Most triathletes experience a love-hate relationship with their tri-clothing. It either feels really comfortable, but you hate the way it looks. Or it makes you look like a professional, but you can’t wait for the end of the race to change out of it. With their new Compression Tri Singlet and Compression Tri Shorts, 2XU achieved the perfect balance of design, functionality and performance.
First, the overall look of this triathlon clothing is exceptional. The color and design of the 2XU graphics are clean, well-designed and professional looking. When you put this clothing on it makes you feel elite. You feel prepared for a “battle” and gladly won’t look like the typical age-grouper.
The feel of the fabric is great. It’s soft and supportive. It wears like a second skin, so you don’t feel like you are forcing yourself into something that is three sizes too small. The leg grippers are great at holding the shorts in place but not cutting of the circulation to your legs. I also really like that the 2XU Singlets have a more generous cut through the shoulders. The clothing runs true to size and if you order the singlet and shorts (as opposed to the tri-suit) you can customize the size to really fit your body.
This particular line of clothing from 2XU boasts integration of compression technology which is supposed to help reduce muscle oscillation and vibration and improve performance. In my use of the clothing at maximum efforts, I did notice less overall fatigue in my quadriceps and hamstrings. The burning in my legs from lactic acid buildup didn’t seem to come on as quickly and it seemed to dissipate a lot faster. Additionally, I wasn’t as sore as I usually am the morning after.
Another cool feature is the Ice-X fabric. This new fabric claims to be able to lower an athlete’s body temperature by up to 5 degrees during use. While, we haven’t reached our hottest days here in Salt Lake City (my training grounds), I feel like it has definitely kept me cooler. Especially on some warmer rides during the middle of the afternoon in direct sunlight. I just completed a ride in this clothing with the temperature outside around 92 degrees. This clothing kept me feeling really cool and it wasn’t drenched in sweat an hour and a half later.
Finally I really like the LD Chamois that 2XU put into the shorts. In my opinion, it’s really the perfect chamois for all distances. It’s small enough that it doesn’t bog you down on short courses, but provides a little more padding for those longer distances. And even on the short distances, it makes the bike ride much more comfortable. Again, because the chamois is streamlined it doesn’t get in the way on the run. I really love this new chamois and wish it were in all my shorts.
The Bottom Line ~
If you are looking for triathlon clothing that looks great and performs – you can’t go wrong with the 2XU Compression Tri Singlet and Shorts. I really love this triathlon clothing and would gladly recommend it to all my friends. The company behind the clothing is solid and it shows. If you really want to increase your performance, incorporate compression, stay cooler and want some clothing that blows the competition away – then this is the selection for you.
