Monday, June 7, 2010

My First Product Review - Speedo Endurance

Well, here you go.  My first product review.  I went with my training swim shorts because they're one thing where I actually have quite a bit of experience with different types of products. 

When I first started training, I used just a standard pair of swim trunks.  They're made to last forever, but swimming with all of that fabric along with two giant pockets was akin to wearing a parachute on my ass.

Next, I moved on to a pair of jammers.  Imagine a pair of cycling shorts, except without the padded tush.  Comfy?  Yes.  Aero hydro-dynamic?  Sure.  But after about a dozen workouts, I noticed a problem.  Those suckers started to wear thin.  Literally.  Regardless of how well I took care of them and how well they were rinsed afterwords, the elastic was wearing away.  First, they started to sag, and my jammers turned into capris.  Second, they started to become see-through.  I don't have to tell you that transparent swim shorts does not benefit anybody.

For the next year, I tried different shorts (jammers, square-leg, briefs) from several different companies (TYR, Dolphin, Speedo) but they all developed the same sagging and thinning problems after a month or two.  Finally, I tried a pare of Speedo Endurance Shorts:

For those of you hoping to see me MODEL the Speedo.  Shame on you.  Perverts.

They seem to be made of a different fabric.  It's thicker and a bit less stretchy, especially the leg grippers..  My thighs definitely get the 'stuffed-sausage' effect when I'm wearing them.  But, they're still plenty skin-tight to allow for easy movement in the water.

However, the best thing about these shorts is that they're freaking INDESTRUCTIBLE.  I've been wearing the same pair for 8 months and they have yet to show any significant signs of wear.  I don't rinse them consistently and sometimes they just end up balled up in my towel for a couple of days.  In short, I treat them like crap - but they still hold up.

You can find the square leg variety on-line and in most big-box sporting goods stores for between $30 and $40, which is about $10 more than their less-durable counterparts.  But when you consider that they last at least 4 times as long as standard shorts, I think they're worth every cent.

There you have it.  My first review.  That wasn't too tough now, was it?

I hope to be back in the next couple of days to talk about my 1/2 Ironman this weekend.  It'll be a good opportunity to test my nutrition and pacing and get a good idea of what next September will be like.  Toodles.

2 comments:

  1. I use the speedo Endurance+ jammers, i.e., the same as these but with longer legs. Can I look forward to them wearing thin very soon, or are they made from the same super strong fabric? Did you try them when you tried jammers?

    Cheers, Benjamin

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes. The jammers are made from the same fabric as the other cuts of this short. In fact, after 2 more months of training, they're still holding strong. The only thing that's stretched out so far is the draw string. I think that you'll be in good shape regardless of the cut you choose.

    ReplyDelete