Transition gear
Edward Gilbertson
Posts: 4
Hello, I'm new to the triathlon scene and looking to get set with the necessary kit. Transition seems a bit of a daunting prospect at the moment, and with the "slight" OCD that I may (or may not) have, I like all my things to be organised. Just trying to find out what people use to organise their personal transition area, and are there any really good rucksacks available?
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It's a good question and it depends on two things:
1. What type of tri are you doing ie Sprint in a pool or HIM in open water
2. Personal preference
Typical layout for me (back to front of towel) would be:
Talced running shoes with a sock in each, hat
Talced bike shoes with a sock in each, glasses, gloves, helmet
I was thinking about doing a post with pics etc if that would be useful?
I've got a checklist here: http://triathlondaddy.com/race-day-kit-lis/
Edward - my set up is a bit different and is as follows.
Starting with the bike:
Helmet upside down on tri bars, straps dangling out and orientated so that facing it the helmet rotates straight onto the head
Inside helmet - glasses (on the bottom), race belt (with number) open and laid on top, socks on top
Red towel on tip of tri bars (dual purpose of ID and drying hands as required)
Bike shoes clipped into pedals.
To the right (always the right as like most people I run out non-drive side of my bike) towel with space for feet drying... run shoes on back of towel with bottle of lucozade next to them (for Olympic and more)
So that's my transition zone, at present I take a duffle to race day but before the season starts I intend to get a set of Kit bricks to make organisation of kit easier pre and post race.
So far all the events I've done have been split transition ones, with T1 andT2 in seperate places..
T1
T2
that's it.
I use toe grab pedals rather than actual cycle shoes and Clipless pedals, its a personal thing....... that and I'm tight and haven't spent on those just yet
What events are you doing? the bigger events will sometimes not allow anything around the bike. You will end up with transition bags which you collect after the swim and bike. So you may want to check this before planning anything as it might all be a waste if you are chucking it all in a bag.
Personally I find that the best thing to do is try things out. Do some smaller events and try out what works for you as everyone is different. Or go along to a triathlon near and look at what everyone else is doing, you will see that everyone does things differently.
But for another opinion I do the following:
Swim:
Race number on race belt under wetsuit - one less thing to do.
For shorter events I will have gels in the tri-suit for the run
T1:
Helmet on TT bars, with glasses and gloves inside.
Towel to dry feet.
socks on shoes - put them on and then fold back so that when you get to transition they are quick to put on. Lot's of people don't bother with socks, but I prefer wearing them. you can also put your shoes ready on the bike, but again personally I don't like doing that.
Nutrition will either be taped to the bike, in a food bag or for longer events I will change and put on a Jersey with all of the nutrition in the jersey.
Tools etc will be in a bottle behind the saddle.
T2:
Dump everything and put trainers on
for longer events I would have a couple of gels to put into my tri-suit but I will put them in as im running.
It is also good to have a couple of gels around so that if you want one in transition you can get it down you while you are there. I have also had a bottle of water for after sea swims as I find my mouth always feels horrible.
Good luck with your events
Great advice guys. I'm doing a few pool sprint triathlons, wth a view to doing an open water HIM in the summer.
Sounds like I need to have a practice at laying my things out and finding what works best for me. I like the idea of a coloured towel on the end of Tri-bars for easy identification.
So what's the deal with socks? Obviously it's personal preference but do people wear separate socks for running and cycling, or no socks for cycling...?
A post with pictures would be really helpful if possible ????????
I was similar Steve. Cycled for years and took up running a couple of years ago, with a bit of a fear of being ridiculed for my lack of swimming technique. However, after only a few weeks the swimming seems to be coming along nicely.
As you say, wearing socks is a personal preference but I would advise to practise in training cycling and running with no socks, put plenty of talc in both sets of shoes and away you go, saving lots of time in transition for free.
I would also suggest not bothering with gloves for sprint or standard events, even HIM if you are comfortable without.
Regarding the towel on the end of tribars, it would be classed as a marker and would be removed by the race official.
Happy Training