Skin suit.

Anonymous
Anonymous Posts: 79,666
edited February 2014 in Road buying advice
I am going to be racing some TT's this year and hopefully some crits.

I simply can't afford a new bike, for the foreseeable future anyway. I am trying to do everything to make a difference. I'd like to buy a skinsuit. Preferably under £100, is there anything worth getting in that price range or are they pointless. Also is sizing the same to other cycling gear?
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Comments

  • chrisw12
    chrisw12 Posts: 1,246
    If you are going to tt next year then you must be in a club, no? Why don't you wear a club skinsuit or ask members of the club what they wear? You can also probably try club kit on.
  • t4tomo
    t4tomo Posts: 2,643
    Training hard will make the most difference. :D
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  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    t4tomo wrote:
    Training hard will make the most difference. :D

    ^^ this, obviously....
  • overlord2
    overlord2 Posts: 339
    Look on ebay you can get some decent stuff if you look hard enough and have a bit of patience. I got a Giordana skin suit for about £30 new (ish).
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    Try to avoid skinsuit in XXXL. Not a good look.
  • Semantik
    Semantik Posts: 537
    chrisw12 wrote:
    If you are going to tt next year then you must be in a club, no? Why don't you wear a club skinsuit or ask members of the club what they wear? You can also probably try club kit on.

    Not necessary to be a member of a club unless you are doing Open time trials. Club events are open to all.

    And to answer the OP, Impsport do a decent skinsuit for around £70.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Thanks going to order one this weekend, would you guys recommend getting a short sleeved one or a long sleeved one?


    Also thanks for reminding me about training, had slipped my mind completely.
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    Long sleeve.
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  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    Get a spider man one, at least people will take it with a smile
    left the forum March 2023
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    sjmclean wrote:
    Thanks going to order one this weekend, would you guys recommend getting a short sleeved one or a long sleeved one?


    Also thanks for reminding me about training, had slipped my mind completely.

    Absolutely nothing wrong with wearing a skinsuit for crits - lots of people do. But - if you seriously think that you are going to get any meaningful, worthwhile advantage in a bunch race by wearing one, then you may be disappointed...
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Imposter wrote:
    sjmclean wrote:
    Thanks going to order one this weekend, would you guys recommend getting a short sleeved one or a long sleeved one?


    Also thanks for reminding me about training, had slipped my mind completely.

    Absolutely nothing wrong with wearing a skinsuit for crits - lots of people do. But - if you seriously think that you are going to get any meaningful, worthwhile advantage in a bunch race by wearing one, then you may be disappointed...

    Thanks, mentioning crit's is more my way of justifying the expenditure to myself.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    sjmclean wrote:
    Thanks, mentioning crit's is more my way of justifying the expenditure to myself.

    Probably because the part of yourself who is resisting is actually right?
    You see, in swimming where you win or lose a race for fractions of a second, these fluid-dynamically improved suits did help... but I struggle to see how a skinsuit will give you any benefit over some tight fitting lycra that you have already.
    If you are at the cutting edge of time trialling and you need to beat that guy who always pips you for 5 seconds, then maybe... otherwise you are just buying a fancy dress really... hence my advice to get one you can actually use at a fancy dress party
    left the forum March 2023
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    A skinsuit is the most appropriate thing to wear for a time trial so makes sense. If you can't justify the expense then normal kit probably won't disadvantage you that much, but if you intend to do a lot of time trials then why not just get a skinsuit? I've had a couple, first was Giordana and got worn maybe a handful of times a year - our club crit champs, a couple of hill climbs, a couple of sporting time trials. I then sold it on eBay for pretty much what I paid for it and replaced it with a long sleeved club one, so far worn twice (a team time trial and a hill cimb). I have never expected it to be the difference between winning and losing, but its nice lining up in the right gear and crossing off one more excuse for sub-standard performance.
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    sjmclean wrote:
    Thanks, mentioning crit's is more my way of justifying the expenditure to myself.

    Probably because the part of yourself who is resisting is actually right?
    You see, in swimming where you win or lose a race for fractions of a second, these fluid-dynamically improved suits did help... but I struggle to see how a skinsuit will give you any benefit over some tight fitting lycra that you have already.
    If you are at the cutting edge of time trialling and you need to beat that guy who always pips you for 5 seconds, then maybe... otherwise you are just buying a fancy dress really... hence my advice to get one you can actually use at a fancy dress party

    I did some reading on it and they seemed to suggest that next to a tt bike and helmet wheels it was the biggest improvement you could make in a TT?

    Obviously excluding training etc.
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    If you take out the bike, wheels, helmet, tyres and training - you ain't got a lot, left so that could be right. As BigMat says it won't make the difference between winning or losing, but it is nice to feel like you are properly dressed for an appropriate occasion. I would suggest that unless you are 1st cat, that turning up to a race wearing a skinsuit will make you look a bit of a tit. Unless of course you win, in which case you are justified in what you wear....
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    mroli wrote:
    If you take out the bike, wheels, helmet, tyres and training - you ain't got a lot, left so that could be right. As BigMat says it won't make the difference between winning or losing, but it is nice to feel like you are properly dressed for an appropriate occasion. I would suggest that unless you are 1st cat, that turning up to a race wearing a skinsuit will make you look a bit of a tit. Unless of course you win, in which case you are justified in what you wear....

    Ok, I've decided on your advice and the fact I just got more work, which means I'll be away for most of spring, I'm not going to buy one. I might treat myself to a new summer jersey.
  • brettjmcc
    brettjmcc Posts: 1,361
    As others have said, specific traiing and practice will help

    Also, maybe get some cheap tri bars and play around with moving your saddle forward to get a different hip angle
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  • GGBiker
    GGBiker Posts: 450
    Actually a skin suit is one of the most effective aero improvements you can make and one of the most cost effective, reckoned to save around 2 mins off a 25 mile tt time. Fitting tt bars gets another 2 mins, aero helmet 1 min, shoe covers 30sec, I bought all of the above for about £120.

    An aero frame? 17 secs. Full disc rear wheel? About 30secs. So no point in those unless you are very serious about improving your times and prepared to spend a lot of money on it.

    See link below for details:
    http://cyclingtips.com.au/2010/04/biggest-bang-for-your-buck-in-time-trial-equipment/
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    GGBiker wrote:
    Actually a skin suit is one of the most effective aero improvements you can make and one of the most cost effective, reckoned to save around 2 mins off a 25 mile tt time. Fitting tt bars gets another 2 mins, aero helmet 1 min, shoe covers 30sec, I bought all of the above for about £120.

    Did you improve by 5 and a half minute with no extra training?
    left the forum March 2023
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    GGBiker wrote:
    Actually a skin suit is one of the most effective aero improvements you can make and one of the most cost effective, reckoned to save around 2 mins off a 25 mile tt time. Fitting tt bars gets another 2 mins, aero helmet 1 min, shoe covers 30sec, I bought all of the above for about £120.

    Did you improve by 5 and a half minute with no extra training?

    I too would be amazed if you shaved off 5 1/2 minutes on a hour's ride, just by using the above-mentioned kit.

    Here's my take on it;

    Skin suit, 20 secs. TT Bars maybe 2 mins if position right, aero helmet 30 secs, shoe covers 10 secs. = 3 mins max.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    It was that cycling tips article that put me on the idea. I might still do it, I should have mentioned I have aero bars, a helmet and shoe covers already.

    People seem to assume I'm looking to cheat the system by buying one, I'm training hard and I see a difference but I was just looking for the small thing I could do to make a difference. One I did last year I started behind a guy who had a BMC timemachine, skin suit, aero helmet, the full shabang and I think I took him in the first half of the route. So I understand how silly you can look, but I was just looking for something extra I could do, on top of training.
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    Anything, within reason, that makes you more aero, or makes you lighter has to be a good thing. Faster cycling = more fun cycling in my book.

    But I would draw the line at a full blown TT helmet in a road race....!
  • GGBiker
    GGBiker Posts: 450
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    GGBiker wrote:
    Actually a skin suit is one of the most effective aero improvements you can make and one of the most cost effective, reckoned to save around 2 mins off a 25 mile tt time. Fitting tt bars gets another 2 mins, aero helmet 1 min, shoe covers 30sec, I bought all of the above for about £120.

    Did you improve by 5 and a half minute with no extra training?

    I'm not big into TTs but did take 1min 40 off a 5 mile time, start vs end of season. Fitness definitely played a part but the addition of suit (£25 on eBay), shoe covers £10 and helmet £50 probably played some part. I had the tt bars £30 from Wiggle) on the first run already.
  • dawebbo
    dawebbo Posts: 456
    Anyone who rides with a power meter will know that these claims are about right.
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    I dropped almost 7 minutes off my 10 mile time last season in three months. All the same aero kit (except for rear disc), it's just my first run was an absolute abortion. Conditions make a massive difference.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    GGBiker wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    GGBiker wrote:
    Actually a skin suit is one of the most effective aero improvements you can make and one of the most cost effective, reckoned to save around 2 mins off a 25 mile tt time. Fitting tt bars gets another 2 mins, aero helmet 1 min, shoe covers 30sec, I bought all of the above for about £120.

    Did you improve by 5 and a half minute with no extra training?

    I'm not big into TTs but did take 1min 40 off a 5 mile time, start vs end of season. Fitness definitely played a part but the addition of suit (£25 on eBay), shoe covers £10 and helmet £50 probably played some part. I had the tt bars £30 from Wiggle) on the first run already.

    Yes but if we can't discriminate which part played which we are back to square one... you get fitter or you upgrade parts, you can't do both, it's not scientific! :wink:
    left the forum March 2023
  • GGBiker
    GGBiker Posts: 450
    Ok, here's the ultimate evidence for the naysayers!

    Seriously though guys, why would anyone bother with all this stuff if it was no use?

    http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/how-aero-is-aero-19273/
  • overlord2
    overlord2 Posts: 339
    On a standard road bike Skin Suit is more important than aero bars. Aero bars on a road bike are just utterly useless.
  • Semantik
    Semantik Posts: 537
    Overlord2 wrote:
    On a standard road bike Skin Suit is more important than aero bars. Aero bars on a road bike are just utterly useless.

    Why useless?

    Clip on tribars save up to a minute on a 10 mile time trial when fitted to a standard road bike. That's a fact.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Overlord2 wrote:
    Aero bars on a road bike are just utterly useless.

    I'm not sure this is true, If you look at the link above, the evidence would be that it makes a difference.

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