Please help with sites/resources for wetsuit purchases. I’ve visited some of the commercial sites and am not sure what brand to go with.
Will be in 60 degree water in May…
Thanks for the help
B.
www.wetsuit.com check out promotion.
Have you looked at Aquaman, Orca, DeSoto and Quintana Roo?
The key is fit. I am partial to DeSoto, Qr and AQuaman in that order. I’ve raced in all four of the brands above. All great suits. It boils down to fit.
Sounds like you’re going to purchase online, so you can’t try them on and pick the one that fits best. I don’t think any one wetsuit maker manufactures wetsuits that are far-and-away better than anything else out there. Therefore, go with whichever one you think looks the best and that is within your budget. Oh yeah, and get a full wetsuit. Water sounds chilly.
I agree with Tom. When buying mine I had to try on a number of different brands before I found one that would fit. Just because the size chart says it will fit doesn’t mean it will. I went with QR becasue it seemed to fit my body type the best.
I second the vote for Promotion if you’re on a limited budget. My sleeveless has worked great for me. I don’t have any experience with the fullsuit.
If you head over to the forum on Trinewbies.com, someone there puts a list together every month for Promotion. Once you’re on the list, you get a discount (10% I think).
Check out my similar inquiry captioned “Advice on New Wetsuits”. I received a number of helpful responses.
Good Luck.
I can’t emphasize this enough - fit is everything. Most manufacturers have similar features and price points. Whether or not the suit fits to you is what determines whether you’re using those designed features.
And the fit issue is where wetsuit shopping becomes difficult and frustrating. Shopping on-line can save you lots of money, but it’s only good if you know exactly what you want. First you need to find out what you want and this means trying to find local retailers. And this is where this thread gets hijacked into the weekly Slowtwitch debate of whether or not it’s moral to go to a local retailer, try on suits, and then go home and order what you want on the web. My personal take is that if the local vendor is providing you with good service and knowledgeable advice (as opposed to the non-tri specific shops out there that sell wetsuits on the side and have never worn one or used one in their life), you’ll feel pretty good about paying retail on something you know is going to work for a number of years to come.
The added twist to this is there aren’t that many wetsuit retailers out there and most don’t carry all brands. I’ve had friends do their shopping and purchasing by directly contacting the manufacturers to locate and send them the correct sizes to try on. For example, there aren’t XTerra retailers around here in Central Jersey which is a brand a number of buddies have found works best for their body types.
Back to your original question, I personally love my Ironman Stealth thanks to the stretchy panel on the back that relieves the stress on my oversized ribs. Before that I was using a QR, but I was trying to swim with half my lung capacity because it was too tight around my chest. But that answer is specific to me.
Good luck!
Some options
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Choose a business with a wide varieity of wetsuits. Ask if they will be willing to work with you…clarify the return policy. Many will allow returns.
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You could start with Desoto, as I recall you get a couple of weeks to return if the wetsuit is not right for you.
60…consider a wetsuit “hat” ? Desoto carries them.
As others have said, go for fit. This is one of those times when you have to forget which one you think is coolest, and buy the one that fits best. If you are one of those tall, scrawny triathlete types, no problem, but if you’re built more like Gimley son of Gloin, then you’ll have to work a little harder.
I wanted to get the QR Superfull, but I just couldn’t find a size that fit me right. I ended up with the Ironman Stealth, which makes a size that fits me perfectly(at 5’8", ~160).
They are all very good, are about 90% identical, IMHO.