Endura’s new QDC triathlon collection is ready to race at the IRONMAN World Championship after extensive testing by a number of top-level pro triathletes who are lining up in Kona this weekend.
Scottish apparel specialist Endura notes that it is coming off a string of podium and first place victories this year from some of highest calibre athletes in triathlon, and it is ‘ready to race this weekend in the new collection of triathlon specific kit, the QDC Tri collection.’
Lining up for the start this Saturday wearing the QDC Tri Suit will be a group of male athletes including: Nils Frommhold, Luke McKenzie, Iván Raña, Tim Don and Joe Skipper. The women’s field includes Jodie Swallow, Rachel Joyce and Beth Gerdes.
“We are excited to launch this new product line, which is the result of the work we have done with top level triathletes,” said Jim McFarlane, Managing Director for Endura.
“From testing different fabrics, suit construction and pad development, we worked with the best so we could create a collection that was proven at the highest level before making it available to everyone.”
Developed as part of the Endura Drag2Zero aero program, the new QDC (Quick, Dry, Cool) triathlon range uses a range of innovative triathlon specific features. Using finely tuned aerodynamic panel designs and fabrics, the collection drew initially on the cutting edge aerodynamic time trial suits developed for Movistar Team, the highest ranked UCI WorldTour Team in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Quick
The QDC suit is made from a stretch woven fabric, chosen for a combination of micro-roughness to create micro-turbulence in order to delay flow separation from the body and reduce pressure drag. Airtrip technology aims to minimize drag and, according to Endura, has been proven to be fast through extensive and repeated wind tunnel testing.
Also tested in the wind tunnel has been the individual components of the suits, the separate fabrics in the suits, and different seam constructions.
Dry
Dry principles are born from a high wicking main body fabric and a quick drying water repellent Continuously Variable Profile (CVP) high stretch tri pad constructed from perforated foam.
Cool
The final component is keeping athletes cool. Here Endura treatis fabric with ColdBlack technology, which reduces sunlight’s heating effect, and mesh side panels help to manage body temperature.
Endura adds that an often overlooked component but important feature, when apparel’s wear time can exceed eight hours, are the built in comfort features. In the QDC Race Suit, this includes a high elastane content in the fabric to provide good muscle support, UPF skin protection, 3D printed silicone grippers and a bonded, flush integrated rear pocket for storage.
Endura adds that the QDC suit has proven itself this year with IRONMAN victories including Cairns, South Africa, Lanzarote and Switzerland. The DATEV Challenge Roth event was won this year by Nils Frommhold after improving his bike split by a significant six minutes with a negligible change in watt output.
According to Endura, these performance gains are the difference between winning and losing and Endura feels it ‘has the right formula to give these types of gains to their athletes this coming Saturday.’
