Don't know. I bought a TYR Cat 1 a couple years ago because it was cheap. It's still running strong so I'll wait on an upgrade. My fiancee is just getting into tri and will need a wetsuit. Probably a TYR because it is cheap.

From what I hear Roka has great customer service and their products are really nice. So next stop may be a Roka. But that's not for a bit yet.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

That's the thing, TYR has entry level wetsuits as well as higher end models. And they as well as B70 have been around a lot longer than Roka. I am also wondering if price was a factor.

all the body language i see from TYR tells me that they just don't care about triathlon anymore. at a certain point, the customer gets the message.

i'm happy to be proved wrong. just, did you notice last week the new trek community manager jumping into the forum here? if, at specialized, premier, 3t, open, cervelo, felt, QR, canyon, trek, etc., all these companies are here, willing to answer questions, it becomes obvious who's not here answering questions.

with wetsuits, emilio de soto is here, answering your questions. roka, xterra, orca, zone3, huub, aquasphere, aquaman, they're happy to interface with you, where you are, where you live. i haven't seen or spoken to anyone at TYR for years. i got the message. i can only assume the customers did too.

if i took the wrong message, i'm happy to be set right.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Hello Scooter,

Emilio De Soto here. We make T1 Wetsuits. The two-piece design of the T1 wetsuits offer more comfort and less restriction than a one-piece. By design a two-piece wetsuit eliminates shoulder fatigue and “torso-rubber stretch” caused by a connected zipper. The T1 Wetsuit will not force you to change or limit your stroke. Tops and bottoms are sold separately. There are over 500 unique fits possible by mixing and matching the extensive size and style offerings. You get a TRUE personalized fit.

Arms Up Technology? Yeah we did that in 1999. We constructed the shape of our wetsuit based on swimmers with their arms up, as well as one arm up at a time, instead of standing with their arms at their side. We then created our own algorithms for optimal comfort, performance, fit, and sizing. Algorithms were based on measured dimensions on over 60 locations on the body. Since our two-piece concept already allows for more shoulder freedom than any one-piece wetsuit, the optimal result was to create a pullover based on arms up and forward. This is how we developed what we still call to this day, the Bio Stroke™ Design.

For more info click here: https://www.desotosport.com/collections/t1-wetsuits

I would be happy to exchange emails, or even get on the phone with you to share information about our wetsuits. Just send me a PM or email me if you are interested: emilio@desotosport.com

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

I have no experience with Roka wetsuits or customer service, but I can vouch that DeSoto's customer service is about the best I have experienced. I had a fit issue - part of the suit was a bit limiting on range-of-motion. Emilio emailed me back the next day offering assistance and eventually they had me send them the wetsuit and they did some modifications to it, all free of charge.

Three things:

Mar-ket-ing

In your opinion, what in Roka's marketing strategy is superior to say, B70? I get regular emails from both Roka and B70 regarding their products. I'm not in marketing and I hope you are and can share some insight as to what sets Roka, at five years young, apart from B70?

Honestly I think having Lucy Charles on their roster is disproportionately effective in selling wet suits than maybe any other wet suit sponsor ever. Obviously shes very marketable but especially on the swimming side, its hard to ignore the fact that she swims in a Roka.

Not marketing (probably), but in wet suit recommendation threads on this forum, without fail there will be 2 or 3 responses of people saying something along the lines of, "I didn't know I could be comfortable in a wet suit until I got a Roka". This sounds like a line fed by marketing but I see it too consistently to ignore the idea that maybe Roka does actually do something different.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Roka is at the Ironman races. They are very good at getting you fitted and explaining the models. Mine fits perfectly and is as flexible as my old De Soto, which I did not think was possible (I still love my T1).
Price on the Roka is good and can be found in sale. Tyr just don’t show up.
But then I have only seen a DeSoto booth once (at Oceanside).

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Team Zoot So Cal

I agree having Lucy Charles out in front on the swim gives credence to the brand. It would be interesting to see previous wetsuit polls to see how much having Crowie swim in a TYR Hurricane and win multiple championships did for their sales in the following years. Crowie is still swimming in the hurricane and still winning races.

I can remember when K-Swiss (running shoe mfr.) showed up at races in the mid-to-late 2000s and were very engaged with the sport. Unfortunately, their foray into the triathlon world lasted 5-7 years and then they were gone from the scene. I hope Roka maintains their success.

Hello, Emmanuel here. The thing you need to remember is that TYR was not a Triathlon company. They were and are making their money in swimming. When Tri was big, they decided to give it a go but now that Tri is having problems, they find out that there is better way to make money. They still have probably truck load of inexpensive wetsuits and since this is what people are asking, that is what you get from them.
The main problem is that people want really comfortable , fast wetsuit but they are not ready to pay for it. The price of a wetsuit is 80 % coming from the neoprene it s made of .

Let's not forget that emillet from Aquaman just posted on this thread. Aquaman are great wetsuits. They just don't have the marketing push behind them that a B70/Roka does.

= in comfort & speed though

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I have a TYR Cat 5 suit and really like it... I went through some other suits to find one that fit and I liked. I've had really good interactions with TYR honestly and while I'm not a huge fan of their triathlon stuff outside of their wetsuits, they do swimming stuff well.