Spend enough time around triathlon, and you'll notice something interesting. Ask athletes about their favorite race, and they'll rarely talk about the gear they wore.
They'll remember the atmosphere on the start line. The climb that seemed to go on forever. The volunteer who handed them a cup of water at exactly the right moment. The finish chute. And the people who shared the journey.
The best equipment has a habit of disappearing into the background. That's exactly how it should be.
A tri suit isn't there to steal your attention. It's there to move with you through every stroke, every pedal, and every stride, allowing you to focus on the race rather than what you're wearing.
When we asked athletes what mattered most in their gear, they didn't talk about bold colors or the latest trends. They talked about comfort.
Fit. Confidence. The freedom to race without distraction.
Those conversations became the foundation for our newest tri suit collections: Phantom, Kaminari, and Mirage.
But before we talk about the collections themselves, it's worth hearing from two athletes whose journeys remind us why thoughtful design matters in the first place.
For Rachel Mulford, triathlon arrived when she needed it most.
For years, horses had been her life. She competed alongside some of the UK's best riders and achieved dreams she had worked tirelessly to reach. Then, almost overnight, everything changed when she lost the horse that had been at the center of that journey.
"I lost my entire world," she says. "My purpose and my reason for getting out of bed each day."
Finding the gym helped. HYROX gave her something to work towards. Then came triathlon.
Today, she's preparing for Ironman Warsaw 70.3 while balancing a demanding full-time career and training weeks that stretch well beyond ten hours.
Some sessions are shared with others, but most are completed alone.
"Sometimes it's lonely," she admits. "Most people don't want to ride or run those distances, so you spend hours in your own head."
Ask Rachel what she wants from a tri suit and her answer isn't complicated. Comfort. Quality. Something that fits properly from the first stroke of the swim to the final kilometers of the run.
"You put your kit through hell and back," she says. "So quality is just as important as comfort." It's a perspective every endurance athlete understands.
When you're training week after week, the smallest distractions become the biggest frustrations. A suit that rubs. Padding that doesn't quite work. Fabric that feels perfect for twenty minutes but not three hours. Those details matter because they allow you to stop thinking about them.
Sofia Zusi arrived at triathlon from a completely different direction.
She swam as a child before falling in love with running, eventually qualifying for the UCI Road Cycling World Championships. Alongside training, she's balancing two jobs, studying physiotherapy and encouraging more women to discover endurance sport through community running and cycling groups.
It's a busy life. One that demands efficiency from every training session and confidence in every piece of equipment. For Sofia, one word stands above everything else. "Fit."
"I've struggled to find a tri suit that fits well in all areas," she explains. "Fit equals comfort, and being uncomfortable in a tri suit is not an option for me, especially on race day."
It's a challenge many triathletes know all too well. A suit that works on the bike but not in the swim. One that fits the legs but not the shoulders. Something designed for one discipline rather than all three.
When athletes talk about great gear, they're rarely asking for more. They're asking for fewer distractions.
That's the thinking behind the Phantom, Kaminari, and Mirage collections.
Each has been designed with the realities of triathlon in mind, recognizing that no two athletes race for the same reasons or have the same priorities.
Some are chasing personal bests. Others are preparing for their first finish line. Some want aerodynamic performance. Others simply want a suit that feels comfortable hour after hour and allows them to enjoy the experience.
Different athletes. Different journeys. Different priorities.
The same expectation that their equipment will support them without compromise. Because when your tri suit fits properly, moves naturally, and performs across all three disciplines, it becomes one less thing to worry about.
Whether you're drawn to the refined performance of Phantom, the bold energy of Kaminari, or the clean versatility of Mirage, each collection has been created with one purpose in mind: helping athletes focus on the moments that count.
Not the kit. The journey.
In our final article, we'll return to the question that started this series. After hearing from athletes with remarkably different stories, we'll ask one final time: What really makes a triathlete?
The answer might not be what you expect.
Honestly, no. Thousands of first-timers finish their debut race in a swimsuit, tri shorts, or whatever athletic gear they already own, and tri shorts are a genuinely good call for a sprint or shorter distance. Most experienced triathletes end up buying a tri suit anyway, less for speed and more because it removes the hassle: one outfit for the swim, bike, and run means no stopping to change and far less chafing over a long day.
Yes, plenty of first-timers do, especially over a sprint distance. The catch is bike shorts use a thick chamois built for cycling only, so it gets heavy and uncomfortable once you're running. A tri suit solves that with one chamois designed for all three legs.
Tri shorts cover just your bottom half; a tri suit is a one or two-piece covering the whole body for swim, bike, and run. Both use the same triathlon-specific chamois, but a full suit adds compression and aerodynamics through the torso, which matters more as the race gets longer. Our Elite, Pro, and AG suits sit at different points on that comfort-versus-performance scale depending on what you're racing.
Nothing extra for most of it. It's built to sit straight against the skin, with the chamois doing the padding and support work that underwear or shorts would normally handle. Women may still want a sports bra underneath since a tri suit isn't built with one in, but skip anything else, extra layers just add bulk and chafing risk.
No. The chamois pad is placed for triathlon-specific movement, and underwear underneath shifts that padding and adds friction. Wear it as designed, straight against the skin.
