Skins

I went and purchased a set of these so called magical miracle suits yesterday to see what all the hype is about. If you are anyone sporty, you'll know what these things are. I doubted they would work as good as they claim. So today, I donned the skins under the riding kit and headed out. First thing I noticed was the cool feel of the fabric when you put them on. I can imagine it would need to be very warm to feel hot in them.

The next thing I noticed was the ease with which you can get into the bike riding kit. The silky outer of the skins makes riding pants and jackets slide on easily. The reverse was the same easy process to remove when I got home from the ride.

Another observation is that it made the whole ride more comfy as my gear didn't pinch or pull on the under garments like it normally does.

In the end, I'm a convert! Money well spent in my opinion and I can't wait to test them out touring over summer!!!

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I would agree, Marty - I wish I had something under my Draggin's when I unloaded recently. Kevlar is good shit preventing gravel rash / extreme abrasions, but I ended up with the equivalent of a "carpet burn" on the knee ! Something UNDER the jeans may have prevented that. But I'm not keen to repeat the experience to give members feedback !!!

The really great thing with Skins - which I intend to purchase as some point soon - is that they help reduce fatigue. They way they work is simple. When you move quickly, jump, bump and bounce, it makes your muscles bounce, you naturally use energy to return the muscle to its natural position. By holding the muscles tightly in place you are no longer spending energy returning the muscle, and therefore have more energy for other things. On a long ride this would be a real bonus.

A couple of Q's, Marty -
1. Do they act as thermals in cold weather ?
2. Emma chisit ?

A couple of Q's, Marty -
1. Do they act as thermals in cold weather ? They keep you cool when it's hot and warmer when it's cold. But they are not thermals as such. On todays ride I wore a thermal top over the skins and under my jacket.
2. Emma chisit ? About $200 for the set top and bottom long sleeve long leg.

As for heat transfer, unless you have some sort of space shuttle material between your skin and the road, nothing, not even leather stops the carpet burns.

And PM, that's the reason I bought them in reality and I found they worked in that way perfectly. I remained much less fatigued than the previous attempts at riding and was able to pretty much go 7/10ths all day! Plus they held my guts in and I didn;t feel like everything was trying to escape from the scar in my side!!!


But the comfort factor was probably the biggest surprise!!

I use Under Armour which have a hot and a cold garment for the different weather. Rate them highly, plus, everyone has skins, it's nice to be different!

You can get snow skins to keep your legs warm in colder conditions. They are meant to be a recovery tool and should be worn post exercise to minimise the inflammatory response and improve lactic acid removal, but as Marty has said they can also reduce fatigue during extended periods of exercise. I find they make a big difference with knee joint inflammation wearing them skiing and snowboarding.

And they feel very sexy on! they gave me a big erection all day! ........Or maybe that was just the excitement of being back out on the bike again!!!!

the added benefit as well as the above comments is that it actually whicks away sweat which stop the uncomfortable feeling you get when your sweaty skin sticks to the insides of your leathers. i wear mine all the time.
BiG W has the Slazenger version for $30 a peice as well, which I also own which seem to be just as good. I will be giving Snow Skins a go next winter.

HTFU Marty..

if there are enough people interested i can arange a group buy for you.

if there are enough people interested i can arange a group buy for you.

+1

I use them all the time when going for a run or cycle... Shortens the recovery, reduced fatigue etc etc... Hadn't thought to use them riding. Great idea

...snip
Plus they held my guts in and I didn;t feel like everything was trying to escape from the scar in my side!!!

But the comfort factor was probably the biggest surprise!!

now you know why I wear a skins top..... always

and the leggings are great under my leather pants
although they do feel funny under my ICONs


Smitty

They sound like they'd be great under the leathers at a track day, especially a stinking hot, sweaty track day, like EC is famous for in summer.
I hate trying to get in and out of leathers when I'm all sweaty. I'm going to have to check these out.

There would be NO WAY I could get into and out of my suit by myself without Skins (or similar) whether it be track days or on the road.