I‘ve been reading slowtwich for a while and I love how much I have learned in this forum! I finally decided to post because I need some help deciding what to do.
I am pretty disappointed with my Roka pro wetsuit. I purchased it this winter but I am in Chicago so I didn’t get a chance to try it in OW swimming until June. In hindsight, I should have swam in the pool with it but Ididn’t want to expose it to chlorine, so my bad. I called Roka a couple of times asking why my wetsuit was leaking water into one of my arms. That seemed odd to me but I was told to make sure I pull it up all the way and make it tight in the back of the neck. Okay, I tried that but the water still leaked. This is my second year doing triathlons but I just finished in the top 10 in my age group at the Nationals in Milwaukee and will compete at the ITU for team USA in Chicago in September. I want my equipment to work for me but when I called Roka and explained the situation, the customer service rep kept interrupting me and gave me no satisfaction with any type of solution or return. The reason I bought Roka was I read such great comments about the wetsuit and their customer service. Do you guys think that water in one of my arms will hinder my performance? Should I keep the suit?
I’ve had good experiences with Roka customer service - I bought the wrong size skin suit and they rushed me a new one in time for my upcoming race. Have you called another time (maybe talking to a different person may be more helpful). Where is the water coming in at - via the wrist, neck, or is there a hole in a seam?
I‘ve been reading slowtwich for a while and I love how much I have learned in this forum! I finally decided to post because I need some help deciding what to do.
I am pretty disappointed with my Roka pro wetsuit. I purchased it this winter but I am in Chicago so I didn’t get a chance to try it in OW swimming until June. In hindsight, I should have swam in the pool with it but Ididn’t want to expose it to chlorine, so my bad. I called Roka a couple of times asking why my wetsuit was leaking water into one of my arms. That seemed odd to me but I was told to make sure I pull it up all the way and make it tight in the back of the neck. Okay, I tried that but the water still leaked. This is my second year doing triathlons but I just finished in the top 10 in my age group at the Nationals in Milwaukee and will compete at the ITU for team USA in Chicago in September. I want my equipment to work for me but when I called Roka and explained the situation, the customer service rep kept interrupting me and gave me no satisfaction with any type of solution or return. The reason I bought Roka was I read such great comments about the wetsuit and their customer service. Do you guys think that water in one of my arms will hinder my performance? Should I keep the suit?
Can you explain what you mean? It’s a wetsuit water is inside of it.
wetsuits aren’t supposed to keep you dry, just warm.
I am not quite sure but I think it feels like it’s coming from the neck. Thank you for the suggestion to call at a different time. In fact when I spoke to the customer service rep, it was the same one both times.
Yes I understand that you are supposed to get some water in the back but in the arm seems odd.
the water is pooling in your arms, very likely, it’s not coming in through the arms. it’s probably coming in through the neck opening, or through the zipper in the back. it might be coming in thru the sleeve, when your hand enters the water, but i have a roka and that’s unlikely.
the unique thing about the roka, versus all other suits, is the pattern in the arm. very, very contoured arm.
i obviously was not on the call but it might be that the customer service person was interrupting you because you were imprecise in your description, hence the person’s desire to identify the problem. are you wordy? roundabout? when on the phone? because i am. i’m a much more concise communicator behind a keyboard (and a lot of people think i’m wordy there too).
what might help, and this will mimic what roka’s customer service person said most likely:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Wetsuit_by_brand/The_Slowtwitch_Wetsuit_Guide_5085.html
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Wetsuit_by_brand/Using_Caring_for_Your_Wetsuit_5088.html
You are going to get water throughout your entire suit - I think the rest of us are just having a hard time picturing the issue. Do you have a pocket of water in the suit under the arm or is there free flowing water coming in your suit (that you can feel) while you are swimming? Is the suit tight enough? It should be very tight and take some work to get on so there shouldn’t be room for water to free flow through your suit into your arm (your entire body will get wet though as it will trickle in). Maybe you aren’t pulling the the sleeves/shoulders up enough - it should be tight against your armpits with no air pocket?
I explained that the water was not coming in during the stroke ( when the hand enters the water). Because, and I told the person this, that I felt the water was coming in as soon as I entered into the water before I even started swimming. In any case, I appreciate all of your responses and taking the time to give me good suggestions.
I have a Roka wetsuit, their top of the line (cannot remember the model) and I have no problems with it - in particular with what your refer to as uneven “leaking” into one of the arms. Like all wetsuits, you will eventually get wet inside and water will eventually seep into the suit after swimming in it for a few meters. I am assuming you know this. Depending on the wetsuit, water will seep in faster than other in other wetsuits. In my Roka, I felt it had less water seepage than my previous suits. I have owned eight different models in many years.
I can only think of the following possibilities regarding your problem:
- You breath only on one side, and the water seeps into one arm faster than the other
- Your arm stroke is uneven, and the water seeps into one arm faster than the other;
- You may have unevenly closed the velcro in the back, and the water seeps into one arm faster than the other;
- Your one arm is bigger than the other, and the water seeps into one arm faster than the other;
OR
- the suit was stiched with one arm bigger than the other. If this is the case, then the suit is indeed defective. To test this, I would suggest you ask someone to wear and swim with it and see if he has the same observations as you. Or you could simply send it back to Roka to examine with the agreement that they do not have to replace it if it is not defective.
Good luck
.
all
Yes there is free flowing water coming in while swimming but only in one arm.
Your body gets wet inside a wetsuit. Everywhere.
I’m guessing what you’re describing is that the arms don’t fit you quite as snugly as would be optimal, and therefore you are perceiving some waterflow through or pooling in them. You perceive this because the thin water layer alongside your skin under the wetsuit warms up, and if external cold water is later introduced, the temperature differences makes it quite noticeable.
A perfect wetsuit fit is obviously not something everyone will achieve, so the question is how significant the issue is and whether sizing down, which will get you slimmer arms, will work for you elsewhere on the suit, or whether a different suit might fit better. If at most minimal water is pooling, I have a hard time imagining it would slow you down in a measurable way. It’s probably mostly a comfort issue when swimming in very cold water.
You did not take responsibility for ensuring your wetsuit fit during Roka’s clearly publicized 30-day return window. Out of the goodness of their hearts, they might still work with you on an exchange, but your self-righteousness about expecting them to accommodate you seems a bit off.
Sounds like a leak in that area. Yes wetsuits are wet but when there is a localized leak, you feel it. I have B70 Fusion I beat up and it has a leak at the knee. Also my other B70 I ripped at the small of the back. Fixed that one because water was pouring in - very annoying.
Thank you all for the suggestions. I really appreciate the imput!
oops …input…nervous as this is my first post
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I haven’t had any issues with my Roka but also had the chance to try on a few sizes before ordering. Do you have anyone you train with or a local shop where you could try on a different size Roka or even another brand to see if you still have the same issues?
Hi There, My name is Jennifer and I manage the customer experience for ROKA Sports. I am sorry you feel frustrated with your experience today. We have a very liberal return/ exchange policy that allows you 30 days to try a suit in the water, with the ability to return or exchange it if it is not a perfect fit. Unfortunately, since you purchased your suit 8 months ago from an independent store, not directly from ROKA, we are limited in our ability to assist. If you would like to discuss further, please email me directly at: support@rokasports.com.
I don’t live in Chicago but I work up in Evanston and swim open water from Lee St. beach 2 times a week. If you’d like you can meet me at the beach and I’d be happy to help you out with the wetsuit “installation” if that is the problem.
PM me if you like.
take care,
Paul
Hi Jennifer, thank you for your reply. Yes, I bought the suit in the winter but I live in Chicago and I didn’t swim in it until June. Since that time, I tried to make the suit work for me. I called Roka and then posted here because I thought it was strange that the water would pool into the left forearm area of the suit despite many efforts to take my time in putting it on correctly. I will email you directly to see if you had any other thoughts.
I saw the motorcycles following packs for a good 30 seconds each. This happened a lot of times. It was really a good tactic as they gave the refs time to see if it was passing or drafting.
I did see drafting getting bad after the out and back around mile 15. The wind picked up, and people started tucking in. I saw a lot of motorcycles getting people about that point. I was in the 40-44 and we in the middle of the start groups.