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Writer, age-group triathlete and five-time Ironman distance finisher Jenny Lucas-Hill, who falls firmly into the category of people who own more triathlon gear than regular clothes, brings you her top picks of the best tri suits for racing over the full Ironman triathlon distance.
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Planning to race over the full Ironman distance in 2025? Once you’ve found your race of choice it’s time to start thinking about gear. Because once you step up to a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile marathon – you need a race kit that can seriously perform. 140.6 miles of swim-bike-run is tough enough, without an uncomfortable tri suit causing you a world of pain.
To help you find your perfect match, I’ve whittled my top picks of the best tri suits down to my ultimate top four for long distance racing, featuring tri suits that look good – and perform even better.
Ultimate aero tri suit
Born Bound Skärvatten Pro Long Distance Tri Suit
The new Skärvatten Pro long distance tri suit from Born Bound recently landed at TRI247 towers, and while timing (aka winter in the UK) means I haven’t had a chance to test it out during a race yet – it’s shown enough promise while I’ve put it through its paces in training (full review coming soon) that it’s made it straight on to my list of the top rated tri suits for long distance racing you’ll want to ‘add to cart’ ready for the 2025 race season.
The aero gains from this suit are of course worth mentioning. Born Bound have collaborated with pro cycling peloton atelier, Nalini, to engineer this tri suit as part of their mission to develop an ultra-aero race kit that could outperform the next best leading brand. And judging by the numbers we’ve seen from the rigorous testing they conducted with PRO triathlete Kieran Lindars (who managed to save 14 watts on the bike just from the suit alone) they’ve done a pretty good job on that front.
But where Born Bound have excelled is combining all that aero performance with enough comfort and durability for amateur triathletes to wear the Skärvatten Pro tri suit for long distance racing. From my testing so far, the chamois pad is super comfortable and the silky smooth, ultra-stretchy fabric is breathable enough to keep your core temperature down even during hot and sticky turbo trainer workouts and Zwift races.
Race day approved
TRI-FIT EVO 2.3 tri suit
When I tell you I’ve put the TRI-FIT EVO 2.3 to the test, I really mean it. I wore this tri suit for Challenge Roth in July and IRONMAN Tallinn in August. And even after a collective 281.2 miles of swim, bike and run, I still can’t fault it.
The TRI-FIT EVO 2.3 is built for long distance racing. The upper body features lightweight and breathable AeroWaffle fabric which is aerodynamic without feeling restrictive. The shorts are gently compressive, without creating a hint of the dreaded sausage legs. And the Italian Elastic Interface chamois pad provided two rounds of chafe-free cycling over 180km – even on the flat course at Tallinn where there’s pretty much no excuse to get out of the aero position.
Where this tri suit really comes into its own is the pockets. In fact, it was the pocket-factor which led me to switch to this tri suit over the TRI-FIT GEO (which I wore for Challenge The Championship and raved about). You’ve got side access aero rear pockets, discreet gel pockets just behind each hip, two internal pockets on the inside of the front of the tri suit (which unzips like a cycling jersey) and a neat little ice cooling pocket at the nape of the neck. This means you can easily carry all your gels on the run without having them all bouncing around in an overstuffed race belt.
Style meets performance
Stolen Goat Ibex Advanced Tri Suits
If you want a tri suit that will make it easy for your support crew to spot you out on the course, without compromising on comfort or performance. Take a look at the Stolen Goat Ibex Advanced tri suits. This small brand have long established themselves as one who aren’t afraid to push the envelope with their cycling and triathlon apparel design. Chief Designer, Trevor, has been known to take inspiration from all sorts of places – from Japanese art and city skyscrapers, to exotic jungle creatures and even the precise shade of amber created by the sun shining through a pint of IPA. And their 2024 tri suits are no different, available in two bold designs.
This isn’t a case of style over substance though. The brand work extensively to produce kit that feels as good as it looks. I tested out a pre-launch version of their 2024 tri suits and completed a full Iron distance race wearing one in 2023. The chamois pad was comfortable enough to take on 180km on the bike without any chafing or discomfort, and the simple but effective construction offered up plenty in the way of cooling and aerodynamics. With an RRP of £160/~$200 these tri suits also offer excellent value for money.
High end performance when the heat is on
Ryzon Verge Series Aero Tri Suit
Okay, stick with us here because the price tag is pretty eye watering. But if you want an ultra-high tech tri suit designed specifically to help you perform at your very best in hot conditions – and you’re willing to pay for all that R&D – the Ryzon Verge Series aero tri suit will fit the bill.
We spoke to the team at Ryzon as part of our research into the latest tri suit technology, and to what extent your choice of tri suit can help to improve your performance (turns out, it can actually make quite a big difference). They gave us the low down on their new graphene cooling technology. The inside of the suit is printed with Graphene Plus®, which is highly conductive and dissipates body heat over a wide surface area. In addition, Ryzon have also positioned cooling pockets (for ice and sponges) such that the graphene helps to distribute the cold along the torso faster.
8 years in the making, the cost of this tri suit means it’s a serious investment. But if you’ve got dreams of an age-group podium in Kona and you want to give yourself the very best shot at beating the notorious Kona heat. You’ll struggle to find a tri suit with more cooling features than the Ryzon Verge.
Need a little more inspiration? Check out the full list of our best tri suits from 2024.
