2019-06-01_220_Triathlon

KIT ZONE

58 / /June 2019

ASICS

METARIDE

£220 AretheMetarideasrevolutionaryasAsicsis billing?

D

esignedtosaveenergyand

reducefatiguethroughthe

ankles,thekeyfeatureof

Asics’hypednewMetarideis a curved

solethatencouragesa ‘rocking’

motionthroughthestride,ratherthan

makingyouflexyourfootandtoe-off

likea normalrunshoe.Nowthisisn’t

a newconcept– thosewhoremember

MBT(MasaiBarefootTechnology)

shoeswillbefamiliarwiththeidea.

Addedtotheveryrigid,curvedsole

(there’sbarelyanyflexatall)is some

morefamiliartechnology,withAsics’

ubiquitousGuidesoletech,a good

chunkoftheirFlytefoaminthe

midsoleandrearfootGeltechnology

toreduceimpactthroughtheheel.So

howdotheyfeel?

Firstimpressionsaregood.The

knitupperis softandcomfy,asyou’d

expectfroma premiumshoe.Yetwe

ran into a subsequent problem, as no

TRISERIES.

BOARDGAME

 40 Tr iathlonst rategygame

D

o phraseslike‘winnerstrain,

loserscomplain’floatyourboat?

Thenthisnewtriboardgamecould

bejusttheticket.Dividedintotwo

phases(training/racing),youbuild

fitnessandwellbeinginthefirstthen

takethoseskillsintoraceday.Sadly

it’sbrain-meltinglycomplicated,

andthealphalanguageis a little

grating.HWafterracegames.com

matterhowmanydifferentlacing

techniqueswetried,wecouldn’tget

ourheeltostayfullywithintheshoe

attoe-offand,at271gforourUK6,

theweightis noticeablyhigh.

Thataside,onceyougetusedtothe

rockingmotion,theyencouragefast

runningas,evenonthismidfoot-

stridingtester,theshapeofthesole

givesenoughmomentumto

encouragea fastpaceyetwith

cushioning.Themidfootheighttakes

sometimegettingusedto,leavingus

feelinga littleunstableandmissing

ourconnectiontotheground– and

they’restrictlyfortarmaconly,as

evenlightstonytrailsleftuswobbling

around like Bambi.HWasics.com

TENOLA

INSPIRE

£70 NewsuitfromBrittribrand

T

enolais a raremultisportbrand

thatdesignandmanufacture

theirkitintheUK,andthe

Inspiremen’stri-suitis very

reasonablypricedcomparedtothe

competition.Italianfabricsareused

throughoutand,whilethesuitlacksa

bitofformfitting,it providesgood

coverage,someUVprotectionand

decentbreathability.Thenondescript

fitalsoextendstothelegs,asthey

tendtosagwhileridingorrunning

whenthesuitis wetandaren’tvery

compressive.Thegrippersusea thin

stripofsiliconunlikenewersuitsthat

favourflatseams,whichisn’tour

preference.Thezipperhasa full-

lengthguardanda flapatthetopso

yourneckwon’tchafe,andoursize

mediumfeltroomierthanmorepricey

suitswe’vetested,whichwill appeal

to beginners.JStenola.com

81

%

VERDICTNOTFOREVERYONE,

BUTANINTERESTINGIFPRICEY

OPTION FOR ENDURANCE RACING

71

%

VERDICTFUNCTIONALAND

AFFORDABLEBRITISHMADEKIT

WITH DECENT BREATHABILITY

60

%

VERDICTIT’SNOMONOPOLY,

BUTITCOULDAPPEALTOTHE

TRI ATHLON HARDCORE