Sleeves or No?

[KSH]

Here is a review of all of the wetsuits I bought... tried on and tried out in the water:

I have bought, tried on, and swam in the following brands:

Blue Seventy (BS)
QR
2XU
Zoot
Desoto

Yea, I have had a time finding a wetsuit that fit me right, can you tell? I am also being really picky about my wetsuit, because I'm a good swimmer and a cheap wetsuit will slow me down, and I will be bothered by it.

BS is a nice wetsuit. For women, it's good because it's cut for someone with booty and boobs. That is what I needed. The neoprene is nice and I didn't have any issues with the one I rented for a race. Shoulders were flexible. I bought the Energie. I did not keep it though. http://www.trisports.com/blseenfuwe.html

QR is a really nice wetsuit too. Honestly, I liked this neoprene the best. It was just different. Very flexible. This wetsuit is made for someone with beefy legs and a large chest (not necessarily big because of boobs!). The size that should have fit me, was HUGE on me. If you are a beefy guy, this would be a good wetsuit for you. http://www.trisports.com/qr20hytrwe.html

2XU is a nice wetsuit. No complaints really. It was just cut for someone who is very thin without any hips, boobs, or a booty. If you are a thin guy/gal with very little "sticking out" muscle wise, etc. this wetsuit would be good. I think I got this one on sale: http://www.trisports.com/2xueltrwe.html

Zoot Zenith is a VERY NICE wetsuit. Totally different from all the other ones. It has these pieces of boyancy swen into the inside of the wetsuit. None of the other wetsuits are like this one. Unless you see a picture of the inside of the wetsuit, you don't really understand how different it is. I kept this one. It's flexible and I could swim in it just fine.
http://www.trisports.com/zootzenith.html

Desoto is an OK wesuit. Not very innovative. The neoprene was the worst in the bunch. It was thick and not very flexible. Compared to the other ones, I would rank this one the lowest. The bib john was odd and pulled up into my crotch (fit issue). The top was a pain to get on and then it fit oddly around my boobs. A lot of people love this wetsuit, but fit wise it didn't work for me.
http://www.trisports.com/t1blpebi.html
http://www.trisports.com/t1fiwazipu.html

In the end though, buying a wetsuit is ALL ABOUT FIT. Each brand is cut differently and fits differently. Just because you fit the "size" on the chart, doesn't mean it will work for you in the water.

Good luck.

[teigyr]

I have the Promotion sleeveless Power Glide. I looked at the Zoot one just now, it looks beautiful I guess I needed one that wasn't SO expensive because I am new to the sport, I'm not a swimmer, and I need to make sure it's a good and valid investment. If I'm just doing sprint tri's at 2-3x/year, I can't justify $500 +/-. If I decide to start doing distance or more than what I'm doing now, then I'll evaluate it again.

As far as the sleeves go, I was thinking about getting them. I don't "race" as in going fast and I thought they'd be beneficial just for OW swimming. Are there major complaints about them?

Being new to the sport (multi and the various components) is such an investment. DH is wonderful about supporting me and agreeing that I need all this stuff...I'm just trying to keep the costs down. To me I'll spend whatever I need to on my running shoes and on my bike. I'm sure the swim part will catch up

[Quillfred]

I can't afford a new wetsuit either.

If need be, I will wear my long sleeved rash guard under my sleeveless shortie.

Quillfred

[rocknrollgirl]

I have two Xterra wetsuits, long sleeved. We purchased both on ebay and got great deals on both. As far as the claustophobia, I got over mine with practice. If you look at my posts from last April, I had a really hard time at first, but I stuck with it.

I think the sleeves do make me a lot faster.

[KSH]

I have two Xterra wetsuits, long sleeved. We purchased both on ebay and got great deals on both. As far as the claustophobia, I got over mine with practice. If you look at my posts from last April, I had a really hard time at first, but I stuck with it.

I think the sleeves do make me a lot faster.

See, the clastophobic feeling I got was from the chest barrel of the wetsuit squeezing me. It made me feel like I couldn't breathe. That I had to get over. To me, the arms didn't play into the feeling.