So I’ve taken some time (years) off from tri. Pursued competitive cycling, but now I’m back to Tri-ing. My last one was around 2001, when I was using a QR Hydrofull wetsuit (probably vintage 1999 or 2000). I used it probably less than 10 times for a couple of seasons and its been in my closet ever since.
So now of course the new suits are billed to be vastly improved. I did try on a blueventy Helix at IMFL and found it to be pretty nice. So my question is how much worse off, time-wise, will I be in my old suit versus one of the new ones with the more pliable rubber, etc.? I’d like to pick up the Xterra Vector Pro, but it might have to wait. So in the mean-time, if I do a HIM in a few weeks, will I be giving up much?
I’m still using a QR fullsuit of similar vintage but it’s been used several times a year and is still in good condition. Aside from a couple of tears that I’ve repaired, I seems to be pretty much the as it was when it was new. Since it still fits, I haven’t been able to convince myself that a new wetsuit would make a significant, or even minimal, difference. I’ve seen some of the later, post QRMAN, suits that seem to get shabby and in need of replacement after just a few seasons. If it no longer fits comfortably it could ruin your swim and increase your time. Otherwise, expecting to go faster in a new wetsuit is like expecting to go faster on a new bike.
I like the analogy about expecting to be faster on a new bike, but I don’t have any numbers to back it up. As another poster mentioned, though, rubber does dry out and get brittle. Make sure you soak your current suit before you try and put it on again; Emilio has a very good post about how to do just that. I do this every season and have never had a problem with rips or the like.
I have 4 wetsuits. An ironman(now blueseventy) wetsuit which is now 10 years old, two orca wetsuits which are newer and a new zoot wetsuit.
I an going to compare all 4 wetsuits sometime. Will compare them beacause the ironman wetsuit was used the only time I swam under 22mins for 1500m. The two ORCA wetsuits are exactly the same model/size but one has the legs cut short, so am interested if the swim times vary.
The ironman wetsuit has perished a bit and I did restitch and re-glue some seams on it. But otherwise I believe the time difference during the swim leg will be small. Test to come.
I would say as long as your old wetsuit is holding together it will be fine.
Why do I have 4? Thats another story, but they were good deals or as part of the ITU age group team gear thing.
Regarding speed, see if you can find out what type of rubber is in the suit. IMO the real innovations are the newer flexible, floaty rubbers like Yammy 40 and AeroDome…and collars that won’t leave you scarred. I’m guessing an SCS coated rubber is worth at least 30sec. more over 2000m than non coated. Hopefully Emilio or Slowman can weigh in; these guys are in the industry and probably have more data than all of us.
My wetsuit is about 7-8 yrs old and I’m thinking it’s time to retire it soon. What I have noticed in the newer suits is that they have better flexibility in the shoulder area. That seems to be the only truly significant difference from what I can see. I do think the better shoulder flexibility could improve swim times. The other “improvements” seem to be mostly marketing hype.
I was exactly in your situation about 7 years ago. I stopped tri for 11 years, decided to give it another go and entered my first race with all my old kit (bike & wetsuit). It was fine, I could still swim with it (and it still fits me ;-). Then I had the chance to try a new one. What a shock! It was so much better, more comfortable, supple etc. I never looked back to my old and trusted wetsuit (haven’t been able to through it away though). Apparently rubber ages, but also they have made a lot of progress in the quality of the rubber and the design of the wetsuits. Worth to get a decent one now.
Def worth it. Had a 5-6 year old Orca Predator. Got a new Orca Apex 2. Huge difference in flex and comfort. Probably 20-30s on 1500m and a lot less effort.
I will preface my comments here, by saying that I am in the business of selling wetsuits.
However, that being said, there have been some significant changes in wetsuit design since the last time you bought a wetsuit. The chief one is in the top end wetsuits. Nineteen was a leader in this area starting with our Frequency model 3 years ago. We started using less neoprene on the upper body of the suit - using massive panels of 1.5mm Yamamoto rubber in key areas of the upper body. I note that a number of other manufacturers have followed suit in this regard. Sounds counter intuitive to use less neoprene, because many feel it is all about floatation, but the upper body has two large flotation devices in it already - your lungs! By using less neoprene the whole upper body part of the suit becomes more flexible, it also allows you to swim more naturally with more body roll, as the side of your chest can now sink into the water more after the catch and through the pull.
Your old wetsuit, if it’s in good shape should work fine, but my guess is that if you try a new top-of-the-line wetsuit, you will notice a big difference in the fit and flexibility of the suit.
I’m guessing an SCS coated rubber is worth at least 30sec. more over 2000m than non coated
In my conversations with multiple manufacters of wetsutis for my testing, all agreed that a coated suit is faster then a non-treated suit. Most agree that the coating didn’t make too much of a difference for the average triathlete who is stuck in the pack the entire swim. Once you become a FOP or off the front swimmer then coating is more important. If you swim in a rugby scrub 90% of the time it doesn’t really matter what coacting is on the suit. Your best bet (and fastest bet) would probably be to exit the scrum and swim to the side of it.
my wetsuit is from 1998, and still going strong. I did get an Xterra Vortex2 on sale last year, but haven’t swum in it yet. Pool testing showed the old wetsuit gives me about 20s per 500yd improvement. I doubt very much that I’ll be able to get significantly better than that in the new one… but guess I’d better bring some data next time…