Budget short wetsuits?

If it's wetsuit legal, wear one.
If you can wear a wetsuit, wear a full sleeved one.
Only if you have difficulty with shoulder movement or restriction should you look at sleeveless.

Why on Earth would you want a short sleeved, shorts wetsuit for triathlon swimming?

Take a look here:
http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/summer/

I have only ever worn wetsuits back when I used to scuba dive a ton.  I'm not familiar with them at all for Tri's since I just started doing tri's this year.  So far I have done 1 Indoor Tri, and 2 Outdoor Tri's with no wetsuit.

I have another Tri in about 3 weeks, that is much closer to an olympic distance and the water will probably be a little colder, so figured this would be a good one to use a wetsuit on.  So you are saying that a full suit wet suit is the only way to go?  Do they slow your T1 down a good amount?


Edited by jflongo 2010-08-19 9:13 AM

It's better to have a wetsuit that is designed for swimming.  Surfing and diving wetsuits are very restrictive around the arms/shoulders and it would hinder your swimming. 

Full suit vs sleevesless is a personal preference, IMO, and depends on the temperature.  I found water temp over 70 too hot to be in a full suit.  Although I can tolerate the heat, swimming an oly distance at 75F water is not comfortable.  Not a good thing for someone who over-heats easily. 

Swim-specific wetsuit is that it covers most of your legs.  You generally don't find shirties in swim wetsuit.  That is the added benefit to add bouyance to your legs and keep your body in a better position.  The result is saved energy and slightly faster swim time.  My oly distance swim times with and without wetsuit have a good 2-3 min difference. 

As for taking off, apply body-glide before you put on and the take off should be pretty easy. 

The Xterra link above offers good priced swim-specific wetsuit.  I got a sleeveless last year. 

It should take you a max of 10-15 seconds to take it off in T1. If it takes more than that, you needed to practice more.

One of a wetsuit's benefits is buoyancy so the more wetsuit you have on the more buoyant you are, right? Cut the sleeves off and you've taken a big chunk out of the buoyancy of the suit.

As above, if you're in warmer water you might want a sleeveless. If it's restrictive and you cannot work it out, you might want a sleeveless. But look at all the footage of swim starts where they're wetsuit legal and see what the most popular option is. There's a reason for that.

I'm guessing the water temp will be in the 70ish area.  I just have to decide on price, whether I feel like dropping $200 on a full wetsuit or not.  The one with sleeves and 50% off, is $200, the one without sleeves is 50% off and $100.  Tough one.  Do you see a pretty big difference sleeveless compared to no wetsuit as well?

www.wetsuitwearhouse.com has some perfectly good TRIATHLON wetsuits (this is very important) for about US $100, in varying sizes.

Ah you beat me to it

Yes. Big difference sleeveless to no wetsuit.

If you're just starting out in this sport, it really doesn't matter. You can "upgrade" to full-sleeve if and when you decide you want to/have enough money/makes that extra bit of difference that by now you care about.

FWIW, I have a full sleeve and sleeveless wetsuits.  I prefer my sleeveless now for two reasons.  Warmer water temps and less resistance on my arms.  When it's cold, I go full sleeve or if I do an ocean OWS, I would use my full.

Again, I think it's a matter of preference. I bought the full for just over $200 and the sleeveless for $100.  Both are good quality and work well.  Many wetsuit companies have a good return policy so if used gently and you do not like it after 30 days, you can return it.

You might also try renting a suit to see which one works best for you and that way you can try different suits at your leisure.  http://www.wetsuitrental.com/

I think I'll buy a sleeveless one.  Any idea if the Volt one is any good?

http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/catalog/categories/mens/wetsuits/volt/volt/ $99.00

VS

XTerra

http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/catalog/categories/mens/wetsuits/vortex/vortex-3-sleeveless/ $149.00 after promotion price

VS

Neosport

http://www.wetsuitwearhouse.com/page/WW/mens-triathlon-wetsuits/S553MB $139.99

I opted for a sleeveless as my first suit as I figured it would just be easier to adjust to (plus it was cheaper).  I'm SOOOO thrilled that I did.  I forgot to factor into my decision my tendency to generate a LOT of heat when I exercise, so it's been a good/lucky choice for me.  I'm plenty warm in 55F water even in the sleeveless (yes, I'm weird).

And yes, there is still a HUGE difference swimming with a sleeveless vs no wetsuit.  So huge that you definitely want to get a few swims in wearing the suit before your race, too.

You will find that many people here, including myself, are very happy with their budget friendly Xterra wetsuits!  Their customer service is great and have a fit gaurentee.  Buy with confidence!