Beginner’s Tips: What Race Day Gear Do I Need?
It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional triathlete or just starting out in the sport, every single triathlete needs these 10 pieces of kit to get through their race!
1.Tri-Suit
First things first is the Tri-Suit. You want to reach that finish line of a triathlon as quickly as possible don’t you? You don’t have time changing from bike shorts to running shorts etc. in the transition area. A Tri-Suit combines all of this kit together allowing you to wear the same outfit from the start of the race to the finish. A Tri-Suit is made up of fabric that is quick-drying with a small chamois to make riding your bike all the more comfortable. You will knock minutes, not just seconds, off your finishing time by getting one.
We recommend:
Men: HUUB Race Tri Suit (£84.99)
Women: HUUB Women’s Aura Tri Suit (£90.99)
2. Wetsuit
Eventually after your first few triathlons you will proceed from a local pool-based event into the world of open water swimming. Depending on where and what temperature you are competing in this could very well mean that you will be required under the rules to wear a wetsuit. This can be a significant investment so it’s important you find the right one for you and look after it!
We recommend:
Men: HUUB Albacore 3:5 Wetsuit (£298.99)
Women: Blueseventy Women’s Sprint Wetsuit (£199.00)
3. Goggles
A small piece of equipment, but one that is essential to get right, otherwise you could be in for a long first leg of your triathlon! Make sure the goggles you get fit correctly, if you don’t they will fill up with water and whether you are a good swimmer or not, you simply won’t be able to see which direction you are going and this will in essence slow you right down, giving your competitors the edge. You want to get goggles that seal as a vacuum around your eyes but not overly tight. It would be a good idea to consider getting polarised goggles because if the weather is sunny the sunlight can sometimes make it hard to see and these types of goggles will reflect that light away.
We recommend:
Men & Women: Zone3 Vapour Polarised Goggles Tim Don Signature (£22.99)
4. Sunglasses
Not only do these keep the light out of your eyes but they also keep out the wind, rain and potentially flying insects from affecting your vision on both the bike and the run sections of the triathlon, allowing you to keep all distractions out and keep focused. It is best to go for sunglasses that have photochromic lenses as this will adjust to the condition on the day of your race.
We recommend:
Men: Oakley Jawbreaker Matte Black Prizm Road Sunglasses (£175.00)
Women: Oakley Radar EV Path White Prizm Snow Sunglasses (£128.00)
5. Bike
A massive variety to choose from here and the choice is yours! Spend as much as you can afford or go all in and buy a bike worth more than your car! We would say if you’re just starting out, keep it at the affordable range for now and go bigger if you get more into the sport, we’ll leave our two suggestions down below.
You have two choices, go for the road bike or the aero bike. A road bike can easily be remodelled for non-drafting triathlon purposes by adding on clip on aerobars for as little as £20. However, depending on your triathlon goals if things get serious and your want every second you can find head for the aero bike.
We recommend:
Affordable
Men: Fuji SL-A 1.3 Road Bike 2020 (£999.99)
Women: Cube Axial WS Pro Womens Road Bike 2020 (£899.00)
The serious stuff!
Men: Vitus Auro TEAM eTap TT Bike Force – 2020 (£3,499.99)
Women: Felt IA14 TT Bike 2019 (£1,899.00)
6. Socks… well just for some!
Some of you will instantly scroll past this point already seeing wasted seconds passing your eyes right now! However, others may see a sock-less run as a recipe for disaster… blisters! By just taking those 10 seconds when doing your first few triathlons to put some socks on then your shoes, the combination of this will stop and keep your feet in top nick both throughout and by the end of the race. After doing this for your first few triathlons you may want to branch out to the sock-less path.
We recommend:
Men: Giro Comp Racer Socks (£14.99)
Women: Stance Women’s Training Uncommon Mesh Tab Sock (£6.59)
7. Helmet
Safety first! You won’t even be able to race in a triathlon event without one of these. These don’t have to be expensive. All helmets have to meet a certain criteria to be produced so all of them out there are going to be safe. The question is how many seconds do you want to save yourself? Top end helmets are incredibly expensive and if you are just looking to do your first triathlon we would recommend keeping this as the cheaper end. It’s not about how you look… not yet anyway!
We recommend:
Men: dhb R2.0 Road Helmet (£50.00)
Women: Giro Ember Women’s Helmet (MIPS) (£79.99)
8. Race Belt
Here is where you get to save yourself the frantic fumble of trying to pin a number to your shirt. A race belt solves this problem. An elastic strap that clips around your waist when you put it on in first transition going out onto the bike and then just a quick swivel around to the front as you head out of T2 for the run.
We recommend:
Men & Women: Zone3 Race Belt (£5.99)
9. Running Shoes
You feet will be hitting the ground thousands of times during both racing and training so getting the right pair of running shoes that fit you is imperative. If you don’t get this right you can easily pick up an injury. We will recommend some down below, but you may way to consider if possible to visit a specialist running shop who will be able to test what works for you on the spot and pick the shoe perfectly for you.
We recommend:
Men: adidas Adizero Takumi Sen Running Shoes (£77.97)
Women: Saucony Women’s Fastwitch 9 Running Shoes (£75.00)
10. Elastic Laces
Learnt how to tie your laces? Well what a waste of time that was! With elastic laces you can miss out fluffing about with your normal laces and easily just pull the upwards tightening and locking your shoe into place around your foot. These elastic laces fit most shoes and will save you any stress on race day of your shoe laces coming untied!
We recommend:
Men & Women: Zone3 Elastic Lock Laces (£5.99)
