Review of the Rocket Science Race Belt

Race belts are used to hold race numbers, an alternative to attaching them to your top with safety pins. The photo to the right shows my new Rocket Science Race Belt holding the race number from the Duathlon on the weekend.

Most Short course Triathlons (Mini, Sprint & Olympic) do not use race numbers. Instead they rely on arm numbering. However nearly all Duathlons and Long Course Triathlons do have use race number bibs. In fact it is not unusual for the Long Course Triathlons to use two separate race number bibs - one for the bike leg and a different one for the run. The two race number bibs will have the same number, but advertise a different sponsor. In these races I need 2 race belts.

The next two photos show my previous two race belts. They are different styles with the Fuel Belt one using toggles and the other one using press studs - I've had problems with both.

The press studs can be very difficult to snap together through the race bib material. Generally you need to align the press stud exactly over the hole in the bib - but I always find the race bib is wider than the gaps between the press studs.

The toggles are extremely easy to attach, but not overly secure - I've lost one in a race. Through experience I've discovered you need to attach the bib rather loosely. If you push the toggles tight up against the belt, the elastic nature of the belt will end up creating too much force against the toggle and shoot it off. Again this is partly a problem of the positioning of the toggles not always matching up against the holes in the race bib. This isn't helped by the fact the belt is elastic, so the length of the gap will depend upon how much the belt is stretched.

Whenever using either of these race belts, I nearly always safety pin the bib to the belt because I simply do not trust the fasteners. Also, using safety pins and ignoring the fasteners allows me to better line up the width of the bib to the belt. But safety pins do not stretch with body movement, so there is still a chance the bib may rip and fall off.

The Rocket Science race belt uses rings to attach the bib. Not only are the rings far more secure, they are also moveable along the belt rather than being fixed in a set position. You can see from the photo that there is a red rubber patch that grips the ring to keep it in place, but you can also place the ring past this rubber patch.  This means I can get a perfect fit regardless of the race bib size. A better fit means that it will also be more aerodynamic when riding on the bike. Flapping clothes or race belts can be one biggest causes of extra drag.

But wait, there's more. As shown in the photo on the left, the Rocket Science race belt also has little loops that can carry gels. In the photo I've shown 3 gels attached to the belt, but it can hold up to the 6 gels. They are securely held, but easily removed by pulling down on the gel.

I have not tried to run with gels in the race belt yet, so cannot truly rate their effectiveness. However I suspect it will be far more convenient than carrying them in back pocket of my tri top. I don't carry gels on the run in Short Course races, but I definitely intend to utilize this feature when I race the Half Ironman at Geelong in February.