Wedgie Labs: Trislide

We have a new feature on the blog: Wedgie Labs. Here I’ll be trying out some new products and letting you know the REAL story behind them. Those so-called “experts” in the magazines won’t give you the kind of real-world information you’re looking for; Wedgie will.

Bicycle John's, our local bike/tri shop, gave me some "Trislide" to try out. It's basically spray-on chafing-prevention. It's probably best used when you're wearing a wetsuit; I haven't started my open-water training yet so I can't give it a complete review but I have been using it on runs and rides so I can give some initial impressions.

The first thing you need to know about Trislide is that it can be COLD. Shake up the can, give yourself a little spray and it will wake you up pretty quickly. It’s a little tricky to get a nice even coating on your skin so you’ll probably want to use your hands to rub it around a bit. This means you’ll wind up with no-stick hands so don't be surprised if you keep dropping your keys afterwards.



I really wanted to put this stuff to the test, so I pulled out the ultimate chafing weapon: I have an old tri-jersey that never fit me right. It’s sleeveless, tight, the collar and arm openings are stiff... it’s just all-around uncomfortable. If anything was going to chafe me, this thing would. No testing is valid unless you can make some sort of comparison, so I lubed up the left side of my body with my usual Body Glide and used Trislide on the right, and went out for an hour run.



I think a picture speaks a thousand words: see that mark on the bodyglide side? That's not a shadow, that's the start of an actual blister. You wouldn't think that a one-hour run could cause any chafing, especially WITH Body Glide but like I said, this was no ordinary jersey. It really is that bad. The Trislide side was fine. Truthfully, had I put on extra coats of Body Glide I'm sure I would have been OK. But in this routine test, the Trislide won.

On long bike rides, I usually use Chamois Butt'R Cream under my shorts but I've switched to the Trislide. The Trislide has an odd but important advantage: The Butt'r Cream is very thick, and for those of us who don't shave our legs year-round it can be a little uncomfortable rubbing it on to the skin. The Trislide goes on much easier and seems to give the same amount of protection. Unfortunately, Trislide does NOT make the hills any easier to climb.

You can apply Body Glide to your skin while already wearing a jersey by rolling it on, something you can't do with an Aerosol can. So for shorter runs, I still prefer Body Glide (assuming I'm wearing a jersey that actually fits me.) But for long runs (multi-hour), it's probably worth it to take the extra time with the Trislide for the added protection. And for biking, I prefer it over the Butt'r Cream. I still don't know how well it works with a wetsuit, but once the ocean temperature goes up just a few more degrees I'll give it a try.