if the orca fits well and you are fit well on your bike, then its a hard choice. Personally though, i'd get an good front wheel before i'd get a disc. Here's the order i'd purchase thing for you if i were in your shoes:

Deep section front wheel
T1
Disc Wheel.

btw, I switched to the T1 from a QR sleeveless, and I love it. it really feels like I have NO swimming restrictions... and i've tried a number of suits.

That's a tough call... One option that you might want to look at however, is to get a DeSoto Tres wetsuit and then use the extra scratch to buy a CH Aero wheel cover. My understanding of the Tres (I have a T1) is that it's nearly as fast, and only more difficult to remove if it's dry or if you have some sort of upper body limitation (I went with the T1 because I have a shoulder that likes to dislocate - not what I need as I'm running towards T1!). The wheel cover won't be as light as a Renn or other "pure" disc wheel, but if the fit is good it shouldn't be any slower. I'm leaning towards one of those myself - the only problem being that I told myself that I'm not allowed to buy any speed until the engine gets stronger. D'oh!

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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Depends on what your currentrace wheels are.

I race and train on the Rolf Vector Comps.

in that case I'd get an aero front wheel ist (hed3, zipp 404 etc), followed by the wet suit, followed by the disk.

Hey, Justin, here's my take. With regard to sleeveless vs full, here's a previous thread on said subject:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/...full%20wetsuit;#1281

If you assume savings of 5 sec per 100m, it buys you 210 sec = 3 1/2 min over the course of an ironman swim. Being more generous might put you in the 5 minute range.

As far as wheels, when John Cobb was in town for the fitting, I asked him specifically about order of wheel purchase (and I ride currently on Vector Comps). He said that I should get a rear disc first and said that Vector Comps were pretty reasonable wheels, so one of those on front wasn't a large compromise. Also, I would be leery of putting an aero front on without something aero in back. Handling might get twitchy. If you assume the conventional wisdom of 1-2 minutes per 40k advantage with a disc, you're buying yourself 4:30-9 minutes with the disc wheel in an IM. You can insert a different "disco-vantage" factor if you wish.

All in all, I would suspect you'd buy yourself more speed with the Renn Disc than the T1. So Wilson and I agree, just in the opposite order :-)

There might be mitigating circumstances that push a person one way or the other. For example, if one gets cold in NY water, one may want the fullsuit. If a person is nervous about bike handling, he or she might be better off investing in the wetsuit as well.

FWIW,

Dan

Better to have the best wetsuit money can buy than have a budget disk wheel. Renn disks are pretty good based on my experience but the T1 is, in my opinion, the best wetsuit you can buy.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

How much faster is an expensive wetsuit than an inexpensive one? It would seem to me that a Renn disk would be the best investment.

Tom, do you really feel that strongly seeing as though my Orca fits me well? It's not like I don't already have a wetsuit.

Is the full suit going to do that much for my MOP swimming times to justify the $400? And what about those obnoxiously large graphics on the front of the T1? Is Emillio blind?

I can tell you this: Against my better judgement I tried a T1 a few months ago just so I could say I tried one before I talked trash about them. I thought the concept of a zipperless, two piece wetsuit was utterly absurd. I mean, come on... You and I both know the ONLY reason to build a wetsuit like this is to make it cheaper and faster to produce. The zipper and the assebly of the entire suit and cutting of the complex panels is the bane of the wetsuit industry. Get rid of the zippers and the one piece construction, and your profitability goes through the roof. Right? RIGHT! So, I knew a good business decision when I spotted one. But better in the water? Come on... Dan and Emilio could sell lawn mowers in the Sahara. So I was just shaking my head going, "What will these guys stoop to next...?"

Then I swam in one. Holy shit. It is like, WAY faster. Then I learned how to take it off. In my opinion, it elminates the swim to bike wetsuit trasition almost entirely. I can get mine off A LOT faster than my QR Superfull or my Aquaman Bionik.

T1s are faster than a standard one piece suit by a large margin. They put the bouyancy where you (I) need it. They facilitate a not-so-perfect stroke. They fit better. They are more flexible. They are a much better wetsuit for the "real world" middle to back of the pack swimmer. I am not a good swimmer. My stroke is technically pretty poor. It is not getting any better. I've done the swim clinics, the video analysis, all that stuff. I don;t really enjoy swimming and I'm not putting a ton of work into improving it. Especially when I can just buy a T1 and be faster right away with no work.

Sunday I did a long (for me) open water swim in a one piece suit. I didn't have my T1 with me unfortunately. Want to give yourself the best sales pitch on a T1 you can? swim a 1/2 mile in a one piece- any one piece. Then, after you are good and tired, put on the T1 and swim another 1/2 mile. After that the only question will be Visa or Mastercard.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

i guess the way i look at it is this: an IM swim is 2.4 miles long. the bike is 112 miles long. obviously more room to make up time in the bike than the swim (i think anyway) especially if your swim is already half-descent, as i'm assuming it is if you come out of the water MOP.

go for the disk.

see you @ IMLP.

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____________________________________________________________
"I'm happy when life's good,
and when it's bad I cry.
I've got values but I don't know how or why."
- The Who

Damn, Tom, now you've gone and screwed up my plans for Christmas. Now I'm gonna have to wait until my birthday in May to spring for the Renn.

I'm very suprised that a bike geek would be more jazzed over a wetsuit than a disc wheel. Like several others here, I was wrestling between a T1 and a Renn disc. Your argument has changed my mind.

Thanks.
And welcome back.

-- Big EE

Tom is 100% spot on. The difference between a T1 and ANY one-piece suit is enormous--and you can't fully appreciate it until you test both suits side by side.

I loaned a friend my T1 this past weekend to test in conjunction with an Xterra Vortex. He felt that it was considerably faster and was amazed at how much less constricting it was, which, in his words, made breathing a whole lot easier (newbie swimmer concern).

Another added bonus...you don't need Bodyglide. I swam IM Wis. in a T1 without it and had absolutely zero chafing (the swim was the ONLY positive event of my day). Try that in a one piece.

Matt

Uh oh, I should have more fairly refered to the Renn Disc as "inexpensive" as opposed to "budget", which has kind of a stinky conotation. Renn disks aren't "cheap", they are very impressive for their price and well made. And one fella on here did make a good point about being on the bike for five+ hours while only being in the water for an hour plus. However (and not to waffle) The T1 represents, IMHO, the absolute state-of-the-art in wetsuits. Based on my experience it is the fastest thing out there by a big margin. Again, I can;t tell you how impressed I am with my T1. It has changed my swimming for the better.

And thank you, it is very good to be back. Very good.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com