Tri Suit Style Guide

Deciding on a tri suit is a big decision. We've pulled together some key information to help you understand our styles so you can find the best style to suit you. You can also check out our fit guide to understand how to put on a tri suit. 

Tri suits are a complex garment designed to be worn across three sports comfortably and with maximum performance. As a wide range of people participate in triathlon, we offer a range of performance options. To know which category is right for you, it's important to think about what's most important to you, performance, price, coverage, comfort. The higher the performance, the higher the price, but not everyone is looking for performance. All our suits are designed with comfort first, you can't perform if you're not comfortable. However the higher end performance focused suits are designed to be a firmer fit and some people don't find that comfortable. 

There are three categories of tri suits we offer and a range of styles fall into these categories:

Originals - entry level

• Kids Tri Suit
• Sleeveless Tri Suit 
• Two Piece Tri suit 
• Open Back Women's tri suit
• Sleeve Suit

Empower - mid range performance & price

• Sleeve Tri suit 

Velocity - top level suit, no shortcuts, only the best

• Sleeve Tri Suit
• Back Zip Sleeveless tri suit 

Originals Tri 
Our Originals Tri range is made as an entry level and price point range. This range has the largest amount of options, as it is about comfort first and different people have different requirements for comfort. Some prefer no sleeves for more movement through the shoulders, other prefer sleeves for sun protection. Some prefer a two piece, others prefer less pressure on their stomach so go for an open back suit. We will go through the benefits of each style in this range but all our styles feature moisture wicking lycra, ideal for sweat wicking and quick drying post swim. We use a soft binding across all these styles to reduce opportunity for chaffing and use industry leading EIT chamois across all options. 

Kids Tri Suit

Made specifically for kid's with a unisex design, back zip and soft binding throughout. It has the thinnest chamois we offer as kids races are often very short on the bike. These are made as a price point because we know kid's grow like weeds, but it has all the LAB signatures of durability so can be handed down to siblings or friends when they've grown out of it. 

Sleeveless Tri Suit 

Ideal for those who prefer no sleeves and like an open front.
Our sleeveless tri suit is made with a combination of moisture wicking lycra and a firm carbon fabric. We use a stock dip dyed fabric through the legs to ensure there is no risk of transparency. Our fabric is made to be supportively firm - it supports the muscles through effort and recovery with some compression. The sleeves are finished with a soft binding and the back is full (not racerback) for sun protection. This suit features our open zip style - you can read more about this here.  This suit features two stash pockets on the back and an extra pocket on the leg. All made with a mesh fabric for no drag in the swim. The leg bands are made with a doubled over lycra, this provides a level of hold without sausage leg. 

Sleeve Tri Suit 

Ideal for those who want some performance but are starting out or are focused on finish lines not finish times.
Our Sleeve Tri Suit is the highest performance offering in the Originals Range with a higher level of performance due to Aero advantages of sleeves with an aero specific sleeve and back fabric. Like the sleeveless suit, the Sleeve Suit is made with a combination of moisture wicking lycra and a firm carbon fabric. We use a stock dip dyed fabric through the legs to ensure there is no risk of transparency. Our fabric is made to be supportively firm - it supports the muscles through effort and recovery with some compression. This suit features our open zip style - you can read more about this here.  This suit features two stash pockets on the back and an extra pocket on the leg (not on the Urban Jungle Suit). All made with a mesh fabric for no drag in the swim. The leg bands are made with a doubled over lycra, this provides a level of hold without sausage leg. 

Two Piece Tri Suit 

Ideal for those who have a longer body or prefer to have a completely separate top and bottom
Our tri tops are under development and coming soon. Our tri shorts are a super versatile item for training and race day. With multiple stash pockets, panelled design and a thin but can go the distance chamois, these are great for brick sessions, long runs, and race day. 

Open Back Tri Suit

Ideal for those who don't like pressure on their stomach, are racing shorter distances or racing aquabike or swim runs. 
Our Open back tri suits are a carefully designed bather style swimsuit with legs. With an open back like a swimsuit, carefully designed panelling for performance and thick straps with binding to avoid chaffing. These suits do not have pockets but fuel can be stashed on the straps. 

Empower Range 
Our Empower range offers a performance level derived from the No Compromises Velocity suit. More than just fabric upgrades, the Empower suits feature a totally different cut with specific panelling optimised for performance.

Empower Sleeve Tri Suit  

Ideal for those looking for performance gains but not looking to spend top dollar. Podium worthy features for mid pack price. 
Our Empower range came about as we were looking to develop the best tri suit out there with no holds barred on features that enhanced performance. We designed this with the Velocity suit, but then dialled down a few of the fabrics specs to create a suit that offered a more affordable option. 

Utilising such developments as the internal hiden pockets with side access, the Empower is fast through the water and on the bike. The mesh sleeves and sides ensure that the suit doesn't take on water and dries fast. The main panels of the suit use a firm yet compressive fabric to ensure a next to skin fit that still allows full range of motion and no constriction. The bottom half of the suit is a specific dyed lycra to provide muscle support for the ride and run legs. The chamois is a top of the range EIT Chamois from Italy designed for up to full distance Ironman races.

Velocity Range 
We have thrown all the best features, best fabrics and premium cuts into our Velocity range. This was a passion project to see how fast a suit we could make. This range belongs on the top step of the podium and will help you get there. 

Velocity Sleeve Tri Suit
Ideal for pro's, top age groupers, and those who want the best of everything racing mid to long distance races. 

The fabrics are as light as possible. Combined with the stretch and specific placement of each panel, the suit shapes perfectly to the body to ensure there is no chafe and no excess fabric to drag in the water or on the bike. The specific Aero Hex fabric reduces drag over the arm and shoulders on the bike leg to gain extra watts, while the internal pockets with side access keeps the profile of the suit as flat to the body as possible. The seamless finish of the legs keeps a consistent compression down the thigh to maximise blood flow and reduce fatigue. With an open panel front, getting in and out of the suit is easy. The high waist band at the front helps to support the core so that the legs don't sink in the water and holding the TT position on the bike doesn't cause lower back pain.

Velocity Back Zip Suit
Ideal for pro's, top age groupers, and those who want the best of everything racing off road, mid distance or long distance races (and don't like sleeves).

The Velocity Back Zip suit takes many of the same features from the Velocity Sleeve suit and translates them to a suit designed for shorter distances, ITU and Off-Road specialists. The seamless compressive legs keeps the muscles moving with improved blood flow. The mesh side panels help to cool on the bike and run legs while also shedding water after the swim leg. The arm and neck openings uses bonded technology to keep the finish of the suit as cloase tot he skin as possible while not having any thread or bunched fabric to chafe or drag in the water. The back zip has a tether on it so getting in and out doesn't need to be a team sport.