Tri Race Belt - Newbie question

Gringo78

Doing first tri next week. What's the story with race belts? Do I only have to have the number on for the run leg? I have a belt pouch thing for holding gels which I clip around my waist, I think I could pin the number to that, would that be ok as long as the number is displayed??

Do I have to put a number on my bike??

mloc123

Usual setup is number on your back for the bike and front for the run, some races (usually those that do not care about drafting) will say a number on the front is okay, other races will give you two numbers and you can pin one on front and one on back.

It really depends on the race tbh.

Oryx

Put the number on in T1 as you go from swim to bike. On the bike turn the number so its on your back, twist it to the front for the run.

If you dont have a belt, pin numbers to the front and back of a shirt you can throw on, or onto whatever is under your wetsuit (if your wearing one). Numbers usually survive the swim.

mloc123

And if your are an aero freak, a pinned number is better than a number on a belt... and a pinned/glued number is batter again

DustyBin

A belt is the way to go I reckon, I use the same one I had to carry my gels in the Cork marathon
Numbers are grand to get wet, paper is designed for it
Some people wear the belt under their wetsuit so to save a bit of time in T1
Have heard of clubmates pulling down wetsuit only to pull off the number also, so tend to leave it with the bike helmet myself and clip on in T1 - although after a dizzy swim tends to take a couple of seconds longer than it should to put on
Regards pinning your numbers to a top, have seen people rip the number off doing this when struggling into their t-shirt with a wet torso

Enjoy Youghal, it will surely be your first and not last

Bambaata

you could also have the belt already on under your wetsuit for the swim with it twisted to the back. It'll save you time having to put it on in T1. The onyl time you'll need to touch ti then is when in T2 going from the bike to the run

Edit: woops already mentioned. id agree with avoiding trying to put a t-shirt on in T1 though. You'll lose a lot of time doing that!

liamo

DustyBin wrote: »

Have heard of clubmates pulling down wetsuit only to pull off the number also, so tend to leave it with the bike helmet myself and clip on in T1 - although after a dizzy swim tends to take a couple of seconds longer than it should to put on

I always prepare for the possibility of damaging the number by setting both supplied numbers on a race belt each, one of which I wear under the wetsuit as normal and the other I leave in transition just in case something happens. I haven't had to use the second one yet but knowing that I'm prepared takes away any worry.

DustyBin

liamo wrote: »

I always prepare for the possibility of damaging the number by setting both supplied numbers on a race belt each, one of which I wear under the wetsuit as normal and the other I leave in transition just in case something happens. I haven't had to use the second one yet but knowing that I'm prepared takes away any worry.

Now there's a thought - thanks for the tip liamo

PWEI

Definitely recommend wearing the race belt under the wetsuit. I did the Lough Ree monster Tri last weekend and forgot to put the race belt on. Then for the T1 I couldn't find the belt and lost over a minute and a half looking for it. Would have finished about 20 places higher if I had put the dam belt on under the suit. :mad:

AdamAntsy

+1 to not pinning it to a top you are putting on at T1 - I had a mighty struggle with a tight cycle top with race number before that was precious minutes wasted. Either pin on first or use a belt IMO