G’day Monty,
I was just wondering if you’ve had a swim in the deboer wetty yet, and if you’ll be doing a review for the site.
Thanks very much for your time mate. //
I have had a chat with the company, a suit is supposed to be coming my way to test. Will let you all know once it is done…
G’day Monty,
I was just wondering if you’ve had a swim in the deboer wetty yet, and if you’ll be doing a review for the site.
Thanks very much for your time mate. //
I have had a chat with the company, a suit is supposed to be coming my way to test. Will let you all know once it is done…
Great stuff Monty!
Thanks very much for your reply, much appreciated mate.
G’day Monty,
I was just wondering if you’ve had a swim in the deboer wetty yet, and if you’ll be doing a review for the site.
Thanks very much for your time mate. //
I have had a chat with the company, a suit is supposed to be coming my way to test. Will let you all know once it is done…
Great to hear this.
Your review is what prompted me to buy my current wetsuit
getting people to act on advice on how just to exit the water faster, well, that’s another thing.
I just saw this comment catching-up in this thread. I am curious if you have anything written you could point to about efficiently getting out of the water. I think I kind of suck at this.
How much money do they have? They’re tossing a whole lot around.
Am I the only one who thinks it looks incredibly boring as well? At least with the TYR Freak of Nature you get abs with your purchase.Literally the reason I own this suit. #littlethingsmatter
How much money do they have? They’re tossing a whole lot around.
Seems like the heavy marketing that Ventum did when they came out. Relative to other sports or products, the upfront investment required to do this might be modest in triathlon. Sometimes all it takes is one angel investor or two
I understand a lot of the negativity to be honest. From the outside perspective (not in the wetsuit industry, not an entrepreneur), it looks like some company came in with a lot of seed money and paid a few of the worlds best athletes a lot of money, knowing that if they would sell enough potentially (definitely in my opinion) overpriced wetsuits to suckers or people with way too much money. I have no doubt their wetsuits are great. I’m sure I would love swimming in one. But how could it possibly be worth twice what the next most expensive wetsuit goes for? I’m also not questioning the effectiveness of their business strategy, though I do think it feels a little bit slimy to me.
I think I should be clear that I come into this sport never having had any real money, I bought the wetsuit I swim in used and it has probably two dozen dime-quarter sized tears in it. I’ve always looked for the cheapest way into each discipline and the only truly high end piece of gear I ever bought new was my Dash saddle, which I was able to test first and still got at a slight discount through my fitter. Do I have a slight amount of bitterness that I can’t afford this wetsuit? Honestly I don’t think so, if I had the money for it I think I would buy a top of the line Roka and upgrade to oversized pulley wheels or something with the extra money.
My natural reaction would be to I agree with your comment, but for the sake of reducing negativity it helps to take the other perspective:
I can’t afford this suit, but if I could and I enjoyed owning/swimming in it, why would it make me a sucker for buying it? If something brings you $1500 of joy, it’s worth $1500. It doesn’t have to be twice as fast as a $750, nor would we expect it to work that way. It only needs to at least be marginally better (in any dimension) than those suits for someone with money to find value in it. And why draw the line at $1500? You say it’s double the price of the next most expensive suit but TYR’s top suit is $1200, Roka’s is $950, HUUB’s is $900, BlueSeventy’s is $850, Speedo’s is $850, and so on. They might be better value for the money, but we don’t know yet whether DeBoer is better or worse. The complaints are only about cost, which don’t make much sense when there are plenty of wealthy athletes in tri who perceive a $1500 purchase the way we see a $100 purchase.
The last line reminds me of car conversations. “If I could afford a low-end Ferrari, I’d buy a top-end Corvette and X and Y and Z, instead” when in reality someone who can afford these things can likely just get X and Y and Z anyway. DeBoer customers, especially the ones that will buy before it’s shown to be any faster than sub$1000 suits, can easily pick up an OSPW as well.
The MOP racers on $15,000 bikes know they aren’t getting top bang-for-the-buck either, so it doesn’t make them suckers. They got something they enjoy and that’s great for them. The existence of a $1500 wetsuit shouldn’t offend me if it makes someone feel good, if not fast.
They had them available to swim in at IMTX through Playtri. Anyone use one?
The issue I have with these super high ends suits is that at the price ranges slightly below the stratosphere there appears to be an inverse relation between price and durability.
My Huub Archimedes II just started falling apart at the seams after one year of not too heavy usage (I usually use a Chinese Zaosou wetsuit for most of my training swims that is build like a tank but unfortunately is a bit too large by now). Granted, the seller (and maybe Huub) accepted a warranty claim and refunded me (thumbs up) but still: I’d hate to spent 1.3k on something I might be able to use in maybe 5-10 races. Spending a ton of money on a bike that lasts for 5+ years is one thing but I feel that wetsuits moving more and more into the running shoe / consumable territory.
I just picked up a Sailfish One btw. which will be my suit going forward. It feels quite nice and fits perfectly but I have no idea regarding its durability, keeping my fingers crossed, though.
LOL, sure. Triathletes will buy anything. The sad thing is all the poor suckers who really can’t afford something this expensive but will buy it anyway. 99% of us would benefit way more from better training than from expensive wetsuits. Dropping $1,500 on a wetsuit is so completely unnecessary. I think if someone showed up at an AG start line wearing one of those he/she might as well be wearing a sign on their forehead that said “TOOL”. Surest thing to have people laugh at you, even if it makes you one minute faster (hilarious…).
True … triathletes buy anything … but does one really care what people think. If I purchased a deboer wetsuit and I m thinking about it, currently wearing a Roka Maverick X and there is nothing wrong with it, but I like change and trying something else. And if and when I turn up to a race in a deboer wetsuit do I care what other triathlete think??? Not a chance … I do triathlons for myself and not for others, and I will wear what I feel suits me best or simply what I like, and what I can get for my money.
And yes one minute faster is always better than one minute slower. I take that any day, especially as I suck at running & cycling and swimming is the only thing I m good at. 
I too have a ROKA
I’d buy this one in a second to test and see if it makes me faster
Unfortunately they don’t allow a return if you have used it
.
Hold tight guys, I’m still testing this suit, had a little sizing issue, but getting that worked out. Will have a write up later on when all is done…
Swam in a demo one at lake Placid today. Did one loop of the course. It was very nice and there was a lot of flexibility in the arms. But I prefer my blueseventy Reaction by a mile which I think is less than a third the price. I really don’t see how this company stays in business. People that want a sexy and more expensive brand buy Roka. I don’t see that changing. Also, it a boring visual design. All black.
LOL, sure. Triathletes will buy anything. The sad thing is all the poor suckers who really can’t afford something this expensive but will buy it anyway. 99% of us would benefit way more from better training than from expensive wetsuits. Dropping $1,500 on a wetsuit is so completely unnecessary. I think if someone showed up at an AG start line wearing one of those he/she might as well be wearing a sign on their forehead that said “TOOL”. Surest thing to have people laugh at you, even if it makes you one minute faster (hilarious…).
As opposed to all the people with $4k wheel sets or $12k bikes?
LOL, sure. Triathletes will buy anything. The sad thing is all the poor suckers who really can’t afford something this expensive but will buy it anyway. 99% of us would benefit way more from better training than from expensive wetsuits. Dropping $1,500 on a wetsuit is so completely unnecessary. I think if someone showed up at an AG start line wearing one of those he/she might as well be wearing a sign on their forehead that said “TOOL”. Surest thing to have people laugh at you, even if it makes you one minute faster (hilarious…).
As opposed to all the people with $4k wheel sets or $12k bikes?
Perfect example. The same applies there. Triathletes are suckers for luxury goods, regardless of what they mean to actual performance. Which is the reason those 300 Breitling Ironman watches are probably already sold out. It’s a free country though. Everyone is entitled to be stupid with their money if they want to.
My $.02…
I tested the Fjord 1.0 in Lake Placid this past weekend. Twice. Then, after some serious internal debate, bought one and raced in it (one of their demo suits) on Sunday.
By way of background, I am a 3x ironman finisher with swim times of 1:30 at IMLP 2018, 1:45 at IMNZ 2019 and 1:26 at IMLP 2019. Roughly 18 months ago I couldn’t swim 25yards without gasping for breath. One of my major swim issues is panic/anxiety. I had a habit of going out to hard, getting my HR elevated, hyperventilating and then having to stop and calm myself down, costing a few minutes. I would also get shoulder fatigue quickly, and then my mind would flash to how much further I had to go, and I would start thinking wasn’t going to make it, and end up having to stop and calm myself down.
The deboer wetsuit was a pretty big game changer for me. I own a Roka Maverick Pro II Sleeveless and a Desoto T1, each of which I like for various reasons. (I can’t say enough good things about DeSoto as a company, and the T1 as a suit, but the db is really a different beast.)
The Fjord really doesn’t feel like I’m wearing a wetsuit. The suit was tight, tight enough that when I zipped it I expected to feel significantly constricted when I was “sealed up,” but that never happened. Once I was zipped up the whole suit short of shifted into place seemed to disappear. The neckline is low and never made me feel constricted. The chest seemed to stretch in such a way that I could almost forget I was wrapped in all sorts of neoprene. The sleeves are almost imperceptible in the water and there was no difference in shoulder fatigue from the my sleeveless suit. I also never felt like I was overheating (a T1 concern… that thing gets pretty hot). In the water I think it’s as buoyant as I need it to be. The T1 feels a bit more buoyant (could be my imagination), but I would almost trust that suit as a lifesaving device. The deboer is very flexible and comfortable overall.
I can’t tell you if the suit was faster or not, but I can tell you that my IMLP 2019 swim was an underwater boxing match. WAY MORE THAN MY LAST TWO. I was punched multiple times, goggles knocked off my head twice, was forced underwater a few times and generally had to compete for every stroke (seriously, I couldn’t find much water out there without getting trampled). In those circumstances, I would have expected a good amount of anxiety and potential panic.
I have to give the credit to the suit. I think it really kept my head in the game. Who would I pay $1500 for a just a wetsuit? No. Would I pay $1500 for peace of mind? I just did.
Thank you for the detailed reply
Maybe if I was able to test the Deboer I would buy one.
I too have the DeSoto T1 as well as the same ROKA wetsuit
Both of them feel as you describe the Deboer. so my reason for buying would only be to go faster
If Deboer has a trial policy as other companies do I would order right away
Perhaps they will one day change their policy.
My $.02…
I tested the Fjord 1.0 in Lake Placid this past weekend. Twice. Then, after some serious internal debate, bought one and raced in it (one of their demo suits) on Sunday.
By way of background, I am a 3x ironman finisher with swim times of 1:30 at IMLP 2018, 1:45 at IMNZ 2019 and 1:26 at IMLP 2019. Roughly 18 months ago I couldn’t swim 25yards without gasping for breath. One of my major swim issues is panic/anxiety. I had a habit of going out to hard, getting my HR elevated, hyperventilating and then having to stop and calm myself down, costing a few minutes. I would also get shoulder fatigue quickly, and then my mind would flash to how much further I had to go, and I would start thinking wasn’t going to make it, and end up having to stop and calm myself down.
The deboer wetsuit was a pretty big game changer for me. I own a Roka Maverick Pro II Sleeveless and a Desoto T1, each of which I like for various reasons. (I can’t say enough good things about DeSoto as a company, and the T1 as a suit, but the db is really a different beast.)
The Fjord really doesn’t feel like I’m wearing a wetsuit. The suit was tight, tight enough that when I zipped it I expected to feel significantly constricted when I was “sealed up,” but that never happened. Once I was zipped up the whole suit short of shifted into place seemed to disappear. The neckline is low and never made me feel constricted. The chest seemed to stretch in such a way that I could almost forget I was wrapped in all sorts of neoprene. The sleeves are almost imperceptible in the water and there was no difference in shoulder fatigue from the my sleeveless suit. I also never felt like I was overheating (a T1 concern… that thing gets pretty hot). In the water I think it’s as buoyant as I need it to be. The T1 feels a bit more buoyant (could be my imagination), but I would almost trust that suit as a lifesaving device. The deboer is very flexible and comfortable overall.
I can’t tell you if the suit was faster or not, but I can tell you that my IMLP 2019 swim was an underwater boxing match. WAY MORE THAN MY LAST TWO. I was punched multiple times, goggles knocked off my head twice, was forced underwater a few times and generally had to compete for every stroke (seriously, I couldn’t find much water out there without getting trampled). In those circumstances, I would have expected a good amount of anxiety and potential panic.
I have to give the credit to the suit. I think it really kept my head in the game. Who would I pay $1500 for a just a wetsuit? No. Would I pay $1500 for peace of mind? I just did.
Hey, if you’ve got $1,500 to burn for “peace of mind” then by all means go ahead. However, it seems crazy to me that someone who is an experienced triathlete with 3 IM’s under his belt needs “peace of mind” to be provided by a wetsuit. IMO there are much better ways to spend that money but I probably don’t have the discretionary income that you seem (hopefully) to have.