It’s on mega-sale locally.
5’9" 185 and bigger in the torso/shoulders. Big calves.
Well, the only ting I might point out is that a sleeveless suit is not just missing the sleeves, it is effectively missing the shoulders as well. There is something about having full shoulders and sleeves that make a suit a good bit faster for me. It may be floatation, it may be hydrodynamics, it may be both. That seems odd since most of the floatation that really benefits you is floatation in the legs.
That said, a full suit is so much faster for me than a sleeveless that I wouldn’t really race in a sleeveless anymore. That may also be a reason why the sleeveless suit is on sale. I only sell about 30 sleeveless suits a year, and sell a ton of full sleeve suits.
But if it is a good enough deal, in excess of 50% off, and you don’t have any suit then it might be a wise purchase. Any chance for a good price on full suits too?
Tom,
Do you guys have anything on sale? The truth is that I might use this thing twice. I could use it a hundred times. I’m just not sure. So I am not up for spending $250+ on one.
I opted for sleeveless because I thought the range of motion would be less inhibited. But I do understand the pros and cons of hydrodynamics. I agree that the benefits of buoyancy kick in (pun) in the leg area.
The sale is 30% off retail (not mega, just enough to push my interest into the “Purchase” level). One thing I am keeping an eye on though is return policy.
I guess I just figure wetsuits are like bikes. Different makes fit different body styles.
What do you think?
Hmmm, well, how tall are you and what do you weigh?
5’9", 185 pounds. Squatty. Big calves. Bigger chest, arms and shoulders. Think “has-been high school wrestler.”
Where/when/in what temps will you be racing? The few times that I’ve used my wetsuit, the water temp was barely under the wetsuit-legal cutoff, and it was pretty HOT outside the water.
In these cases there were people racing in wetsuits with sleeves, sleeveless, and no wetsuit at all.
I don’t think there’s any question that full-sleeve suits are faster. Other than the comfort issue, it’s kind of like race wheels - how much will you use it, and how much do you want to pay for a little more speed?
Temps could range from the threshold to 65. Depends on my ability to race where I want to race in the future.
The primary drivers of whether to go sleeveless or not are:
- water temp; lack of arms means the suit is less toasty. overheating will not only drop your performance in the swim, but it will totally stuff the rest of your day and on an ironman that a major issue. take a look at the pro’s (who have a choice of both suits) at lake placid this year and they were opting for sleeveless. we had calls from pro’s a few days before who hadn’t brought sleveless and we needed to send them over more lj’s
- fit; some people have much larger shoulders and arms and a fullsuit fit is tougher to get. men and women at the higher end of the size curve more frequently prefer lj’s too
- budget; simple. lj’s are cheaper. if you have a budget constriction and want 90% of the wetsuit benefit for 50-60% of the price then an lj fits the bill
- restriction; personally i don’t hold that a full sleeve suit is restrictive. all (i mean all) of our pro swimmers have moved from lj’s to now swimmer in our stealth fullsuit and they are the faster for it. some swimmers (andrea fisher for example) come pretty close to chosing between the lj and fullsuit so whilst the performance benefit of a fullsuit is there for many, it’s not there for all. jan sibbersen will frequently choose a lj design to swim in vs. a full (see ironman canada this year) though he swims in an xterra so that may be a reflection of their fullsuit more than the general argument
summary - make your decision on temperature and budget. lj’s will get you most of the warmth, bouyancy and performance of a fullsuit for 60% of the price.
tim
My problem with the IM Instinct is that it is very skimpy. I just got an IM Stealth after being attracted by the Instinct's great price. My wife, Michelle, has a 5 year old IM Stealth and I initially thought that the new Instinct would be as good but it's very thin and doesn't seem to be the same quality rubber. I chose the Stealth and after my first swim yesterday I think it's great. I was swimming alone but it felt like I was swimming much smoother without the fatigue of my old QR (even with the QR's 5mm legs). And it comes right off, something the QR never did. If you can find it in the budget, I'd say go for the IM Stealth.
long sleeve are always faster
.
Wetsuits differ from each other in terms of
- rubber (generally yamamoto 38 or 39 cell)
- fabric (what stretch fabrics are used)
- panel cut (where’s the thick and the thin, where’s the stretchy/non-stretchy rubber)
- fit (designed for tall lean people? short stocky?)
- stealth has 39 cell rubber whereas the instinct has 38 cell.
- stealth has better stretch fabrics and more of it
- stealth is has thicker rubber in places and the main body panel extends to the knee vs. the hip for the instinct
- pretty similar, but the instinct is more accomodating as a base fit
summary - the stealth is a better suit, but then it’s 50% more expensive. from tests, we know the stealth is better, but unless you’re absolutely wedded to the lj design (see above mail re: temp), if you’re budget constrained i’d choose a instinct fullsuit. if budget is less of a concern and performance is, then go for the stealth.
same thing between a VW golf and an Audi A6. one’s a better car, but then you pay for what you get
tim
“if you’re budget constrained i’d choose a instinct fullsuit.”
there is more than a choice between the stealth and instinct. one might invest in, say, a QR ultrajohn or ultrafull, and pay a little more than for an instinct, but a lot less than for a stealth. in so doing, you’d get the same thickness of rubber (5mm all the way down to the ankles) as you would in either the stealth, the hydrofull, or the superfull (all premium wetsuits).
i recognize the very good value you get in the instinct. it’s a $180 or so longjohn. yes, the ultrajohn is more, it’s $209 last i checked. but, you get the thicker rubber. you get what you pay for, as it turns out (but this doesn’t take away from the instinct, which is a fine suit).
Especially the red carbon ones…That’s what’s next in technology for us…
Thanks for the info all. Price is most important. I do not think I will be swimming in waters so cold that a sleeveless will not do. Also, I may be in waters too warm for a full. I will continue to weigh the options.
BTW, where’d Tom go?
For what its worth I list Desoto T1 all the time on eBay in various sizes under my ebay ID of rogers112869. Not sure if I have one of your sizes, but its another option if you are looking for suits other than Ironman. Usually the bids close around $60/piece for the top and for the bottom but you can mix sizes if you are bulky on top as you describe.
Is it better to be on the tight end of a wetsuit or the loose end? Meaning, on the sizing chart, if I weigh 180, do I want buy 150-175 pounds or 185-225?
150-75 is a much smaller sizing window than 185-225
In that case I’d probably go smaller unless my shoulders were rather wide.
You best bet may be to try them both on, or order them both then send/return back the ill-fitting one.