I am just back from the SPMA meet where all the top finisher were wearing the latest generation tech suits,mostly B-70s(or were named Jeff Commings.)I have here to for been in favor of the suits,but now I am not so sure.First,they eliminate the old bench marks.I went my fastest 100m BR in 5 yr in my LZR,but it was only .3 sec faster than I did untapered 5 wk earlier in my first swim in the LZR.So was my swim good or not,I'm not sure.Also,instead of focusing on technique or pace I found myself ruminating over aspects of the suits,how many more swims did the suit have,is it the right size,was the reason I didn't get better results from my B-70 because it was too big?etc.The B-70 has somewhat mitigated the "too expensive,not durable" problem,but for how long.
Lets say a company comes up with a suit that is much faster,say 4 sec/100.Further that it is very expensive(say $1000) lasts 4 swims and is very hard to make so that quantities are always limited and the fastest way to get one is to bid up to $3000 on ebay. Now lets say your nemesis has one,or that getting one is your best chance to get TT or AA or a ZR or WR,or that your child is close to making JO cuts,or finally beating his/her nemesis etc. Is it worth it and where does it stop?
a bike head should know the difference between campy record (the current gold standard) and campy super record which has been out of production for about 20 years.
but (and here is the difference) shimano, campy, trek, colnago etc must make their improvements to their equipment fall within parameters established by bicycle racing orgs..... not the other way around. another fact is professional cyclists sometimes have access to equipment that will never be available on the amateur circuit (anyone remember the 50 thousand dollar track bikes raleigh built for the us olympic team 20 years ago)
I am well aware of the difference, but Campy Super Record is back and is at the top of the Campy lineup.
www.campagnolo.com/.../item_cambioSR11cor_catid_12.jsp
I would agree with you about the stuff available 20 years ago to only pros. But those days are gone. If you have enough money, you can buy any bike you want. You can ride lighter stuff than the pros ride because they have a minimum weight limit. With the widespread availability of small scale custom frame builders, those sort of bike are available to anybody (anybody with money of course).
Your point is well taken that FINA let Speedo and the other manufacturers run all over them and the way these suits were approved probably wasn't aboveboard.
a bike head should know the difference between campy record (the current gold standard) and campy super record which has been out of production for about 20 years.
but (and here is the difference) shimano, campy, trek, colnago etc must make their improvements to their equipment fall within parameters established by bicycle racing orgs..... not the other way around. another fact is professional cyclists sometimes have access to equipment that will never be available on the amateur circuit (anyone remember the 50 thousand dollar track bikes raleigh built for the us olympic team 20 years ago)
I am well aware of the difference, but Campy Super Record is back and is at the top of the Campy lineup.
www.campagnolo.com/.../item_cambioSR11cor_catid_12.jsp
I would agree with you about the stuff available 20 years ago to only pros. But those days are gone. If you have enough money, you can buy any bike you want. You can ride lighter stuff than the pros ride because they have a minimum weight limit. With the widespread availability of small scale custom frame builders, those sort of bike are available to anybody (anybody with money of course).
Your point is well taken that FINA let Speedo and the other manufacturers run all over them and the way these suits were approved probably wasn't aboveboard.
