If, like us, you just love finding out about the latest Tri gear, the TCR Triathlon, Cycling & Running show held at Sandown Park in the UK every February is a must visit. Over 130 brands and retailers were at this year’s show. As a result we spent over 5 hours walking around the show, enjoying this emporium of Triathlon Gear for 2010. We also popped into seminars from top Triathlon coaches and athletes to pick up some top training tips – our Editor has already ventured into the pool to practice some hot swimming techniques from ‘the Fish’ (Richard Stannard) himself.
Whether you wanted to try on the latest wetsuit, a new pair of running shoes, taste nutrition samples, have a spin on the Wattbike or watch Elite Triathletes provide demonstrations of swim technique and stroke efficiency in the Zoggs swimzone Endless pool, TCR was a Triathlon feast for all.
We were particularly interested in the new 2XU PROJECT: X trisuit and wetsuit – their most technical line to date – which was launched at the show and we’ll be reviewing first hand very soon. Also, we were impressed by the very flexible Sailfish wetsuits pioneered by Jan Sibbersen, 4 x ‘first-out-of-the-water’ Ironman Hawaii – if you’re looking for extra flexibility, particularly in the shoulder region, we suggest checking out the Sailfish G-Range suit, which Sailfish claim has a second-skin feeling.
Most of the major running trainer brands were at the show, and we couldn’t help but be drawn to Saucony’s high visibility Vizi-Pro range of trainers and running gear in its very bright but cool looking orange. According to some of our Tri buddies, the colour seems to have the added psychological effect of making you feel as though you can run faster – maybe it could help you get that PB this summer.
But, it was the Saucony Grid Fastwitch 4 racing shoe, the update from the brilliant Fastwich 3’s, that we couldn’t wait to get our hands on. As soon as we slipped the bright yellow lightweight trainers onto our feet, they were instantly as slipper-comfortable as their famous predecessor. Apparently the tremendously flexible sole is exactly the same as the Fastwitch 3 but the mesh upper has been upgraded to improve comfort, moisture management and airflow. We fell in love with the shoe and can’t wait to take them out for a quick tempo run to let you know if they perform as well.
We could go on about the rest of the tri gear we saw for 2010 but we’ll save that for the individual product reviews as we them test out.