Xterra (or other) speedsuit issue

William Jenks

A couple of years ago, I bought an xterra speed suit using the EN code to get a discount.  For the most part, I've been happy with it.  It fit well, and it "felt" fast, though who knows....

However, the last couple of times I used it, the "breakaway" zipper didn't function very well.  It would open, but not just "fall open" like it did when I first got it.  Last weekend at my race, I undid the zipper at the top and started to pull and....it came undone about 2-3 inches...and I messed with the zipper some more and pulled again...and... nothing.  It didn't appear to be snagged in any way, and it has never snagged zipping up.

To make a long story longer, as I finally pulled it open, the suit fabric tore in the front rather than fully unzip in the back...so it's obviously ruined now.  When I got it home, there was no snag in the zip...it unzipped the rest of the way fairly smoothly.

I looked at the Xterra web site, and the guarantee is for 6 months.  Well, that was a long time ago.  But I've only used it maybe half a dozen times, so I'm petty disappointed.  If the zip had snagged, I'd also feel differently...but I feel like the design/wear of the zipper has to have been substandard...but if that were the case, I'd hardly be the first to have run into this problem.

1) Has anyone heard of this?  Has anyone heard of Xterra going out of their way on customer service when something so strange happens?

2) I don't need one right away, but I liked having this as an option.  Are there other speedsuits that people have had good success with?  I see that Blue Seventy sells one (and my daughter loves their competition swim suits) but $300 seems like a lot.  The xterra was more like $175 because they sell everything at 50% at one time or another.

Thanks.

harrast

A little off the subject, but I've had a similar issue with my older QR wetsuit. I'll yank up on the cord to open the zip, but instead of opening up at the top, the slidey thing sticks at the top and the zipper separates below. I basically have a collar around my neck that I can't get out of. I have learned to reach around the back to manually pull the zipper apart from the little opening. Once I get the zipper separated, I can usually get the slidey thing free and open the collar. I have since replace the suit with an xterra model, but I used to worry about getting stuck in the zipper all the way through the swim.