I will start with recommending that you try a suit on before you become sold on it. That article has some good information, but without trying the suit on, it would be very hard to say that one is better than the other for you.

A full sleeve suit is faster, every time, on paper. The added benefit of extra buoyancy, smoother skin, and a widened paddle surface, the full sleeve suits should beat out every sleeveless suit. Is this true for everybody? No. This is where fit and comfort come in to play. A lot of natural swimmers (fish) have an upper body cut that doesn't fit in a lot of full sleeve suits, and they prefer to have the "feel" for the water with a full sleeve suit. It is very likely that these folks won't lose anything buy going sleeveless, based on their swimming prowess and probable excellent body mechanics. Likewise, some beginner swimmers get claustrophobic in a full sleeve suit.

It is important to note that when you try a wetsuit on, proper fit should feel borderline uncomfortable. The suit will loosen up on you in the water. The flexibility of the suit and ensuring that your range of motion is uninhibited is very important in selecting a wetsuit.

The article you posted has another Sleeveless suit mentioned, and likely the most cost efficient suit on the list. Out entry level sleeveless wetsuit beat out 4 of the full sleeve suits. Our sleeveless suit uses Yamamoto #38 rubber, vs the #39 of the other sleeveless suit.

If you are looking for hands down the best suit for you, do you have an option to try some suits on? I'd be happy to help you find a place to do so. I will recommend the Aqua Sphere line, but also recommend trying on a handful of suits. My personal recommendation and preference is full sleeve always. But this isn't for everybody, and some people just prefer a sleeveless suit.

I'm always happy to help if you have any questions.

jake

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Get outside!

Very true on fit - I unfortunately live in an area where trying suits on isn't an option (Coos Bay, OR). Portland is a 4 hour drive away, and I am pretty sure that's the closest place that would have shops carrying more than one brand. There are shops closer that might carry one or two, but it's the same, "well we don't have that model, but can order it for you" thing, where you pay full MSRP before trying the suit on... and most of the times with a no return policy. I've been trying to stay focused on companies that provide a trial/fit period (Xterra, De Soto - maybe you guys too, I'll be honest I hadn't looked in too much detail at your company yet because until today I didn't think I had to shop anymore)

That being said - if you CAN find a place for me that's not more than say, 2 hrs away - I'd be very interested.

Appreciate the information overall too, thank you.

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

I believe that both Xterra and DeSoto have return policies for their wetsuits (I have both an Xterra sleeveless vendetta and the Desoto 2 piece). I can't comment on the exact issue at hand because ... I wear the sleeveless here in Hawaii in the winter and early spring. You may laugh now.

But if you be careful with the things (trimmed nails etc) and don't like them you can send it back. Or see if someone rents the wetsuits in question.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

You're absolutely right about both companies - I will say, Xterra's customer service is pretty top notch. If it weren't for the fact that they simply don't have any wetsuits for me to buy... they'd have my business. DeSoto's service is, of course, legendary - so no further comments needed there :)

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

You have a PM.

jake

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Get outside!

A couple of points:

- When a company says that product is back-ordered until date-X, and not available until that time, they do mean it. You have to realize that many products in this business, are low volume production items - that's true of bikes, power-meters, wetsuits and all sorts of other tri stuff. When product is finished production for a time period, or a year . . . its done for that time period or the year! There are no warehouses full of the stuff that the company, can just pull stuff out of. The big lag time here is created by China based production of much of this product. It's a month to get orders in. A month for production. Then a month on the boat over here. There's three months right there! With Xterra, you are somewhat "lucky" in that they sell direct, so assuming they get it, it then can go direct to you . . you eliminate the step to the retailer, which saves a bit of time.

- On Long-sleeve vs Short sleeve. Generally always go long sleeve - my more detailed thoughts on this from a blog I wrote a few years ago - http://stevefleck.blogspot.ca/...ss-for-wetsuits.html

Hope this helps.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Thanks Steve! No hate towards Xterra for the back order - I understand how it works; unfortunately for them though their back order date just doesn't work for me this year.

For what it's worth I DID order in October. With a 9 month lead time.... I think it's time they get a new factory.

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

For what it's worth I DID order in October. With a 9 month lead time.... I think it's time they get a new factory.

Not judging here, but that does seem like a long time.

The production of these products, is a bit more complicated than at first glance. Not defending Xterra here, it's just the reality of the situation. Perhaps it was Yamamoto who is out of that particular rubber. Or the glue supplier to the factory or the fabric for the liner was late . . . and so on. There is a bunch of things that all have to come together

I worked for Brooks briefly a number of years ago - half a years production of Brooks Beast shoes for Canada( there #1 seller at the time) was delayed by 2 months because the factory ran short of glue!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Again, I don't blame Xterra - I've done a little bit of (very small scale) work with Chinese factories - it's a game of "over promise, under deliver".

Edit: to be clear, I mean the factory is over-promising/under-delivering to Xterra - not Xterra to the customers. Xterra has been very clear and unbelievably accommodating to try and get me a suit within what they do have available, and at a good price.

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

I use a sleeveless suit and prefer the range of motion to a full suit. For colder swims (or to prevent jellyfish stings at IMFL) I have a pair of TYR swim sleeves. I wore them for the first time at IMFL and they worked really well. I got the buoncy of a full suit with the range of motion of a sleeveless. I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I hope it is.

Again, I don't blame Xterra - I've done a little bit of (very small scale) work with Chinese factories - it's a game of "over promise, under deliver".

. . and wetsuits are fairly straight-forward.

Consider a typical mid to high-end bike. Think of all the OEM parts on that bike from different suppliers. In a just-in-time production world, all that stuff needs to show up at the factory, for assembly, at just the right time. I recall Gerard Vroomen co-Cervelo Founder, explaining to be the intricacies and the frustration of this to me a number of years ago when he was still at Cervelo. He said it's a mircale that the bikes ever make it into the container and on the boat some times!

It's why when I was in the business at Nineteen Wetsuits, I was clear and up front with everyone - dealer-customers, and end-user customers what the delivery times were. I never like to walk away from a sale and business, but if we were out for the year, and there would be none until next year, that's what I would tell people! Better to have people's trust, than be in that cycle of over-promising and under delivering! The latter will get you no where!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Matt (Iknoweverything),

Yes, we are on backorder on our Vendetta fullsuits. We've got that posted on our website with the arrival date and there's nothing we can do about getting them earlier; we're clear on the arrival date (not over promising). We simply underestimated the demand at the end of 2013 for all our wetsuits, especially the Vendetta. In brief, October, November and December were record months for our company. We committed to certain pricing to our customers and had to keep the price; e.g. ideally we would have raised the price when demand was too high. It's a terrible thing to be on back order, as you can understand.

The Vendetta sleeveless is an awesome alternative but not your only option. As mentioned by Jake (Aquasphere), test out a few wetsuits to find the perfect fit. In other words, even if we had the Vendetta fullsuit in stock you might fit better in an Aquasphere or DeSoto. You can always test swim a few times in the V sleeveless and send it back if you are not happy. We are super flexible and liberal on our return policy.

If you want my two cents about a sleeveless versus a fullsuit, I've raced Oceanside 70.3 and other So.Cal races in a sleeveless without any problem. I believe it's a matter of what's the most comfortable for you depending on the race conditions; e.g. I'd choose a sleeveless any day with high-chop and 59 degree water.

- Turq
(aka Glynn Turquand, one of the owners of XTERRA WETSUITS & XTERRA BOARDS).