I am looking to buy a new wetsuit. Any comments as to pros or cons?
try as many models/brands as you can… fit is vital. if possible, take them for a test swim. chlorine won’t hurt a suit that bad as long as it is rinsed well in fresh water.
deSoto!!!
T1 or TRES
Since these are their ‘old’ models, you can often find them for a pretty good price. If you are smaller, sports basement has or had some for pretty good prices.
Read Slowman’s comments about them. Generally, those who have them, love them.
if you’re looking for a Tres and are around 5’10" 155lbs or so I have a slightly used suit I’ll sell for cheap. I have a lot of friends who love it but I just never quite adapted to it. It comes off easy enough but I can’t stand swimming in it.
The most amazing suit I’ve tried on had to be the Aquaman Metal Cell, but $480…
I have the T1 top, which is a little stretchier than the TRES, and the TRES bottom, because it was cheaper.
PS I love swimming in mine. I use the ‘third’ removal method because I’m pretty inflexible, and it works well.
If you’re not the type of person who spends 3K on a bike and 500+ on a wetsuit, you might want to check out Promotion. They make triathlon specific suits and come with a lifetime warranty (i’ve had mine 3 years with no problems whatsoever)
Promotion makes some high quality wetsuits, for a very low price. I use the fluid glide sleeveless, and have really enjoyed it. Super easy to get off in T1 as well.
check em out on the web:
You may want to contact jhendric and see if he has any of these left
yeah, check out Jason’s offerings (the whosale wetsuit thread in the classifieds) I have a 2004 QR Superfull out there in fedex land as we speak, price was pretty good and I am excited and praying it fits.
Everyone seems to dig the T1. I’d love to find one on special somewhere, but I can only find them at Nytro on the web. they have some offsizes at Sports Basement, but not in my size.
Check Trisports. T1 tops $110 or $118 with zipper. Tres zipper top $90, Tres zipper sleevless $70.
T1 bibjohn $120, Tres bibjohn $95.
T1 top and Tres bottom $205.
Hard to beat that. You won’t notice the difference with the TRES bottom, especially if you have DSS angle cut the last few inches of the leg. (I believe this is free.) (Many people recommend cutting off tthe last few inches of the leg on all tri wetsuits to speed removal.)
I had a tres top and bottom (again for sale size 3, worn maybe 5 times) and one of the best things I ever did was to “speed cut” the ankles. I actually cut mine at mid calf. Did this after talking to the Canadian team when they were out here in Hawaii for the Olympic Qualifier last year. They all cut thiers. Much much easier to take off the bottom and I couldn’t feel any loss in flotation.
Did you put anything on the cut edge to seal the seam, or just leave it “raw”?
Tai -
I checked on the status of your suit. It’s scheduled to arrive January 10.
Cheers,
Jason
They have a sale right now, not sure of the prices, but the Titianium color is priced to move.
Everyone seems to dig the T1. I’d love to find one on special somewhere, but I can only find them at Nytro on the web. they have some offsizes at Sports Basement, but not in my size.
Not everyone. I didn’t like the suit. It rode up in the back and chaffed my neck much worse than any one piece I have owned. Also it is slower to get off. Do not believe any claims that it is as fast or faster to get off than a one piece. It just isn’t true. I raced and trained with the T1 for a year. You see a lot more Orca’s, QRs, and Ironman suits at races than DeSotos.
I’ve owned or tried Ironman Stealth, Orca Predator, DeSoto T1, and Aquaman Metal Cell (my current suit). They are all good suits and you really can’t go wrong with any of them but I feel the Aquaman is superior. It is definately the fastest suit to get off due to the “upside down” zipper. I don’t know why all suit makers don’t design the zipper this way. Plus the inside of the suit has a thin layer of neoprene so it slides off with practically no effort. The arms and ankles are cut high also to facilitate removal. Why buy a new suit then have to cut it. Makes no sense to me.
Another misconception about the T1 is that it is less restrictive in the shoulders. Not true. Of all the suits I have owned or tried the Aquaman has the least shoulder restriction. The amount of shoulder restriction is related to the type and thickness of the rubber and the fit of the top part of the suit not wether it is one or two pieces. My wife has the new QR which is incredibly supple in the arms and shoulders but I haven’t tried that suit.
For me the Aquaman swims the best. I set a PR of 57 flat in an IM swim last year with it. The upside down zipper allows for a well designed neck with no chaffing. I forgot to put on body glide before the last IM I did and it turns out I didn’t need it.
The group I coach has actually done a fair amount of testing - and we arrived (unanimously, by the way) at the same conclusion as did you: Aquaman is a significantly better suit than any of its competitiors. Superior comfort, superior zipper system (it zips down to close, which means it can’t get/be unzipped unexpectedly during the swim), and superior speed.
As an aside, one of the other major companies offered Sheila $5,000 to wear their wetsuit in the 2000 Olympic triathlon - but she turned them down for Aquaman, even though the French company offered her nothing more than a free suit. Hard to prove what causes what, of course - but in the two biggest races of her career where wetsuits were allowed, she had lights-out swims. The first was Olympics 2000, where she put nearly 35 seconds on the rest of the field. And the second was 2004 Worlds, where not only did she literally swim away from everyone else, her time was bested by only two men (and then by only 3 and 1 seconds respectively).
As for fit, you can call the US distributor directly. His name is Emmanuel Millet in Three Rivers, Michigan; phone 269-279-9915 or 269-278-2075.
Hey Lew-- any idea on what size Aquaman Sheila wore? Im 5’3 and finding it hard to get correct sizing.
thanks! Z
I just picked up a new XTerra Vector Pro from Ultimate Tri for reasonable $$. They are clearing out their 2004 stock and these things are priced to move. Also, the Aquaman is very good as well. I went with the XTerra becuase it fit the best!!! This is the most crucial fact when deciding which wetsuit is right for you. I would urge you to only buy a wetsuit after you have tried it on. A lot of people told me to go with the QR Superfull but once I tried it on, it simply didn’t fit my body type.
The best Wetsuit is the one that fits you the best!
She’s 5’3", 118 pounds, but quite muscular. Her suit is the Metal Cell, and though she’s used the women’s small, she prefers the men’s extra small.
Big fan of my Aquaman too! I’ve owned QR, Orca Predator, and I love my Aquaman. I have a sleeveless, with a lot of room in the shoulder and it is a very stretchy material. The only problem is the material isn’t as heavy or durable as the Orca, which may be superior in quality, but didn’t fit me right.
If you have the neckline issues that I do, where you can’t stand anything on your neck, the Aquaman is the way to go.