Keeping your Triathlon Gear in Peak Condition

All triathletes know that a good wetsuit can make all the difference in terms of your overall time and how quickly you move through the water. But how often should you look at replacing it? What about the rest of your gear?

The three components of a triathlon (running, cycling and swimming) have their own sets of gear that each need maintenance and replacing at times. When you're due to start a new season, it is pivotal that you check these things and repair where necessary to avoid losing out of precious seconds, or worse, obtaining an injury from improperly kept kit.

In terms of cycling, the bike's chain is one of the components most crucial to the triathlon - if it breaks midway through you will be beating yourself up over it. Ensure this doesn't happen by regularly cleaning, re-oiling and replacing it when necessary, and then it will be optimal at the time of your event. You should also check the chain's tension as a lose one will sap your energy; not all of the power will be going to the wheels.

The tyres on bikes are the most likely to wear of any other part, and so any slight cracks or tears should scream "Replace me!" straight away. You can still use these for training, but in terms of events, they're just going to hinder your performance.

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Okay, onto swimming now. One of the more favoured areas to save time in your event - first of all you should definitely check your trisuit for tears, nicks and cuts because if you end up with water seeping in, it'll not only distract you but massively slow you down. This may only get worse as well during your swim, so avoid altogether by taking care when putting them on.

Over time, these suit lost elasticity from the elements and your own body sweat; you can prolong this from happening by cleaning your gear regularly to remove dirt and bacteria that will slowly eat away at the suit's material. Generally it is a rule of thumb though, that each year you will have to replace your trisuit. Unlike other sports, in a triathlon the suit takes a lot of strain and due to the neoprene make-up, it simply needs replacing each season to ensure maximum potential.

Additionally, this extends to your race belt which needs to be replaced as soon as the elasticity starts to fail, or else this will slide around and cause huge problems in the water.

Finally, your run section is fairly self explanatory, your running trainers! If these aren't the right size it will be hugely unconformable for you, and this is where you may get certain injuries from them being simply too small/large. As well as this, if any of the tread starts to fade or the shoe loses its snug fit, you will feel it and it will impact negatively on your triathlon performance.

Running Shoes - https://mytriathlon.co.uk/run/running-shoes/

Bike Stuff - https://mytriathlon.co.uk/bike-1/

Trisuits - https://mytriathlon.co.uk/triathlon/mens/mens-triathlon-wetsuits-1/new/