Friday, February 29, 2008

Which suit would you look better in?


These product shots were pulled from the TYR website and the Speedo website in that order. The TYR Tracer Light suits are featured in the left panel wheres the Speedo Lazr suits are featured in the panel on right.

TYR [Link] Speedo [Link]

This question is for the mademoiselles: These companies pay photographers a fair amount of money to make their merchandise look as good as they ethically can. Both companies chose to photograph these suits from a 3/4 view so as to make the model's invisible, flattering, physique look even more amazing. With that in mind, note the female version of the Speedo Lazr as compared to the Tracer Light. Then ask yourself: Would this suit make me look fat?

Now for the gentleman: The Speedo Lazr costs $550 as compared to the $320 TYR Tracer Light. That is a 60%-plus markup price! Consequently, how much faster would the Lazr have to be to justify its price and justify you looking disproportionate and/or silly?

The questions above are interchangeable for both men and woman. I think this suit will sell poorly and will only be worn by those swimmers where fractions of second could mean a scholarship or a salary.

I dedicate this post to Scott, the Canuck Swimmer

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

the TYR looks better than the speedoo . the french team is sponsered by TYR so we will probably see the new suit at the european championship in EINDHOVEN.
I heard that laure manaudou would be wearing the naw ARENA suit at the european championship.

Unknown said...

Here's the thing: at close to 50, I don't really worry so much on the deck at a meet how my suit looks on me! What really matters to me is fit. Just as individual swimmers have goggle preferences, we also have suits we like better than others.

Perhaps because of my body shape, I have not yet found a Tyr suit that is as comfortable on me as Speedos. This is overwhelmingly true of training suits.

At first I didn't even consider a kneesuit or full body suit because I felt it would make me seem like a poser. I didn't believe I was fast enough to warrant it. I didn't try one until a teammate gave me a Fastskin kneesuit that no longer fit her.

Now I would be really reluctant to compete without one.

Does this mean I feel the need to buy a next generation suit? Of course not! But I'm so not part of the target market. It will be really interesting to see how it sells.

Incidentally, I remember the advent of the Belgrade suit, and the near scandalous price then of almost $100 for a racing suit. They were overwhelmingly popular.

Anonymous said...

My swim club is sponsered by TYR. We'll be getting that suit soon.

Anonymous said...

My swim club is sponsered by TYR. We'll be getting that suit soon.