burnthesheep

Koyote

Yeah, the 'stache is pretty well-shielded, but not totally:



Yep, that's Ashton ('stache-ton) Lambie. And he's still doing the occasional gravel race, I believe.

VegasTriker

It lightens your wallet considerably so you should go much faster.

Rollfast

I'm not sure it makes my gut any sexier, or aerodynamic.

rumrunn6

does this apply?

Rule #18 Know what to wear. Don’t suffer kit confusion. No baggy shorts and jerseys while riding the road bike. No lycra when riding the mountain bike (unless racing XC). Skin suits only for cyclocross.

wipekitty

Only if your skinsuit looks like this:

rumrunn6

Teamprovicycle

hey guys , how long do you think this will be on sale and can i do better???/


https://www.competitivecyclist.com/a...nosuit_s7-mens

Doge

Assos is good stuff.
Depends what you want. The Castelli Body Paint would get my money first. Junior has used both.
My 1st 1983 skin suit was Assos. It would be fine now.

superdex

I know you know this, and using hyperbole to make a point, but it bears stating: there are like 87 levels of fitness and types of riders in between the two. Based on what I see around my parts, Speed suits (skin suits with pockets) are de rigueur during cross season, and you'll see plenty of them in the cat4 and up ranks the rest of the year. And in the local TT series, you'll see plenty of em, on top of $12k of wundergear. If it works for you, it works.

asgelle

I'm not sure how you personally measure better, but in terms of reducing drag, performance is very dependent on the individual, and there's no way of knowing which will perform better without testing. On some people, more expensive suits perform worse than the less expensive ones.

matt92037

In my case speed suits turn on the ladies at spin class.

Caliper

19-25W is hardly a tiny amount of watts. That's a huge difference for anyone in shape and looking to go faster, it will take a lot of work to get that sort of power increase! Even a pro in the 450-500W range for a TT is looking at around 5% savings.

I agree for pleasure riders, it's no difference but that's not the target market here. For a competitive amateur it really does look like easy watts for the money.

caloso

Seriously. I have absolutely slaughtered myself for months to achieve a 25w increase in FTP.

Sy Reene

Of course you should feel great about the accomplishment; much moreso than if you had just pulled out your wallet to do the same. Most anyone can do that.

Teamprovicycle

Are you doing pure outdoor or track ftp tests or trainer.

robnol

its the placebo effect...total waste of some ones money

asgelle

I'm pretty sure all the strain gauges used in testing have built in placebo compensation.

caloso

robnol

yeah a loose shoe lace will have as much effect on a riders speed as a ****** speed suit....buy a low racer recumbent if u really want to get aero and go fast

asgelle

You really have no idea what the drag on shoe laces or speed suits are do you? Don't be afraid, admit it.

And surely you must realize recumbents aren't allowed in bicycle races.

robnol

bike races are about who can afford the most advantages....speed sui...t ultra light bikes......carbon .racing wheels....ceramic bearings the list goes on...its not about whos best just who has the most money to spend on advantages

drlogik 

Makes you look fast? Just kidding. In elite sports it's all about the smallest edge. Sometimes the physical edge isn't as strong as the psychological edge. If you "feel" faster you generally will be faster.

I was a swimmer all through high school and college. I hated shaving my legs...hated it. But, it made me feel like a greased torpedo in the water. I "felt" faster. My times were always better when I shaved.

When I was in college Mark Spitz was a swimming god. Spitz won seven Olympic Gold Medals in swimming with a FULL head of hair AND a mustache. Kinda puts the hair thing to rest but he was confident enough to swim with a full head of hair and no cap.

If I put on a speed suite I'd look like a big stuffed sausage at my age. Probably good for sky diving but not cycling....

Spitz's edge was his mechanics. Hair? Pffft....

Today? He'd wear a skinsuite just like the rest of the competition though. He'd probably wear a cap too for the psychological edge.

fietsbob

Now? probably be too cold..

Kai Kai

I always thought bikers look silly. Sorry. I have since then changed my mind a little. I used to think, "Who the hell do they think they are? Freddie Mercury?". And what is that mushroom thing on their head? Since then I have put on bike suits. I have mushroom helmets (I only wear them 30% of the time) For fun.

But...something in the back of my head keeps on reminding me: "There was a time you thought they looked silly. Remember that..dress normal."