On any ride nowadays, there will be aero sculpted frames, deep section wheels, and likely aero helmets and aero jerseys being worn aplenty. Perhaps even a pair of aero socks?
But where are all the skinsuits? Despite the looks, the skinsuit could be one of the best 'cost per watts saved' items available. Yet, you'll hardly ever see one on a club run.
Worn by the pros almost exclusively in road races for their aero gains and other benefits, they are one of the few pieces of kit that has yet to cross the rubicon, and be adopted by riders outside of the professional peloton.
Indeed, showing up to any form of group ride outside of a bunch race, in a skinsuit might result in ridicule. But should we be embracing this item that promises several key advantages over the classic shorts and jersey?
Aerodynamics
First and foremost, skinsuits are more aerodynamic. By attaching the jersey and shorts together, you remove seams and thicker hems, and can reduce the amount of baggy material present especially when hunched over in an aggressive riding position.
However, it’s not so much that the skinsuit outperforms shorts and jersey aerodynamically in controlled conditions - in fact, here the differences can be negligible - but rather what happens out on the road, in the real world.
Given that most of us will ride with phones, tools, food, and spares in our pockets, they are likely to be reasonably full. However it is quite difficult to get them evenly weighted. As we ride, the position of the pockets and our jersey often moves to one side, negatively impacting the aero performance. With a skinsuit, the positioning remains consistent, and it with the aero performance.
Unzipping a jersey typically leads to lots of material flapping around as you ride. Many road skinsuits, like the Castelli San Remo S, use a half-jersey open design on the front which allows for greater cooling but does not lead to as much flapping material. In short, it's the consistent performance throughout the duration of the ride where skinsuits definitely win out.
Weight and cooling
There are a few other performance areas where a skinsuit can beat a shorts and jersey combination, including a reduction in weight. For example, a Castelli Aero Race jersey and Free Aero shorts weigh 281g, while the brand's San Remo S suit are 243g. Around 40g is not a massive saving, for those seeking marginal gains, it’s a useful area to focus on.
This reduced weight also tends to help with cooling. With the lack of bib straps, there is less material across the front and rear of the jersey section of the skinsuit. Reduced material tends to lead to greater evaporative heat loss, especially with less fabric at the rear where a lot of heat is lost when cycling at speed.
This can be countered though when temperatures are incredibly hot and you want to undo your jersey. A skinsuit does not allow you to fully unzip the jersey section in most cases. However, the Castelli San Remo S, and PNS Mechanism Pro skinsuits both have feature a bottom half that's not fully attached, meaning that when unzipping, the jersey section does open up properly. Not all suits have this, and this feature can result in some bunched fabric when hunched over. However by the suit not opening fully aerodynamic penalties are reduced compared to a fully unzipped jersey.
Comfort and fit
Another area where skinsuits can win out on performance is when it comes to comfort. The removal of the bib straps reduces the chance of pressure points over the shoulders, instead the upper half of the skin suit spreads the load evenly. Equally removing the need for a hem on the jersey can alleviate pressure around the waist
However, skinsuits can only be purchased in a full size. In other words, if you are a medium in shorts and a small in a jersey, you might not be able to get the fit quite right and be forced to compromise. Having a loose or tight fitting garment is a surefire way to lead to discomfort from increased friction, compression, or pulling in places you really do not want clothing to pull. This single size does make getting the right match for your body more difficult than with two separate garments.
Looks, cost, and practicality
Interestingly it's in the looks department that skinsuits seem to fall foul for many, but I’m not sure why. For example, a lot of riders wear shorts and jerseys that are the same colour, which is similar to many skinsuits. If your looking for an alternative, Santini's MADSS suits come in several different colour designs, which are aimed to look like separate shorts and jersey.
The other huge benefit of this suit is that it costs £220, whereas Santini's Redux aero jersey and shorts cost £214 and £190 respectively. Although the items differ slightly, both feature the same external sleeve ribbing and high end C3 chamois. More often than not, the cost of a skin suit is quite a lot less than the sum of its parts. There is of course the issue that in the event of a crash, if the suit is damaged then the whole item can be a write-off. Whereas with shorts and jersey, perhaps just one item is damaged. That said, I've crashed in races over the years and ripped skinsuits, and more often than not the damage can be repaired neatly with some fabric patches and at a low cost. Some brands also offer crash replacement repairs or discounts.
There are other practical considerations. Although all the suits mentioned here have three pockets, quite often skinsuits will forgo this, and instead only feature two. Indeed the ones here do miss out on a zip-up valuables pocket.
CW says
While there are some elements of a skinsuit that don't win out when compared to a shorts and jersey combination, these are mainly practical rather than performance related. In terms of performance, comfort, cost, weight, and cooling, there are many areas where skinsuits present quite a considerable benefit.
I've undertaken more competitive events over the last year and a half, and invested in a skinsuit because of this; as someone who specialises in maximising performance in events (be that training, nutrition, or equipment) a skinsuit was an obvious area where I could improve my kit choices.
All told, I think it’s definitely worth donning a skinsuit for more than just your A grade events, and we should embrace their appearance on the weekend group rides.
