Multisport model WYN Republic was based in 2017 by two former skilled lengthy course triathletes, husband-and-wife duo Beth and Luke McKenzie.
Since its inception, WYN Republic (WYN, for brief) has targeted on small-batch, finely crafted operating, biking, triathlon, and athleisure attire with crisp colours and clear designs.
The McKenzies each specialised in Iron-distance triathlons (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) and after they launched WYN, needed to make a triathlon package that was each comfy sufficient and classy sufficient to maintain its wearer comfortable for a race of 140.6 miles.
Right this moment, WYN Republic gives three “households” of tri fits: Hello Velocity, Luceo, and, most lately, CdA (coefficient of aerodynamic drag), which I’ll overview right here. With one of many business’s highest costs for a tri package, I knew this package wanted to be examined for consolation, match, and aerodynamics.
Building
Whereas WYN has all the time prioritised aerodynamics along with consolation and magnificence, the CdA swimsuit is its most technically superior package but. It took almost two years to design and check within the pursuit of each Watt.
The CdA package is available in a nifty black matte field lined within the CdA equation and different math-y trying particulars. Much like how an Apple product field appears to “pause” earlier than absolutely opening, so too does the CdA package field. You really feel such as you’re opening one thing luxe.
The package’s legs really feel hydrophobic and “matte” within the sense that I wouldn’t describe them as silky, however they’re smooth. The legs have facet pockets that lay flat in opposition to the facet of 1’s thighs and are so flush with the remainder of the leg material that I didn’t discover them at first. Moreover, the legs supply protection down to only a few inches(5 cm) above the place the leg bends on the knee.
The highest of the one-piece package is smooth, too, however once more, I wouldn’t describe it as silky. It feels sturdy and high-quality. Ripples within the arm coverings go to only above the elbow and a part of the torso. These ripples make an look in lots of top-level tri-kits as a method to disrupt airflow and end in a… You guessed it… decrease CdA.
(Picture credit score: Kristin Jenny)
- Italian ultra-lightweight textile know-how with Italian aerodynamic textured ribbed material on sleeves and torso facet panels
- Swiss Coldblack material entrance panel with handled cooling qualities
- Cloth gives UV safety of SPF 35+
- Ice pocket on the again of neck, two inner entrance pockets, two pockets on the facet of every thigh
- Micro-mesh underarm panels for hyper-flexibility and unrestricted swim stroke
- Dolomiti Grigno triathlon particular 3mm chamois
- Signature “full zip” entrance opening with flip-lock YKK zipper.
- Warmth bonded arm cuffs
- Seamless shorts building
- Precision laser minimize hem openings with built-in silicone leg gripper for a seamless end
- One model: white high with black shorts
- Sizes: XS by means of XXL
- A wee bit of sentimental material that stops the zipper from chafing your sternum space – an excellent contact!
The Journey
As a result of it’s nonetheless too frigid in Colorado to check a tri swimsuit – and one with cooling capabilities – outdoors, I examined the CdA package for a two-hour-long coach trip indoors. I rode my tri bike and spent a lot of the trip within the aero place, as one would throughout a half or full-distance Ironman.
The very first thing I observed is that the package feels well-constructed. There have been no crackling sounds of threads stretching or breaking as I pulled the package on, and the package instantly sat on my physique with out the necessity to tug the material into place.
The second commentary I had was that the package is surprisingly stretchy. Previously, the extra aerodynamic a tri package claimed to be, the stiffer its material was. This may occasionally have been an try to “lock” a package into place on one’s physique to minimise any material drag.
Regardless, the CdA package had loads of stretch, particularly within the underarms and again, which is important for the swim portion of a triathlon. Moreover, I’m fairly tall at six toes with extraordinarily broad shoulders, and up to now, this has meant combating with different girls’s kits to get the package to zip. I used to be happy that the size-large girls’s CdA package zipped up with no downside and match my expansive shoulders and again with no struggle.
(Picture credit score: Kristin Jenny)
My 0.5-star discount comes from that very same stretch utilized to the package’s shorts. Some could brush this off as a private gripe and never worthy of a ½ star detraction, however for in addition to the highest half match, the shorts of the CdA package have been only a smidge too giant, bunching up within the entrance of my groin greater than I’d just like the longer I pedalled. This didn’t trigger me any chafing, however it was noticeable sufficient to warrant a point out on this overview.
This challenge could also be particular to my anatomy – these size-large broad shoulders are paired with size-medium hips and thighs – however that physique kind isn’t uncommon in triathlon, so I assumed it was value mentioning. I believe I’d nearly want a “medium tall” measurement to search out the right slot in not simply the CdA swimsuit but in addition most girls’s triathlon kits.
In addition to the marginally prolonged shorts a part of the package, the CdA package felt like a feather-light second pores and skin as I grinded away on the coach. It was extremely gentle and breathable, with no hotspots forming even because the sweat dripped down my again and legs. I used to be impressed by how rapidly the leg material dried and the way cool my core stayed within the torso material (and I rode the coach with no fan on, of us).
Maybe most significantly for triathletes, the chamois was barely there but in addition very comfy. It was so good, in actual fact, that I forgot I used to be carrying a thinner triathlon-specific chamois and felt simply as glad with the CdA chamois as I might in thicker biking bibs.
(Picture credit score: Kristin Jenny)
Worth and Conclusion
Once I think about the kind of athlete—elite—and the racing situations—scorching and humid—this package was made for, I might advocate it in a heartbeat. Its consideration to element, like the inner pockets, cooling material, and rippled torso panels, is apparent and efficient.
The CdA package has additionally confirmed its value on the race course, with notable outcomes like Ironman World Champion, Chelsea Sodaro’s win within the 2024 Ironman New Zealand and Leon Chevalier’s fourth-place end at Kona final season.
For $700, although, this isn’t a package for everybody; in equity, it’s not marketed that method. This package is listed for triathletes trying to acquire each potential authorized aerodynamic edge throughout mid- and long-distance triathlons. And sometimes, these sorts of triathletes are additionally the kind to drop $700 on a package, particularly one which claims to avoid wasting seven minutes over an Iron-distance.
This package’s “second pores and skin” feeling instantly appealed to me for the sorts of triathlons I really like: these in scorching and humid situations. When biking in locations just like the Kona lava fields, you need the “coolest” gear, in each the temperature and magnificence.
In the end, it is a hyper-elite triathlon package for true fans who’re in search of a PB or to be aggressive, slightly than only a finisher – simply don’t inform your accountant.