A MINIMALIST CASE FOR THE FLEECE PAD

"My favorite pad is our fleece pad because it is the one I trained and raced in the most. Why was it my preference?  I am showing my age here, but I started doing triathlons in 1981 and back then bike shorts actually had leather chamois instead of any padding. When I started De Soto Sport in 1990, I introduced the fleece pad as an alternative to that leather chamois. It is all I raced in, except for the times I was race-testing during the product development of our collection of Classico Integrated Pads which now come in 4mm, 7mm, and 14mm thicknesses and they all float.

I was not alone racing in fleece pads. Back then a good majority of triathletes used to compete in Speedo swim briefs (men) and one-piece or two-piece swimsuits (women) with no padding at all. As other brands followed our innovations, fleece padding was the norm even for Ironman distances. Many of us used it.  We trained in what we raced. I still train in a fleece pad short. I wear it for swimming, running and even cycling. With my saddle, it is a 30-year old Flite Titanium, covered with our GreenGoma™ Seat Pad, it is all I need. 

Many of our current customers buy De Soto shorts and trisuits with fleece pads for all distances of races including 70.3 and Ironman. I had no influence on their decision other than offering almost a dozen different products with fleece pads."