Triathlon market leader HUUB is an innovative company with a mission to make athletes faster. When we were asked if we wanted to create suits for Team Europe at the Collins Cup we couldn’t have been prouder, not only to create the suits for the winning team but also to allow us to showcase our new Aero-Heat-Matrix.
Here at HUUB, we shy away from the easy; our focus has always been innovation and a meticulous approach to researching where gains can still be found and remain as yet uncovered.
The Team Europe suits have been through a unique process developed in collaboration with HUUB, Dan Bigham and Nottingham Trent University’s, Dr of human performance, Steve Faulkner and PhD student Philipa Jobling.
The collaboration has intensely tested hundreds of fabrics to measure aero performance and the interface between body temperature and clothing, as well as the benefits of different fabrics on performance, to create the perfect race day attire.
But this product isn’t aimed solely at the elite few - At HUUB we have set up our own Elite Custom Lab in the UK and will be offering this service to all athletes from October. We will also be partnering across Europe with an exciting new network – but for now, we are sworn to secrecy on that.
Philipa Jobling is a HUUB supported PhD student working on the fabric matrix to create the perfect race day balance, by developing new equipment and testing protocols to deliver results never before seen in the world of Triathlon.
Philipa commented on the results of her research.
"The new HUUB Collins Cup suit is engineered using an innovative three-tiered, inter-disciplinary approach, incorporating the critical interaction between aerodynamics, human thermoregulation and fabric characteristics. The significance of the trade-off between aerodynamics and athlete thermal management is often overlooked yet extremely important, especially during a long duration triathlon. Athletes will be producing high power outputs for a prolonged period in challenging environmental conditions of both heat and humidity. With this comes excess body heat production that needs to be dissipated to prevent overheating and to maintain performance. It is really important that we understand the extent at which each individual fabric incorporated into the suits impacts the rider. Data from extensive wind tunnel and thermal testing shows the chosen textured shoulder fabric significantly reduces drag by allowing for the most aerodynamic and efficient air flow around the body, while the chosen main body fabric is not only fast but also has the capacity to quickly conduct heat and dissipate it away from the body, all whilst maintaining a cool feel."
HUUB founder and CEO Dean Jackson said
"Whilst we support athletes from around the world, we do feel that we have given team Europe the edge. As we say frequently - it’s what you don’t see that makes you faster!”