Betty Designs Tri Kit Review

Running is my sport. There is no doubt about that.  When I dream, I don't dream about dunking a basketball or hitting a home run, I dream about smacking Meb Keflezighi on the ass, giggling, and then racing him to the finish in a 5K (winning, of course). But, during the winter, I do bike and swim. Not as much as I should to be a "good" triathlete, but enough to save my knees from the pounding that running "offers".

May this picture haunt your dreams

As it were, Betty Designs caught wind of my cross training habit and thought that I needed a bad ass Tri kit that made me look as bad ass as I feel in my head. If you either are run only, or haven't heard of Betty Designs, they offer unique, edgy and custom kit designs for swim, cycling and triathlon, in addition to a bunch of Men's and Women's cycling, triathlon and swim apparel. I honestly thought that they only made girl stuff (which, 80% of their stuff is girl stuff read: booty shorts) but they do have a few sweet guy things as well.  Betty has designed race kits for triathlon champions and teams such as Michellie Jones, Heather Jackson, the Zoot Sports Ultra Triathlon Team and the Nytro Women's Triathlon Team. (None of which are hard on the eyes....)  They also are one of the leading companies in custom kits as well.

When I first slipped the tri kit (outfit) on, I quickly realized it was the real deal. It was light weight and fit very true to size.  It was snug enough to make sure that sweat and water wicked away but not so snug that I wouldn't be able to father any additional babies.

It had a solid half zipper to let my main hair catch some breeze and rubber grips along the bottoms of the shorts so that they don't ride up and turn into a thong.  But, most importantly, they had just enough of a padded chamois in the crotch so that I didn't feel like I was wearing a diaper but still protected my giblets.

The shirt was a bit short when I'm running so it rides up a bit. BUT, I have a pretty long torso and most tri / spandex shirts do that to me.  So, I guess this one is no exception.

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One of Betty Design's latest campaigns is "where do you wear your Betty?"  Where ever she lets me? Well, I had essentially wore mine everywhere - so I decided to capture some pictures. I've worn it running twice (no chafing, stayed cool) and have wore it biking a handful of times (Chamois is nice, but not SOO thin that it causes issues). I haven't had a chance to take it in the pool yet, but based some "trial testing" below I think it'll do just fine.

So, what do I mean about wearing mine everywhere?  The other day I was out of town so I decided to do a bit of a indoor triathlon.  A little swimming, a little biking, and a whole lot of running.  What could be better? Naked 5K.....Beer Flavored skittles...  Nothing!

First things first, you don't want to pull a muscle because they are cold.  So, I wore my Betty in the hot tub.  Not only was I feeling suave in my sweet tri kit, I was giving all of the retirement ladies the one eye.

Baby, I've got enough fashionable spandex and 3 feet of love for the both of us
Also? Always wear protection

Next up: wearing my Betty in the pool.  After getting my love muscles warm in the hot tub, the pool water was mighty cold.  So, since I was making up the indoor triathlon rules as I went, I decided that some simulated swimming would be best.  Nothing says "I'm a real man" like kicking around in some 3" water.  But, just like I've always said, 3" is just fine - you just need to know how to use it.

It can't be the shorts that make my butt look big, can it?

Flip turns can be a bitch.  Do you think a swim cap is saving your head? No. Wear protection.

After a quick dry down and slipping on my shoes, my Betty and I were off to the gym.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any spin bikes like other indoor triathlons, so I wore my Betty on some recumbent bike.  Now, most people would say that the padded shorts weren't needed on this kind of bike because of it's wide seat. Obviously, they've never had numb giblets before.

Lord knows how safe the gym equipment was, so I made sure to have protection. Safety first.

Just like NASCAR, only less mullets.  Same amount of beer.

My crotch?  Glad you asked. Not a chafe mark on it. Thank you very much tri shorts.

Finally, the run.  Honestly, even though the shorts are made for biking, I LOVE running in the Betty kit.  The top is so cool it almost feels like I don't have anything on (which is always a good thing).  I was really surprised at how little I chafed.  It seemed like the shirt and shorts were compressed right where I needed them to be to avoid hot spots.

While on the run, the kit stayed super cool (No comment at the look on my face)

Can you believe that the lady in the gym looked at me funny?  I must have had a booger in my nose

Cranking out some 6:00/miles. 

Lady and her husband were probably STILL staring at me. They must have liked the outfit

After my hard indoor triathlon, (first place, what what???) as is always often the case, I needed to head to the office and do some thinking.

Pic was totally staged, I normally have a phone & am humming the ghostbusters theme

Usually have the helmet on though

Finally, I needed to put the Betty Designs tri kit to the ultimate triathlete test.  Removing all the hair from my body.  Legs?  Yes.  Arms?  Yes. "Other"?  Don't worry, no hair there to start with.  Let's just say that the tri kit passed this test with flying, skull and butterfly colors.

How many minutes do you save in T2 if you loose 5 pounds of body hair?