- Right, today I'm joined by Mark Livesey
for a little Tri DIY.
Thanks for joining us, Mark.
- It's a pleasure, Mark.
Great. So Mark is a top-level
age grouper, he's a coach.
He's also partner to pro
triathelete Caroline Livesey,
and founder of Train Xhale.
Now, today, we've got you here
to talk us through your little hack,
your tri DIY, your aero race belt.
Now talk us through it
and why you've done it.
- Well, one of the reasons I'm doing it,
is there are produced,
or commercially produced
belts and sleeves for aerodynamics.
And it is astounding when I see athletes
still having overshoes on, have
a helmet that's aerotested,
all the wheels, and they'll still
have a flappy number on the back.
- Yes, it's like the last
thing people think about.
So, they've done all of that fine-tuning,
and then it comes to race day,
and they just whack this belt on,
and they're wasting valuable watts.
- Yeah, and if you look at the numbers,
some studies will suggest,
or some numbers will suggest
that it's between five and eight watts.
For five hours of riding,
that's quite significant.
Like I say-- it does astound me that
riders still forget about this.
So, what I'm gonna show
you is a very quick hack.
And it'll cost you about two Pounds to do.
- Awesome. Where do we start, then?
- Okay, so all we need
is some knicker elastic,
so you need to go to your
local haberdashery shop,
velcro, scissors, a
knife, and stationery--
sleeve, like so.
- Okay, so what's our first step, then?
- So, first thing you need
to do is create a loop.
And make sure you measure that
around whoever's waist
it's gonna go around.
And make sure it's not too tight.
The thing is-- Well, I know this.
Have you noticed guys running with
these belts around their thighs?
- Yes. So, you're doing
this for your waist.
- Yeah, yeah, and it should
stay around your waist.
It needs to be comfortable.
- So this is obviously, once it's sewn up
you can't get it apart.
So you're going to have to step into it.
- You step into it, or--
or what you can do, it's a good point.
What you can do is put
velcro on each side,
and stitch it on and actually attach it.
There is a danger in that
velcro releases, though.
But I find just stepping
into it like a pair of pants.
- Perfect, okay, and next step?
- And then, all you do then is
with your velcro, you stick
it on the inside like so.
One on each side, and one
in the middle, if you want.
And I'll show you that,
in a little bit later.
We have one in the middle, and then
on the envelope itself.
So you'll have an envelope like this,
and normally the race number
is half an A4-sized number,
which will fit into this sleeve.
Now what you mustn't do
is manipulate the size
of that race number, otherwise
you get disqualified.
So you gotta make sure it fits in there.
So here's one I've done earlier,
and it fits in there, and
I've a little bit more space.
I've cut that, and then the opposite side
of that velcro sits on
the inside of the belt.
Now, what's important
here is that you give
the race belt a little bit
of slack, so when you--
- That's when you put it
on it stretches, okay.
- So when you put it on, it stretches.
And then that velcro bit in the middle
will then sit comfortably.
And then that'll sit
on your back, like so.
The only thing, the other
thing you have to do then,
is to make sure that this race belt,
or the number sits flush
with the lower back
and the top side of the backside.
It's again with velcro
and on your race suit.
So what I've done already is,
when I position myself on the bike,
I'll put two pieces of velcro
on the bottom of my race suit
in the TT position, and
then at the bottom of
the race number, I will
stick the opposite side
of the velcro on, assume that's on there.
What will happen then
is, when you get out,
and you put your race number on,
it will sit flush
on the race suit, like so.
- It'll stop flapping around.
- It'll stop it flapping around.
That's the whole point is
to keep the race number
close to the body and it's aeorodynamic,
and to reduce--
any air pressure drag that's developed
by that flappy number.
And that is your lot, and it will cost you
no more than two Euros or
two Pounds within the UK.
And it takes five minutes to make.
- Fantastic. It's a great idea.
I'm sure many of our
viewers will love that.
Okay, Mark, you're all kitted up.
Let's see this in action.
Let's whack it on.
- Thing is really ---, already
that one's found its space.
There, boom.
- Okay, and then obviously,
when we come off the bike,
we then have to switch the number 'round,
so it's on our front, so just de-attach?
- Really easy.
Flick off the velcro, spin it 'round,
and it sits nice and comfy.
And it actually doesn't flap around
when you're running, as well,
so it doesn't become an irritant.
- All right, Mark, that is awesome,
it looks super aero, and I'm sure a lot
of our viewers are going to be wanting
to make this race belt,
and if you'd like to,
you can look in the description below
for a list of those
items that you'll need.
And if you'd like to see
more videos from GTN,
just click on the globe and subscribe.
