HUUB Skinsuits

Fabric Tech and How It Actually Cuts Drag

The Anemoi technology at the heart of HUUB's TT suits isn't a single fabric - it's a zonal strategy. Different panels use different textile constructions depending on where airflow behaves differently across a rider's body. The trip lines, those subtle ridges and texture changes you can feel on the suit's surface, are the key mechanism. They trigger turbulence in the boundary layer of air at precisely the right moment, keeping airflow attached to the suit's surface rather than separating and creating a wide, draggy wake behind you. It's the same principle engineers use on golf balls, applied to a cycling speedsuit.

Moisture-wicking performance is built into the same fabrics that deliver drag reduction. At race intensity - whether that's a four-minute criterium corner sprint or a 20-minute TT effort - you generate significant heat and sweat. The fabrics move moisture away from the skin quickly, keeping you cooler and preventing that clammy, heavy feeling that slows you down mid-effort. There's also a light wind-blocking quality to the outer face of the fabric, which matters more than you'd think for early-morning UK time trials. A 7am start on an exposed A-road in April involves a wind chill that can lock up your muscles before you've hit your rhythm. HUUB's fabrics don't trap heat, but they do take the edge off that cold air pressing against your chest and thighs at 30-plus mph.

Compared to a standard club jersey and bib shorts combination, the aerodynamic benefit of a well-fitted skinsuit is one of the easiest free speed gains in cycling. If you're weighing up options, Castelli skinsuits and Bioracer skinsuits operate in the same performance space, but HUUB's wind-tunnel collaboration with Bigham gives their aero claims a particularly rigorous foundation.

The HUUB Fit, and Choosing Between Short and Long Sleeve

A race fit skinsuit should feel like a second skin - that phrase gets overused, but with HUUB it's the literal design brief. Any excess fabric creates wrinkles, and wrinkles create drag. Standing upright in the changing rooms, expect the suit to feel tight across the upper back and shoulders. That's correct. In a TT position over the bars, or bent forward into the drops for a crit, the suit redistributes across your body and sits perfectly flat. If it feels comfortable while you're standing tall, it's probably a size too large for racing purposes.

HUUB offers short-sleeve suits aimed at criteriums and road races, and long-sleeve variants built for time trial and track use. The short-sleeve options give you better thermoregulation in summer racing and more freedom of movement through high-cadence sprint efforts. The long-sleeve TT suits cover more surface area, which means more opportunity for the Anemoi panels and trip-line textures to manage airflow across your arms - significant when your arms are held forward in a TT position and represent a meaningful chunk of your frontal area. For mixed UK summer racing where you might do a crit one weekend and a TT the next, a short-sleeve suit is the more versatile choice. If your primary goal is the club time trial championship or a dedicated TT season, go long-sleeve.

On the question of long sleeve skinsuit vs short sleeve: the aerodynamic case for long-sleeve is well-established in wind tunnel data, but the short-sleeve suit is easier to live with across different conditions and event types. Worth thinking about what your race calendar actually looks like before committing.

If you're also doing triathlons and wondering whether a cycling skinsuit will do the job across all three disciplines - it won't, not comfortably. The chamois in a cycling skinsuit is thicker and positioned for sustained saddle time; it's not designed to be swum in or run with. For that, head to our HUUB Tri Clothing page, where the suits use thinner, run-friendly chamois pads and dry-fast fabrics built around the demands of transition racing. HUUB's HUUB wetsuits are worth a look too if you're building out a triathlon kit setup.

Endura skinsuits are another strong option if you want British-made engineering at a range of price points, though HUUB's wind-tunnel pedigree gives their top-end suits a particular edge for dedicated TT use.

Layering Choices and Keeping the Suit in Good Shape

The default advice for skinsuit use is to wear it directly against the skin - no base layer, no bib shorts underneath. For warm summer racing that's the right call. The suit handles moisture management on its own, and adding a base layer just introduces extra fabric that can bunch and wrinkle under the suit's panels.

For early-season UK time trials, though, that calculus shifts. A 6am start in late March on an open course in the Fens or across the Yorkshire Wolds means cold air and damp, and a skinsuit alone won't keep your legs warm through the warm-up. A thin, moisture-wicking mesh base layer worn underneath adds a meaningful layer of warmth without significantly affecting aerodynamics - the key is to keep it tight-fitting and smooth. If you're training in the suit before the season proper, HUUB compression wear pairs well for recovery and cool-weather sessions.

Care matters more with a skinsuit than with standard kit. The aero textures on the fabric are physical structures - the trip lines and surface constructions that do the aerodynamic work are part of the textile itself. Fabric softener coats those fibres and blunts the surface texture, degrading performance over time. Wash at 30 degrees, use a gentle detergent without softener, and let the suit dry naturally away from direct heat. Never tumble dry. The silicone grippers on the leg and arm hems will also degrade faster with heat exposure. Treat it like the performance equipment it is, and it'll keep performing.