Wetsuit recommendations
Howdy all. In the market for a new wetsuit. Currently have an Xterra sleeveless but have a colder race coming up and want a full suit. Having a hard time sorting through all the marketing hype, catch panel this, neoprene cell that, etc. I'm a middle-of the pack swimmer - last HIM time was 36-37 min. Local tri shop carries Orca and 2XU and Xterra's running a deal on their entry level suits. Any personal experience or key things to look for what would awesome. Thanks
Logan
0
Comments
I bought mine used, and I got a very high end one for a very good price online...so I had to take a potshot on fit. I will say that i love how it swims, but the rubber gets little tears in it when you blink at it sideways. I find myself making little repairs after almost every usage. Never had this problem with my "lower level" one. If I had known this, though, I might have looked for one made of a different rubber type. You might ask about this with the shop if it concerns you.
If you can't find something that fits well across the brands your local shop carries, consider ordering several models from TriSport. They have a really good return policy for the wetsuits and if you just suck it up, buy 2 or 3 at once, try them all on, and return what doesn't work- you'll save a lot of time (and shipping costs).
A great place to find cheap wetsuits is on the Slowtwitch classifieds. I just bought a Tyr Hurricane Cat 5 wetsuit that a guy wore one time for IMWI. It had one hour worth of use and I got it for half price.
There is a monster quality difference between high end and entry level wetsuits. If you put the Tyr Hurricane Cat 5 or Blue Seventy Helix next to the $100 Xterra you would never think of buying the Xterra. I know that money doesn't grow on trees and that's a major factor but the difference is significant when it comes to the thickness of the neoprene and such.
Try them on in person, all the brands you can, to test the fit (shoulders, chest constriction, etc). Then buy online...lots of end of season discounts going on about now.
Personally, I love my BlueSeventy Helix longsleeve. I got a 20% discount on it locallly, which made it even cheaper than online (for once).
I actually don't have a wetsuit, I tossed my ancient Desoto out after IMCDA'08, which was also my last race. I'll be in the market in the spring (or winter deals?) What's the current most fastestest wetsuit out there? I haven't given a thought to a wetsuit purchase in about 8yrs. Please bring me up to speed.
Right now the TYR Hurricane Cat 5 appears to be the hot suit and is not nearly as expensive as the 2XU Project X. That's probably going to be my new wetsuit next year.
Right now I am using the 2XU V:0, a 2007 model that I got a smoking hot deal on from EBay in 2009. I have no experience with other wetsuits personally so it's hard to make any comparisons, but I don't consider myself a fast swimmer in general. For some reason, though, I seem to have pretty fast swims in wetsuit races. My two HIM swims last year were 30:57 and 32:50. I haven't done a wetsuit swim in competition this year. That last one last year, the zipper busted from an overzealous wetsuit stripper. I had it pseudo fixed knowing I was only doing one race in it this year but I am replacing it after IMAZ because I think it lets in a little more water now. If it wasn't busted, I wouldn't be replacing it.
@ Terry - you are a fast swimmer dude! Re 7mm thick, anything over 5mm became illegal as of 1 Sep 2010 in any WTC race, but is good until Jan 2013 for USAT races. USAT has basically stated that although the thick suits are patently unfair, they will allow the unfairness to continue for two more years so people who just bought the suits can get some use out of them. The rule was principally aimed at DeSoto's Water Rover which has some 10mm panels.
Good Luck.
I'll put in a plug for De Soto. The fact that they are 2 piece means you can often get a better fit than a one piece. I'd be a bit careful about preferring a local shop, oddly enough. I'm of the opinion that trying it on, dry, in a shop, is nowhere near as helpful as actually swimming in it. Towards that end, DeSoto, and hopefully most other reputable vendors, offer a 100% refund/exchange program.
Some local shops also rent suits, and will comp you the rental fee if you end up buying. If you are only doing a couple races a year, it might be better to just rent!
Mike
My wetsuit was a DeSoto T2, one of the first ones that came out. My dislikes about it where that I think I only got it on 100% correctly once or twice (sleeves always a little twisted) and taking it off was a bit of an art. I think they've added a zip down the back now though?
I'll take a cheap wetsuit that fits perfect anyday before the latest, greatest, next best thing that just fits ok. Serriously, as with a perfect fittings suit I don't have any chaffing or discomfort concerns and don't even need much body glide at all, that comfort is worth the same or more amount of time than the best wetsuit on the market.
I'm biased towards Zoot, so take the rest of this with a grain of salt...
I am fortunate to have the currnet top of the line (Zennith 2.0 at ~$650) and second tier Zoot wetsuits (Synergy at ~$300) and I raced in the Synergy all year becase it just felt like it fit perfect. There was never anything wrong with the Zennith and it fits very well, but he Synergy just feels better to me. In fact I raced in a Zennith 1.0 the two years before that and love it as well). Maybe I lost 10 seconds by going with the "slower" suit, but I was very comfortable in every race and never had an issue.
The difference between a top of line wetsuit and a mid tier or even first tier wetsuit from any of the Tri companies is very small. If multiple really fit the same, focus on the features that mean the most to you. Like bikes the technology is so good now, that you get a lot for your money with the lowest tier of wetsuits.
I know you didn't list Zoot as an option, but just an FYI the Zennith 2.0 can be found for 40-50% off right now as their new top of the line wetsuit is being relesaed in the early spring. If the Zennith fits you right it is an awesome suit and that is a geat price for it. The new wetsuit was just re-named to the Prophet and has a number of new features that will get you a few more microseconds.
Whatever you do, try them on first!
Just an FYI, the rules are changing on wetsuits in 2013. They can't be any thicker than 5mm, so keep that in mind when shopping.