What else is out there?
I’ve been wearing my Castelli San Remo trisuit for all of my triathlon races and I find it to be a fantastic tri suit. It has served me well but I also wonder what else is out there. Are their better tri suits? Did I buy the best one available right from the start? I decided to look around the internet and see what else is available. Santini was on my mind since I love the quality of the brand and they’ve also done collaborations with IRONMAN. In addition, I own two pieces of Santini and they are worn in rotation. I went on their website and ordered their sleeveless tri suit (and lightweight vest). My quick TLDR (too long didn’t read) , I like it but I still go back to my castelli tri suits.
How it feels
The material is very nice but it does feel a bit heavier than castelli’s trisuit. What I can say is that it was a pleasure taking it out for a ride but I’m not sure how it’ll feel on the run. The leg grippers are tight with the Ironman logo on one leg and the Santini logo on the other. The upper material has some light material on the front and a softer material on the back. The bib portion covers more of my upper body and it feels great.
Generous back pocket size
The back pockets are also very generous in space. I love that, especially for training purposes. This means I can use it for racing and training. This sport is expensive and I find this to be helpful when you can use this for racing, training, and doing leisure rides. It’s important to race with the gear you’ve been training in. I find that to be very important.
PROS
- Made in Italy
- Fantastic material
- Great leg gripper
- Generous pocket
CONS
Didn’t like running with it (subjective)
Pricey (but what isn’t now a days )
Heavy material (subjective)
CONCLUSION
I can’t pinpoint why I don’t see this as a daily item that I would wear for training. It’s a great tri suit but when I want to ride, this trisuit is never on my mind. Out of all the Santini clothes I own, I’m just not feeling this one. If you don’t like castelli’s tri suit, you might like this one. I hope to give an update later this year to see if my opinion changes. I did not like this one when I was running but I’ll keep running with it to see if I’ll adapt and eventually like it.