Wetsuits

Personally bought an Xterra Vortex sleeveless as my "beginner" wetsuit, and never found the need to upgrade it yet. It's been great for 2 Halfs and numerous shorter races. Price was right and it is holding up great.

Agree with trying on before and testing it out if you can. I know both Xterra and ROKAI have had Xterra and now ROKA. Fit is the only thing that matters to me in a wetsuit. I will take what some would call an inferior performance wetsuit that fits well over the highest dollar ill fitting wetsuit on the market. Mobility, flexibility, and fit seem to differ with manufacturers and individual body types.

I'm not sure what a good deal (price) is on an Xterra. I have a 2-piece Desoto and love the versatility. I paid $60 for the speed tube (pants) off ebay. I bought both tops (though I rarely wear the full, sleeved top) from Emilio (Desoto). You can buy the vest, new, for $175.....and sometimes catch them on sale for less. You can find the speed tubes on ebay, if you can get lucky and find the right size.

I have <$250 in the suit I use almost exclusively.

Having all 3 pieces gives me a variety of options. Since I also own Blue Seventy core shorts, I've got another option. In my only ocean tri of 2016, I wore the core shorts and the T1 vest. Great combination for waters that are teetering on wetusit legality.

Both Rudy Project and Xterra take a sales approach very similar to Kohls whereby the full retail price is basically an advertised 50% off. Everyone should get 50% and this is reflected in the resale value of these products.

The other wetsuits brands don't participate in this in model and would prefer to sell them at full price, but the reality is everyone can get some discount from 10%to 35%

The most important thing about purchasing a wetsuit is that it fits. Other than that there are some features that do help. If you are ever interested in saving 25% off BlueSeventy you can always find that code here: http://www.thomasgerlach.com/2016/08/blue-seventy-wetsuits-coupon-c...