Cold weather running brings on the dawn of new fashionable gear. Last year I became a loyal fan of the Sugoi Arm Warmers and at the end of the season found the Tatu Arm Warmers. If you like gear with a little cutting-edge style, value comfort, and want to reduce wearing long sleeve shirts in the cold weather, then these Tatu arm warmers are right up your ally.

The whole story began last year as I started trying to find these sleeve looking things being worn by the elete marathoners. First I have to admit, they looked cool and you could still race in singlet in cold weather. After multiple online search sessions, I finally figured out what the product was called. Once I knew the name of the product, I was ready to visit my favorite local specialty retailers to pick up the gear. This turned out to be quite an unusual process because the running stores didn’t have any in stock which led me to the cycling shops. The cycling shops had an array of choices. The next hurdle was deciding on which brand and determining size. It didn’t take long to make the call in favor of Sugoi. A simple detail won me over. Sugoi arm warmers have a sticky band on the inside of the upper arm which is designed to keep the gear in place. This was perfect since my first concern was wearing a virtual sock on my arm and having it slip down constantly. Problem solved. While other products may have worked. Sugoi purposely drew attention to this detail in my mind and sealed the deal.

With the purchase complete, the obvious next step was wearing them. I started with a pair of black arm warmers since I didn’t realize the Tatu version existed yet. Shortly after a couple runs, my loyalty was cemented to these Sugoi arm warmers. Wearing them each day quickly fueled the need to find another pair or two. Now knowing my brand of choice, their website was my first destination. That’s when I discovered the Tatu arm warmers. I’m a huge fan of the art of tattooing, but not quite fan enough to go for the permanent sleeve look. This detailed full sublimation product was a style laden solution. Cool gear and warm arms. The perfect combination for fun racing or training gear. Little did I know quite a few people were fans as well. This simple fact landed my discovery just in time for Sugoi and every other source imaginable to be out of stock for the season. I settled for another pair in red instead and decided to play the waiting game.

Fast forward to present. To my surprise not only did Sugoi come back with the full color Tatu design, but they also released a black and white version. I was elated by the news of this additional new product and this time I was early in the know. My friend, an owner of a local specialty retailer, knew of my interest in the product and luckily decided to carry the line this season. Once the shipment arrived, I finally was able to pick up both versions of the Tatu arm warmers. With the recent shift to cooler weather, I’ve enjoyed a handful of wear while run-commuting so far. This weekend will mark my first 1/2 marathon in the Tatu black and white arm warmers and next month I’ll be sporting these in the marathon as well. Cheers to Sugoi for creating both a perfectly engineered and design conscious product.

* This product review is composed from personal opinion and the products tested during research for the review were purchased by at full retail value by EnduroBrand. None of the claims or statements in the review were influenced by Sugoi nor did the company solicit the writing of this review.