Yo Tom - How's things?

I'm curious...I've had my T1 a year and it's been one of my best equipment investments I've made.

So why did you wait so long to try them out?

Take it easy-
Dan

That's a good question: Why did it take so long for us to try T1 wetsuits? I'll be 100% honest: We still had wetsuits with zippers to sell. I was concerned that if we brought in T1s and they were a lot better than current, "conventional" old-school one piece suits it would be difficult to sell our older zippered, one piece suits. One piece suits may still have aplace in the sport at the ultra-low end ($145-$199 price point), but the perfromance, value and versatility of the De Soto T1 and the two piece wetsuit concept with no zipper make so much sense I didn't want to be stuck with a bunch of old-school suits. Several of our customers (like yourself) told me "Hey, get with the program, these 2 piece suits are the current state-of-the-art." But I had to wait until the old suits were gone. I hope that answers your question. Hey, what the heck are you up to anyway?

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I love that the quality of the DeSoto suits isn't restricted to their top of the line model. They are all really nice. To my eyes, hands down the best suits on the market right now are the entire Desoto line, and the new IronMan Stealth. The Stealth looks like one high quality suit and would probably be my choice if I were to go with a zipper.

There was a post a week or so ago from Ironman Wetsuits saying that they had worked on eliminating the advantages of 2 piece wetsuits and had now stopped making their 2 piece.

The posting is here:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=18619;search_string=fusion;#18619

Cheers,
dt.
(no association with either Ironman wetsuits or deSoto)

This is good information. Actually- a little history lesson- The first guy to get me into a full suit correctly was Keith (formerly) of Ironman Wetsuits. I did Ironman Canada '97 in an Ironman full suit. I have swam in the "best" full suits the top three manufacturers are currently offering that I am aware of. Each of them is a good suit. But, after swimming in a T1 I am tempted to make one minor modification to each of them: Cut them in half so the top of the suit moves independantly from the bottom. It just makes it so much easier to move and "feels" so much less restrictive. I am a two piece convert.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom,

So what would happen if I chopped off the top of my Orca Speedsuit and put it over my sleeveless Nineteen Wetsuit. Do I get the equivalent of a T1 (I suppose the Buoyancy that I got would be pretty huge compared to a T1 and likely illegal) ? Secondly, I suspect that this would not work due to the collar of the sleeveless and LS choking at the neck. I guess you would have to cut out the stomach and neck of the sleeveless to achieve a similar solution !!!

Dev

Or do what I did: Sell your zippered suits and buy a T1.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

And, I should add- this is actually an economically viable option since the T1s are, at worst, over 9% less expensive to own than the "best" zippered one piece suits.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom, think it is better than the Aquaman with the "correct" zipper on it. It seems to move pretty well in the shoulders and what not.

I have been looking at both suits as an option. The price diff is $100cdn in favour of the t1, and im excited now that tom likes them (as well as many others)

Have you looked at the two suits and done a comparison?

Thanks,



-kevin



p.s. this years stealth

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"Anyone can work hard when they want to; Champions do it when they don't."

I made the decision a while back to go with a two piece suit, ie DeSoto. I ended up getting the Tres as it was substantially less expensive than the already reasonable priced T1. I am VERY happy with my purchase and highly recommend the Tres if it fits you well.

So do you have any inside lines on "The concept that is so simple and so obvious..." something that Empfield and the Desoto's web site has been hinting about the T1 maybe?

BTW: I dropped you an email offline. I thought I spare the forum un-needed banter.

I find it interesting that DeSoto could be hurting their own sales with the "We are currently working on a concept that is so simple and so obvious, that when we reveal it, you (and our competition) will see it, like everything we have ever done, is not a gimmick." line.

I'm currently in the market for a wetsuit (due to weight loss) and I was leaning towards a T1 until I read that statement. No way I'm going to spend $400 on something that might be out of date in a month or two! Anyone know when this new product is going to be revealed?



OT in CA

Just received my T1 a few days ago. I purchased the Titanium edition(silver colored) I was trying it on when my 8 year old daughter happened by. She was staring at me with eyes wide as saucers so I was forced to break down and tell her the truth. Yes, her dad is the Silver Surfer! I think she bought it. She keeps following me around asking what super powers I have. It is very cool. You will definately stand out if you have any family/friends watching you race. I am tempted to try it at the pool but know I will be roasting in a matter of minutes so I will probably wait until I can swim in the lake. ( I live across the street from lake Michigan) I can tell just from wearing it its going to be a great improvement. Norm

mid-Summer, ~$1000 price point.

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"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars, the rest I just squandered" -George Best

i know what it is, and it's going to be neat if it works. i won't know how much better than a T1 it's going to be, but as i also know that it's going to be a lot more money than a T1, i pretty much have an idea what the upper limit of addn value v a T1 it's going to represent. there's no way your T1 is going to be "out-valued" by this suit.

i've got a T1, and this suit isn't going to be enough better to make you think you, or i, have wasted our T1 investment. and that's IF it's any better than a T1, which is still something i don't yet know. bottom line, i wouldn't pass up races you could've raced in a T1 in order to wait for this new suit.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Thanks for the responses Dan and blevyibr. At that pricepoint I probably won't hold my breath unless it has some sort or propulsion system built into it ;).

Okies...going to go try on some T1s in the near future.

Thanks again for the heads up!

OT

Man, I was afraid someone would ask this question. It is a hard one for me to answer pesonally and "rpofessionally" (in a business sense because:

I love doing business with Aquaman- their U.S. distributor is local to us and I like Emmanuel, the nice guy who is the U.S. distributor. For us, our relationship with Aquaman is golden since they are 1 day UPS away from us and Emmanuel and done us some huge favors. I have a personal loyalty to him and his brand. They are also easy to sell (and get), which makes my life easier. Hey, I'm as lazy as the next guy...

I love QR because I do have an emotional attachment to them being the "originals" and for similar reasons to the above commentary on Emmanuel. I really like Karen Sing who used to be the Aquatics manager at QR. She has sinced moved on when ABG (who owns QR now) decided to move wetsuit sales operations to Tennesee where the bike operation is.

Also: The Aquaman Bionik and the QR Superfull are very, very VERY good suits. They are my favorite one piece suits. I have raced a fair amount in both. I did Alcatraz last year in a Superfull and a few other races in my Aquaman Bionik.

Here's the problem: I tried this two piece concept and I DO like it better. If Aquaman and QR come out with two piece suits will I try them? You better believe it! I will be angling for prototypes as soon as I hear they are on the drawing board. But right now, the only guys doing the 2 pioece thing and totally commited to it are De Soto T1. I would like to try an Ironman Fusion though, but I haven't even seen one. I bought T1s on a recommendation from the guy who invented the concept of the triathlon wetsuit. I figured that, along with requests from prabably six customers in 4 weeks (indicating there are probably a lot more out there interested but NOT asking), made me figure I would give a few of the suits a try. I made sure to buy one in my size. If I didn't like them, hey, I would just say.... "Ah, yeah, we have these. I'm not that into it but some people really like them, we also have Aquaman and QR, which is what I swim in...." The thing is, I DO like these. They are harder for me to get than QR or Aquaman since De Soto is farther away than Emmanuel here in Michigan (1 day UPS) or QR in Tennesee (still shipping out of CA, as I understand, but sales in TN which is in our time zone or 1 hour different) but it is worth the trouble IMHO. I am very impressed by these. I think we owe it to our customers to sell them. they represent, in my opinion, the best option for a trithlon wetsuit consumer. Read my review on bikesportmichigan.com when it goes up on Friday. I'm impressed by T1. I bought one...

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

two questions. Has anyone done any open-water speed comparisons between the two piece wetsuits (either T1 or the fusion) and a one-piece (like the superfull or the predator 2)? And why are the T1's all so damn ugly??? I honestly think that DeSoto needs to hire a better graphics person for ALL of their clothing, not just the wetsuits. They really have some hideous, though veyr functional, stuff.

I haven't had my T1 in open water yet. I like the graphics! I think the silver one is big fun.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

The T1 is an excellent suit. I was racing in an Ironman full suit in Lake placid in '01, and raced in a T1 in Lake Placid in '02. I swam (trained) for '01 exactly 7X from the previous September with a IM swim time of 1:03:12. I swam (trained)for '02 exactly 6X from the previous September with an IM swim time of :59:15. Did it make me faster? I think 4 min. is faster! (I started in exactly the same location).

Stephen J

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I believe my local reality has been violated.
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Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2

Well, yes, I too find their logo and graphics cheesey. I've never been a fan of the huge rubber patch they slap on all of their clothes. I think they're mens tops and 1 piece suits are pretty ugly. But more importantly their clothes are top notch. I love my wetsuit and absolutely swear by their tri-shorts.

Oh yea, I've also seen some women in some of last year's tops that looked absolutely hot.

Tom, I bought the T Dos last year using the size chart in the promotional literature. It said I was a 4 but I am broad shouldered and should have been in a 5. I wrote DeSoto and Emilio answered me, personally, and, to make a long story short, replaced my 4 with a 5. The service and courtesy showm me was exemplary. I will be racing my "new" suit this Sunday for the first time.

Bob Sigerson

I've had good expereinces with De Soto's customer service so far also. They shipped our initial order, complete, in two days and it arrived in under 5. That's service. So far, so good. The product speaks for itself: It's excellent.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com