Sky pioneer the use of a Skinsuit pic: Sirotti
Sunday January 17th 2010. Anyone remember that day? Yes, it was the new Team Sky’s first major race in Australia, yes they won, but as has become customary for Team Sky, they tried some new things.
Raising eyebrows from day one, they fielded a team for the Cancer Council Helpline Classic who were all dressed in skinsuits. It seems strange to say now, but to those of us who’d been watching the sport for a while, it looked, well, a bit weird. Skinsuits were not generally worn unless you were racing Track or a Time Trial. Turn up for a local Road Race in one and you’d almost certainly be branded either a freak, eccentric, or worse…
The following season came the earth-shattering victory for Mark Cavendish and the Great
seven more GB Speedsuits behind this champ
Britain Team in the World Championships. They dominated the closing laps of the race like no National Team had ever done before, despite the fact that they had made no secret of their ambitions. And they were all wearing skinsuits.
Fast forward to 2015, and it seems pretty much half the field is racing in all-in-ones. So what’s changed?
Well, countless victories have proved that attention to this detail can yield big results. Basically, people don’t feel quite so self-conscious about wearing skinsuits anymore. “There was always that fear that you looked like you were trying a bit too hard,” is how one of our riders puts it. “Then there’s always the dilemma of pinning your number on. With a jersey you can strip to your base layer, pin on the number and just put your jersey back on. Skinsuits are a bit of a faff.”
Historic / conventional wisdom used to dictate that in road racing, aerodynamics were of negligible consequence if you rode ‘in the wheels’ properly. That’s all very well, but not everyone rides in the wheels until the last 250m. A memorable 3 man 150km breakaway in the 2014 Tour of Britain with Matthias Brandle, Alex Dowsett and Tom Stewart saw Brandle take the stage and Dowsett grab the GC jersey. It also had Chris Boardman and Ned Boulting chattering rather excitedly about ‘free speed’ in the ITV studio. Yes, you’ve guessed it. Plenty of skinsuit action in the front of the race.
The fundamental benefit of course, is the smooth airflow over the rider’s body. Countless articles have been published by performance specialists extolling its virtues. It’s pretty obvious really.
Once you get over the external appearance reservations, a skinsuit is actually also more comfortable. Many of us will have self-consciously tugged at the back of our jersey during a race, making sure it’s stretched smoothly over our lower back. That’s just one example of what a skinsuit achieves without any additional fiddling or distraction. It is functioning simply as a second skin.
Back in 2010, tmgpro was a twinkle in someone’s eye and your average custom jersey supplier had a choice of Long or Short Sleeve. We can now offer a massive variety of options.Jersey neck? Cutaway Neck? Thumb Slots? Number Flap? Pockets? Mesh Back? Thermal Roubaix? And for 2016, we have a new Road Suit which brings together our top Pro Jersey and Shorts [without bibs] to give skinsuit performance with the convenience of a jersey. So now, you can even wear a skinsuit, and no-one need know…