I heard a lot about the T1 on this forum and was wondering if the comments were as good for the T1 Tres. On DeSoto Site, they say it’s a little heavier thus a little slower but the confort and everything else are suppose to be the same. What do you think? I dont have much of a budget so it’s either a O’Neil wet suit that I can buy here in quebec city(the only trademark available here) or an internet order, which I dont especially like(cant try it first), for the T1 Tres. Both are about the same price. Reading about the comments on the T1 and DeSoto’s great client services makes me think about ordering it, but the T1 is not the Tres…
“What do you think?”
i’d say it’s the opposite of what you say the de soto site says. in fact, i just finished updating the t1wetsuits.com site yesterday (i play a web designer on TV) and i guess i sort of say the opposite.
i’d say the tres is NOT any slower than the t1 and yes, the rubber is VERY SLIGHTLY heavier. but not to a degree that would influence speed. the difference is that the t1 rubber is slightly softer, and will more easily mold around someone who’s a difficult fit.
so if you were of an average size, and would easily fit into either a t1 or a tres, i’d consider the tres, because you save a hundred bucks. i suspect i could wear either suit and probably couldn’t tell much difference if any. but that’s not the case with everyone. when i was at QR there were people we couldn’t fit in an ultrafull that would fit in a hydrofull, because the rubber in the latter was softer and stretchier. same sorta thing, except that the tres rubber is a step above what we used to use in our ultrafulls, in that t1 ONLY uses yamamoto SCS rubber throughout both suits.
Thank’s! Can you also tell me why you would buy a T1 Tres over a O’Neil? It’s much simpler to go to a shop, try it, and if it fit buy it then the whole web process(returning if those not fit and try again).
As someone who owns a “dos”, the predecessor of the "tres, I am very happy with my decision. My observation is that the dos is made out of less stretchy rubber, making getting out of it just a little tougher than the T1. Besides that, reviews I’ve read said the time differences you make expect to see is very minimal. What is nice though, is that in the future if you want to upgrade to a T1 top, it’s easy to do without buying a whole new wetsuit.
Thank’s Ben, appreciate your comment. Some people are sometime talking abour a overheating issue, do you think it is?
I have the dos vest top and the tres bottoms. I love them. When I ordered them from Desoto, the fit wasn’t exactly right and they took them back without any question and shipped me the next size up. Great customer service.
I would recommend getting it from Desoto. You can’t try it on in a store, but you can try it on at home and send it back to resize if you need to.
Richard-
On another note, how’s your training for Esprit coming along?
Training going great. I completed a short triathlon last weekend and it went very well despite the conditions. It was cold and raining, lot’s of waves on the lake and the water was at 62. I was one of the only one without a wetsuit. the first minute on the bike was… kinda cold! So now I really want a wetsuit! 
There might be a little problem for the Esprit IM since I have to go to Burkina Faso 10 days around the end of August. I just hope I’ll be back in time to recover for the race…I’ll have to wait and see. My next race will be half IM at Magog(Quebec). How about you? training going good?
Training is going well. I’m upping the bike miles and the runs are getting longer. I hope my body holds up. Sometimes I feel like I won’t be able to do this. I did a sprint tri a few weeks ago. Did pretty well. It was the first time I used my Desoto wetsuit. I have an Olympic Distance tri this weekend, Escape from Fort Delware. Then no racing until Esprit.
Don’t worry about your trip. Just try to get some extra sleep so that you are back to normal as soon as possible.
Good luck with everything.
Pete
I own a full sleave and sleevless Ironman suit. Just bought a DOS top and a tres bottom. By far this is the most boyant suit I have worn. Very comfortable.
I swam in a half IM race last weekend and it was awesome. The pool I swim in is pretty warm. 3 out of 4 long training swims have been with the bottom only and it works quite well. My target is IMCDA where I will definately be wearing the top with full sleeves.
The suit was not easy to get off the first time, but the second and then the third time it worked great. Easier if you start removing the top when still in waist deep water. It is really not difficult, just different.
I am overall, very impressed with this suit.
I could’nt agree more, There are day’s where my body has a hard time to keep up. I just cought a cold so I have a sore troat and decided to skip my swim training this morning to recover better. Need so much sleep but so little time! Good luck with keeping the obsession! For me, watching the Tour the France will give me a big bike boost, as will my new wetsuit for swimming!
Keep up the hard work, september is coming fast!
“It’s much simpler to go to a shop, try it”
yes, you’re right. but life is full of dilemmas. this is why the mail order industry thrives: because your local shop doesn’t offer what you want.
Yeah you’re right Dan and I, for one, order lots of things over the internet but when I buy something as important as a wetsuit and I can’t check the confort for myself, I wanna make sure that what I’m buying over the Net IS better than what I can buy in the shop. According to Tom D’s review of the T1, I wanted to make sure that the same comments goes for the Tres…which you told me. Except here in Quebec, where I can have a lot of positive comments on the O’Neil, I haven’t heard much about it. The problem here is that people dont buy the O’neil because it’s great but because it’s the only one available. So I just want to make sure I buy the best wetsuit for my money’s worth.
“Except here in Quebec, where I can have a lot of positive comments on the O’Neil”
i don’t know, but i suspect, that somebody in quebec is the importer of o’neil’s triathlon wetsuits. there is no other logical reason why o’neil would get much air play, because it is a very minor player in triathlon. their suit is so-so, and they don’t appear to me to spend a lot of time thinking about triathlon. i’ve never, in 15 years in the industry, seen or heard of a person from o’neil that claims to have any particular expertise in tri suits.
yes, it’s a bit of a hassle to buy things mail order. but, i’d use your own argument in FAVOR of mail order. “when I buy something as important as a wetsuit” is your phrase, and if i was buying something that important i’d go through the hassle. when you have an organization as obviously devoted to customer service as de soto is, i don’t think there’s much risk. when i was at QR i’d guess that half of all the wetsuits we sold were sold through the mail, in one way or the other. somehow that process worked for an entire industry.
rferron, email DeSoto directly. Most likely, Emilio Desoto himself will reply and give you a set of measurements to give him. Based on those measurements, he will recommend a size for the top and for the bottom. If it doesn’t fit, you can return it to them.
Go with the T1/Tres. It already sounds like you want it, so do it. Spend a bit more now . You get exactly what you want, and (most likely) you’ll never have to replace it, unless you choose to.
Thank’s a lot Dan. You’re answer is exactly what I wanted to hear. I did’nt know about the dedication of O’Neil to triathlon. Here in Quebec, there’s almost no shop keeping Triathlon equipment because they say it’s too specific 
So the shop that decides to keep some Tri wetsuit usually choose O’Neil because they already keep some for Wake board and other sports and also because they are not too expensive. So if someone wants a tri wet and shop for it, they will only find O’Neils and assume that it is good. I was’nt so sure about it since triathletes over the net don’t talk much about O’Neils so I wanted to make a check up. Now, with all the comments on the T1 and the answers I got on the Tres and O’Neil’s dedication to triathlon, I guess it’s an easy choice.
Thank’s to all for your help, I’m buying a T1 Tres! 
You said that the T1 and T1 Tres are the same in speed. How about in flexibility? i.e. will T1 interfer with the stroke less than the T1 Tres, or is it about the same? Thanks,
Stephen
“How about in flexibility?”
it’s only going to be an issue if you’re a tight fit. if you’re a normal fit, you won’t notice a difference.
Dan,
Thank you for your quick reply. I reviewed their website, and noticed that it has been updated as you advised. The website says that the T1 wetsuit is good for you if you have weak shoulders. If the T1 Tres fits me (my dimensions are standard), and it has the same amount of flexibility etc, and I have strong shoulders, is there any point in gettting a T1? I want to ensure that I have maximum ability to do my normal stroke with minimal shoulder strain, but at the same time, I don’t want to throw away my hard-earned dollars.
Thanks,
my only concern AT ALL with the tres is that, while it has plenty of flexibility for swimming, when you REALLY stretch it is when you take it off. so if you’ve got weak shoulders, or just a generally weak upper body – like if you’re an over-50 woman – you might want to consider the T1 because it’ll come off easier.
that said, i raced in a DOS last year and i’m in a t1 this year and i feel very little difference in getting the two off (or in swimming in either) and the tres is easier to get off than the DOS was last year.
I bought a T1 last year, and chose it over the Dos because I have a shoulder that dislocates very easily, and wanted the stretchiest rubber available. I also got a sick deal from Dan when I joined the Tribiz Reader club, which certainly made the decision easier.
In spite of my shoulder and all the reports saying that it’s hard, the very first time I took off the wetsuit it took me 15s - dry, standing in my bathroom. Now I had read through Dan’s tips on T1 removal as well as those on the site, and had watched the clip of Emillio taking it off as well - so I knew how it shoud come off. But it really isn’t hard to take off at all.
As for ordering via internet, Emillio has the best cusomer service in the industry. He knows wetsuit fit, and will definitely take care of you if there are any issues. I’d purchase from him with full confidence.