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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 with no compromise on practicality
TRI-FIT VORTEX
The VORTEX tri suit is a new release from TRI-FIT. Meticulously engineered, this is the brand’s most ambitious and high tech triathlon race suit to date. Designed to perform, yet built to last. And that hard work has paid off, because this is a tri suit which ticks every box.
You’ve got ultra-aero materials across the upper body, and a second skin fit to minimise drag. But that doesn’t come at the cost of comfort and fit – this is a suit that moves with you. There’s zero shoulder restriction to hinder your progress in the swim, and you can easily get down into your TT position without any tightness or pulling. This is combined with carefully placed ventilation, super lightweight premium fabrics and an IceDrip pocket at the nape of your neck to help you keep your cool when the heat is on.
A lot of the top level aero suits offer CdA-busting performance at the cost of practicality – because multiple pockets aren’t particularly aero. But TRI-FIT have solved this dilemma with a completely redeveloped rear pocket system. You’ve got two small gel pockets, with a folder over flat pocket in the middle. Enough to carry your nutrition, without creating significant drag in the water or on the bike. They’ve also kept the two internal pockets on the front of the tri suit for neat, additional storage.
Comfort is key over the long distances and TRI-FIT have more than got that covered with the VORTEX. The shorts are made from a super soft, but supportive, fabric and the leg grippers stay put without any hint of the dreaded sausage legs. And just when I thought they couldn’t find a chamois pad that would outperform the pads you’ll find on the EVO 2.3 or the GEO – they’ve only gone and upgraded it again.
This is all the best bits from TRI-FIT’s previous top level race suits: refined, upgraded and taken to the next level. Add in a sleek design, and this is a race suit that will be able to compete with the very top end suits out there. It’s an investment, with an RRP of £399. But you can pay double that for some of the other top end suits which, in my opinion, make way more compromises in terms of practicality and durability. Whereas I think this will be a tri suit you can count on, season after season.
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Bang for your bucket
Born Bound Skärvatten Pro Long Distance Tri Suit
The Skärvatten Pro long distance tri suit from Born Bound was originally developed as they sought to help PRO athlete Kieran Lindars on his mission to save watts on the bike. And 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. I’ve tested this suit out, and the chamois pad is super comfortable. The silky smooth, ultra-stretchy fabric is breathable enough to keep your core temperature down. And while this certainly isn’t a ‘budget’ tri suit by any stretch of the imagination, you are getting a strong amount of performance for the price tag.
Race day approved
TRI-FIT EVO 2.3 tri suit
If you can’t quite stretch your budget for the TRI-FIT VORTEX, the EVO 2.3 will be your next best bet. 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 and IRONMAN Tallinn last year. 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. The EVO 2.3 won’t be quite as advanced or aero as the new VORTEX, but it’s still going to give you a significant amount of performance for the price tag.
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 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 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 £140/~$187 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 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.
