I can tell you this, if there is a manufacturer that tends to make a shorter-torso suit I'd be interested in knowing. This seems to be where I'm missing height. Or maybe just missing boobs that would take up some of the extra fabric. Also would be great to know which one has the lowest neckline.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Trisports has a tool like what you're talking about but I'm not sure how reliable it is. I would love to see a ST version with Dan's expertise.

I need a fast suit for a' prosperous looking' (as my boss calls it) (fat as I call it) late middle aged guy. I love my 2XU suit, but I need some gussets added so I can close the zipper!

Hitting the beach at IMNZ, normally around 1:02, for a mid 50's fat guy ain't too bad I have to say. A properly fitting suit that doesn't limit my breathing, would probably take 2-3 minutes off my time I think.

Otherwise I have to buy a suit for a 7 foot tall guy of typical triathlon physique and cut the arms and legs off at the elbow and knee! :-)

A wetsuit picker would at least narrow down the search to the local custom wetsuit maker and stop me shopping in stores, leaving disappointed.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

"shopping in stores, leaving disappointed"

That is, should you be lucky enough to find a store vs being (or feeling) personally responsible for keeping mail carriers employed by delivering and returning my unworkable mail order items. (sigh). Seems to me clothing is now provided in 2 categories: awesome "typical" tri shape, and tall (heavy?) girls with huge racks. Short and curvy has an empty wasteland of selection.

And while I've got the floor... what has happened to cycling chamois'? I find either fleece "tri" shorts (much too small of coverage to prevent chaffing and too lightly = not= padded); or grotesquely thick 1/2 inch ~15 mm foam maxipad diapers that I'm not happy to ride in let alone run. (rant, rant)

Back to topic. I know Estrogen Sports does a good job of describing the clothing they carry (with pics of chamois') and was wonderful about answering some very specific questions I had. Has anyone had very good luck with another on-line store that carries a wide array of brands? Of wetsuits? Just like Dan wrote in the article, there is more to fit than just height and weight.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

"shopping in stores, leaving disappointed"

That is, should you be lucky enough to find a store vs being (or feeling) personally responsible for keeping mail carriers employed by delivering and returning my unworkable mail order items. (sigh). Seems to me clothing is now provided in 2 categories: awesome "typical" tri shape, and tall (heavy?) girls with huge racks. Short and curvy has an empty wasteland of selection.

And while I've got the floor... what has happened to cycling chamois'? I find either fleece "tri" shorts (much too small of coverage to prevent chaffing and too lightly = not= padded); or grotesquely thick 1/2 inch ~15 mm foam maxipad diapers that I'm not happy to ride in let alone run. (rant, rant)

Back to topic. I know Estrogen Sports does a good job of describing the clothing they carry (with pics of chamois') and was wonderful about answering some very specific questions I had. Has anyone had very good luck with another on-line store that carries a wide array of brands? Of wetsuits? Just like Dan wrote in the article, there is more to fit than just height and weight.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I guess here in NZ we're actually pretty well looked after. Back in the day Ironman Wetsuits (now Blue Seventy) was local, with good representation in the shops. Orca too was pretty good. Hell, they even had an outlet store less than a km from my office. We even have the oddly named T3 store that is swimming only. I got my latest wetsuit there. Great service, good range of sizes and models. Mere months after being released, I got my 2XU wetsuit, a real 50% off so was well stoked. If only it fit my current non-pro physique, I'd be happier, but that's not the suits fault.

The issue I have is that there are tons of suits out there, but even if I measure myself at applicable places, I still have a hell of a time deciding which suit to try on. And, to be honest, trying on a shirt in a dept store is a piece of cake, but in a warm shop, tiny changing room, struggling into a wetsuit is a challenge. By the 3rd suit, I'm dripping with sweat and feel sorry fo the next person to try the suit on.

I have a suit I really like, just I wish it came in a 'prosperous looking middle aged guy' fit :-) :-(

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Interesting idea, the wetsuit picker...
That might eventually get sent to my desk, but in the meantime, I'll try to help you:
Like running shoes and tri apparel, certain brands have what we call "fit blocks." Most brands won't tell you what theirs is, but since I've been around the triathlon block more than a few times, I have a reasonable idea.
So, please answer the following. If you don't want to share w the social media universe at large, you can PM me.
1. Male or Female? Full or sleeveless suit? What country are you in?
2 Height
3 Weight
4 Chest measurement
5. waist measurement
6 inseam

7. Budget. Please give me a $$ range.
Ready, steady... GO!

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Karen ST Concierge

I can give you my info (I have no ego and even less shame) but not necessary at this time.

I've retired from tri, but thinking I might get back to it for the next southern summer. Somewhat unjustifiably, I still consider myself a fully addicted triathlete! :-) I only ever use a full suit

My suggestion was mainly based on my own possible desire for a new wetsuit IF I get back to it. It really just triggered an idea that I thought others might also benefit from because A) even with fit healthy people, there are a range of body types (as acknowledged by the bike picker with stack and reach, and long/low bikes for example). I just thought that while I certainly don't have a pro figure, I suspect that some suits would fit me better than others.

FWIW, at the moment I'm 172cm short, 90kg with a 77cm inseam and 96cm waist. Doh! Portly, fat, prosperous, mature, whatever you want to call it, it's not a pro figure :-)

A bunch of years ago, when I was a featherweight 75kg, I managed to rip the zipper out of an old Ironman wetsuit (not related to being too fat for the suit). When I took it in to be repaired, I got the company to insert a couple of new panels/gussets in the back, to fix the repair and also to give me some more room. I instantly picked up about 3 minutes in my IM distance swims, simply because I could take a full breath. That suit is gone now. My 2XU is stretchier rubber and hasn't ripped (yet) so I haven't resorted to customizing it.

At the races I do, I see enough other swimmers out there of similar physiques to me that I think there could be a market for a range of shapes for wetsuits or at least there could be a market for companies to offer to insert gussets into their existing suits, at an appropriate cost.

For me, wetsuits, even top of the range, are so cheap that I just get the best. Even in over priced New Zealand, a top suit at retail is only about $1000 so why waste time with a $600 suit? AND the better suits stretch better to fit me less badly. If I could get a wetsuit manufacturer to agree to add some gussets to their suit based on measuring my beer belly, for even $200, their cash register would ring faster than I can type this message.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Thanks for your humorous comments and assessment of tri world as we see it...
Too bad you got rid of the suit w gussets in it.
Back in about 1990, we at QR realized that not everyone was 5'10 inches and slim. Some were 5'6" and round. Thus, we created the "short" sizes which were proportional in the arms, legs, and torso.
Sadly, in my searches of late, I realized that ALMOST everyone has gotten rid of the in between sizes. Except Neosport, which makes rather inexpensive but very comfortable suits for all sizes of men and women.
http://neosportusa.com/tri/size-charts/
Aside from the idea that the suits won't sell, I am uncertain why some brands aren't offered in the "not tall and skinny" sizes, and nobody really knows what sales they're missing.
If you can get your hands on a Profile Design Wahoo, men's size Large, all you'd have to do is get the arms and legs shortened.
The other suit I think you'd love would be a DeSoto Sport 2 piece suit. Then you get to pick the size of top and bottom you want.
In the meantime, I'd best start asking some suit companies to add in the LShort and XL Short sizes for the "restofus"
Keep me posted on your search...

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Karen ST Concierge

Thanks for that.

Of course, I could just give up beer and peanut butter and get back to 75kg and half my problem would disappear. Or I could just get my existing 2XU suit gusseted.

Soooo, no wetsuit picker yet? C'mon, I see you wanting to put your hand up :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Having just gone through this very painful process, again, I totally agree that a wetsuit picker app/tool would be very helpful. Interestingly enought current, relevant information on wetsuit sizing is hard to come by.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

My point exactly.

My theory is that bike fit is important, and the bike picker/stack-reach info is very helpful

Wetsuit fit is arguably equally important so a wetsuit picker would be just as helpful.

Too often in tri, the swim gets ignored (somewhat understandably), but hey, if you're dropping a grand, some help would be....helpful :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Bike frame specs are fairly easy to come by, comparatively.
Wetsuit measurements are an interesting animal, I will put up a test balloon to see if anybody will share their measurements and pattern grading...
I don't think there's an automated way to do it, just old fashioned cloth tape measure and silver sharpee pen.

I wouldn't spend a grand. I'd spend about $500 and get the suit altered.
KS

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Karen ST Concierge

I was talking New Zealand dollars, not US. I think the current exchange is a kiwi dollar gets about 75 cents US. In the US, sales are a lot more prevalent than here. I was astounded to get 50% off MSRP on the recently (at the time) introduced top of the range suit. I think from memory it retailed for $1150 NZD so I paid $575 including our sales tax.

I haven't looked at a new wetsuit for about 3 years, so not sure what's available, but I wouldn't pay retail, and I won't be getting a new suit until I lose some weight, and start swimming more regularly.

Since retiring from Tri, I've had so much spare time, I've managed to build a bike shed, to house my 12 bikes, rebuild my swimming pool, install a spa, build a treehouse/man cave (complete with beer fridge and TV) and have just bought a vintage boat that needs restoring. I can't see that I would need a new wetsuit for at least a year or two. IF I can get down some weight, I will look for a better fitting suit off the rack. A wetsuit picker would help with that of course. If I can't find anything reasonable, I'd just get gussets installed for a lot less money than a new suit, and have a good fitting high performance suit that works more than well enough.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to seeing if you can get enough information to warrant building a wetsuit picker :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

I can share that in my experience fitting people in wetsuits, even our own pattern information won't guarantee the fit.

A bike is a bit easier as it doesn't stretch, and most bike fit success is due to adjustability once you find the right size frame.

For wetsuits, I don't believe that it's all that easy. No two bodies are identical. No two people are going to have the same comfort level in a tight fitting wetsuit.

A "wetsuit picker" could be helpful in some cases. However, I'm not sure that it will be enough of a one stop shop. I would be concerned that people would take this as a fit guarantee, and that can't be had without trying the suit on in my opinion. Even a size chart is a guideline, not a guarantee. You need to put the suit on to see how you feel in the suit.

I'd be interested to hear some other input from the manufacturers side here. Please don't take this as me saying that this isn't possible. It surely is, I just see some drawbacks that may stop brands from publishing this information.

jake

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Get outside!