Orca Athlex Aero Race Suit review

Orca’s Athlex Aero Race Suit is designed for long-course triathlon, with a focus on cooling and aerodynamics.

Orca boasts that its ‘Vapour-cool’ technology aided by nanocrystals allows sweat to evaporate quicker, while the fabric has an optimised texture for more aero gains, but can it land a place at the top of our list of the best tri-suits?

Fit and comfort

Having tested previous generations of sleeved Orca tri suits, I sometimes found the fit could be a bit unorthodox around the neck and cut too low for my liking.

This wasn’t the case with the Athlex, and the neckline sat exactly where I wanted it to.

I’d personally prefer a housing over the zipper to stop it from catching, but I didn’t experience any irritation in this area during the test period.

Swimming in the Athlex was great, and like Raceskin’s Aero, I didn’t find myself restricted around the arms or shoulders when swimming fast (or trying to, anyway).

The suit also dried very quickly upon exiting the water.

Design

Like many suits made for long-course, the top half of Athlex separates fully in two, and the gap means a quick ‘comfort break’ is easier mid-race should you need one.

The two rear pockets aren’t the roomiest but will allow you to carry a couple of gels or small bars, enough for most of us at any one time up to the full 226km.

Another great feature for long hours in the saddle is the tri-tech chamois, a 4mm pad made in Italy with a density of 120 kgs/m3.

I found the pad supremely comfortable on the bike, almost as good as the padding in quality conventional bib shorts.

It also dried quickly and didn’t feel cumbersome or baggy while running.

Sticking point

During my maiden swim-run brick in the Athlex, I noticed some discomfort around my right hip joint towards the end of the run, and it turned out the suit had dug into my skin in this area.

This might not be the case for everyone, and I appreciate my stockier build could have contributed to the rubbing, but if this was a long-course race, rather than a pool swim followed by a swift 8km jog, it could have turned nasty after multiple hours of running.

On my subsequent test outings in the suit I used some anti-chafing cream around this area, which appeared to solve the problem.

I didn’t have any issues in the more obvious areas where chafing can occur in tri suits, such as under the arms, and I’m almost certain it was the quite sizeable seams where the comfort break feature is incorporated that was the culprit.

Putting the suit back on for the second time, the area where the seams meet was exactly where my mini wound was located.

The bottom line

The unusual chafing incident was my only slight disappointment in an otherwise very good experience in the Athlex Aero, and I’d recommend it to those who want a high-end suit for going fast over long distances.

Just make sure you’re completely comfortable with the fit and test it out in a long training session before race day.

Orca Athlex Aero Race Suit specs

Price:	£149 / $199
Buy from:	Sigma Sports
Available sizes:	XS-XXL (men’s), XS-XL (women’s)
Breakaway zip?	Yes
Pockets:	2