Just out of curiosity, did you contact the race director to see if someone was looking for a wetsuit that was mistakenly taken?

As to your question, the more expensive suits generally have better flexibility but may not be as buoyant, as better swimmers don't need that added lift as much.

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For my first 5 years in triathlon I used an entry level wetsuit, and I never had a problem with it. I didn't feel like it restricted my shoulder flexibility, and I didn't really think a high end wetsuit would make a big difference. Then I tried a high end wetsuit (Dare2Tri Mach 4) and I was blown away by how much better it felt. I found it to be almost like a buoyant second skin. I didn't have a problem with my entry level suit before because I didn't know what I was missing, but I'd have a tough time going back.

One thing I've found to be the case with higher end wetsuits is they can be faster and feel better, but they are more brittle, so you do need to be careful with them, and it's something to keep in mind if you're on a budget.



* Full disclosure, I'm supported by Dare2Tri Wetsuits.

Thanks. Yes, actually I did contact the race director and I even left a message in the race facebook page ! Nobody answered. And actually I prefer mine.

Thanks Daniel. That's the kind of experiences I needed to hear.

The difference between my full HUUB Archimedes and every other full suit I've had is the shoulders and upper arms are much more flexible on the HUUB and I don't notice them at all. Other suits I've had are an Xterra Vortex 3, Blue Seventy from quite a while ago, Aquaman Bionik, TYR CAT something and a 2XU POS that I demo'd years ago.

I've not seen any difference between any sleeveless suits I've had.

I did some testing on a TYR Cat 3 vs a Cat 5 a few years ago. Something like 2 rounds of 1x600 in each suit with a cross over design. This insured each suit was the first suit tested on 1 of the 2 days I tested. There was zero speed difference in the pool but the Cat 5 (higher end) was more comfy and less restrictive.

Some of the high end suits have stupid stuff like catch panels and mesh forearm panels. Those suit designers should be castrated. When I did some extensive wet suit testing a long time ago, numerous suit designers/manufacturers told me those will often make a suit slower vs just neoprene but you've got to have them on your top of the line suit to sell in that high price point.

The other thing that the overwhelming majority of companies told me was that in internal testing their 2nd line suit was often their fastest suit.
When I was sponsored by a wetsuit company and they sent me their fastest wetsuit, imagine my dismay when I opened the box and it wasn't the suit all their pro's got.

When I called the brand manager he said well they've got to have the top of the line suit bc that's what we want to sell where as the handful of age groupers we sponsor we can put them in our fastest suit.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
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There are presumably suits out there that might fit you at least a little better than what you have or whose materials are a little more flexible. All things equal, higher end suits are more likely to fit better and be made of more flexible materials, but that depends in part on your body shape and swim technique. Neoprene rubber also loses some flexibility over time, so a new suit should be a little more flexible than an older version of the same suit (and the "drying out" of rubber has nothing to do with keeping it wet, notwithstanding what some folks on here will try to tell you). And suits vary both in terms of how much flotation they provide and how they distribute that flotation. One option: buy one or more suits from a company with a liberal return policy, like Roka, and test them and return what doesn't work for you. But if what you have feels like it works, I'm not persuaded it's worth the time or the money to try to upgrade.

Today I learned, buy the second tier of wet suit and it will probably be the fastest.

In some cases that may be true, but it's definitely not a rule for all brands though.

Jake

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