Endurance Junkie to the rescue - Review of the Hot Ice suit

G’day People!

A few months ago when I first qualified to head off to the Ironman World Championship 70.3 I panicked. We can't afford this... there's so many things I'd need to buy, travel to pay for, insurance, I'd need to get time off work etc... so many things to consider that really made this trip look like a pipe dream and one that just came a year too early.
So what did I do?... well firstly, I paid the entry fee of course... without even thinking about all that stuff...
Then I sat down and had a look at what I had and what I would need between now and then.
I've got a bike, check! I've got a wetsuit, check! I've got a helmet, check! I've got shoes, check! 
Nutrition... need more. Pedals & cleats... need replacing. Bag... got big hole in it! Tri suit? Hanging in there... but it's seen a few races now and looking a little battered!

In short, I needed help.
So I called and emailed people or companies I thought might want to help out a Triathlete in need.
Can't say I got a whole lotta love in return to be honest... but one great fella came to the party. Through my association with my great Belgian friend Simon Belleflamme (see link to the right) who came to Australia for a summer of Triathlon and training, I approached Endurance Junkie for a Tri Suit to test and review for them. Simon had been wearing the gear all summer and quite simply, I thought it looked the goods!

So here we are... I can’t thank Peter from EJ enough for this one. It really is very much appreciated!

Here’s a very comprehensive review of the suit so far :)
Grab a coffee guys, a tasty muffin... and get comfortable!

When I first opened the package and checked out the new Hot Ice Tri suit my first impression was WOW… this is an impressive piece of machinery! So many different looking fabrics and surfaces to take in and the construction and panelling made it look very strong and durable. Having been sunburnt on my shoulders competing in Ironman Yeppoon 70.3 the weekend just gone , the sleeves were a very welcome addition, as were the 4 pockets located on the upper and mid though area as my current suit only had 2 very small hard to reach ones on the back. The chamois also looked a good size and had a good amount of padding to make an Ironman ride no issue at all.
Lastly, how can you go past the design? Simple, you can’t. It looks great… the white logo written vertically on a black background is enough to grab anyone’s attention, and the orange band tops it off perfectly.

Ok, that’s the plusses… here’s the pre testing scepticism. The all-white back is interesting and I did have a few giggling comments from my training mates about being careful not to “have an accident” while wearing the suit. The pockets… although I had seen the original Sportwool suit in action I still had my doubts about the pockets capacity to hold very much… maybe one gel or small bar in each I thought? The sleeves… I haven’t used a suit with sleeves before and coming from a football striker background I do have quite muscular shoulders and arms… I was worried there may be some uncomfortable rubbing or chaffing under the arms?

Let the testing begin! While I still have 2 weeks to test the suit before I fly out to Los Angeles and then Las Vegas for the Ironman World Championships 70.3, I have done some preliminary tests already. Being winter, I don’t really have too much choice but to use the suit on the  Computrainer indoors (otherwise I’d be freezing outside!), before heading out for a run when the sun is out.
So, on Saturday I rocked up to my local Cycle training Centre, Finesse Cycles, for a session with my good friends. 3 hours on the Computrainer doing flats followed by hill repeats, then straight off the bike and out for a 10km run.
The unveiling of the suit definitely got some comments… none negative mind you… joking comments about being a professional and wearing a fancy new suit for the ride. All agreed the suit looked great though and I confirmed to everyone that it felt awesome. It was a great fit from neck to knee and was easy to get on. Chamois felt a little bigger and padded than my Skins branded suit, but felt more than ok for riding and running. I was very confident it was going to be a comfortable ride. The white backing? Yeah ok, I did get a couple of comments at first… but as we began riding nobody said a word, and I didn’t give it a second thought as the suit was THAT comfortable.

At first while riding I did think it felt a little heavier and warmer than my Skins branded suit… but I don’t know what… but something just seemed to click and all of a sudden I was used to it very quickly. Perhaps it was just my body getting used to something new.. after all, I had been wearing my other suit for a year now, so something new is always going to feel different… just like buying a different brand of runners I guess!
The chamois was comfortable for the entire 3 hours. I didn’t give it a 2^nd thought. It’s not big and bulky like cycling knicks at all, but it did the same job.
Sweating in the suit? Being on the computrainer and indoors, I sweated bucket loads! I could see it coming from my arms and face, I knew it was pouring out everywhere… all my mates were the same, but I kid you not, I was not uncomfortable. Not one iota! In fact, what I actually did was run my finger down the top of my quad while riding and I was very surprised to feel ALL the moisture was on the outside of the suit… and I mean all of it! I was extremely comfortable throughout the entire ride, the suit regulated all the sweat away from me perfectly and in an ideal world if I was riding outdoors, it would have all been blown away or dried up from the wind you naturally come across leaving me to ride in perfect dry comfort in a maximal effort scenario like a race.
The sleeves and potential rubbing? Nothing.
Did the legs ride up at all while riding? No.
Was there any discomfort? No. I felt comfortable and confident the entire ride, and whether it is suit related or my own personal conditioning, but I finished the 3 hour session off very strongly and riding above my normal Wattage levels. Admittedly, I was taking it a little easy for the first part of the session due to my race last weekend and Vegas coming up, however in the end I couldn’t help myself and was riding very strongly right until the end.
Pockets feedback – perfect. I use Dextro Carbohydrate bars for my training and racing and was easily able to fit 2 in one pocket, 2 gels (one Gu and one SIS) in another pocket, my iphone in one of the upper pockets and I had some small items in the 4^th pocket. Bars and gels… I’m confident I could get more in there if I wanted to, however I had more than enough for the training ride. More than 2 of the larger sized SIS gels might be pushing it… but I reckon I could easily get more of the smaller gels in there.
Guys, pockets are important to me and these are great. They fitted exactly what I needed and they were tight… not like a big bulky cycling jersey pocket. Oh also, my phone remained perfectly dry. I don’t know how, but it did. It’s normally covered in sweat when sitting in my cycling top!

On to the run. As mentioned above, it is either my training and conditioning or it was also due to the suit, but I was very fresh for the run and ready to go immediately. So we headed out onto the 10km run with me having just 2 things I wanted to know. 1. How would the sleeves go? and 2. Basically how did the suit feel to run in?
A tick for both here. The sleeves were no issue at all. No rubbing whatsoever. The material is more than soft enough to not cause any bother, and the suit had a great fit that left me feeling fresh and confident for the whole trip. In short, the immediate performance of the suit impressed my greatly.

Ok, that’s the positive… it wouldn’t be a proper review though if I didn’t reveal the only drawback. Just to reiterate, awesome suit however when I got home and the suit was removed I did notice a lose thread under both arms. Possibly could have caused some damage if I had have just done my normal thread pulling antics... luckily, my trusty mum is more than handy with a needle and thread though and we'll reinforce the stitching and all should be sweet.
I must admit though I was surprised to see this as the suit looks super well constructed.
These things happen though and any item of clothing from any brand can occasionally have a loose thread.
This coming weekend I will be doing a ride and run again on Saturday… Sunday there will be a swim test, both with a wetsuit and without.