NEVER do the speedo thing for the bike or run, but that's just me?

Had 545 participants in our race, and i'd say at least 80% wore tri shorts (between 6-8" inseam).

^*^BATMAN^*^

Tri shorts, cant beat them. I just need to get my T1 time down to under 45 seconds and Ill be happy.

kfb

When you figure out how to do that, please pass it on to me! I think I was over 2 minutes!