Xterra wetsuit question

Other than to get used to swimming in it, is there a reason you need to purchase right away? Over the summertime you may be able to find OWS clinics that have wetsuit trials where you could get a better idea for the fit, plus you will be that much closer to your race weight.

I ordered an XTerra suit and the sizing chart worked out for me (6'3" and 225# at the time).

Edited to add: Saw in your profile that you are from Missouri. If you are in the St. Louis area then Big Shark does have OWS out in New Town (St. Charles) in the May-June timeframe. You can rent a wetsuit there for like $10 and find one that you like and they will credit the rental towards your purchase, so that may be an option.

Edited by CycloneVM 2016-03-22 3:00 PM

The main reasons for purchasing right away are to get used to swimming in it and to make sure I can take advantage of the BT discount. I'm not anticipating that going away, but knowing my luck I'll wait and then miss out.

Unfortunately, I'm on the Kansas City side of Missouri, so the St. Louis area OWS won't work for me. I have rented two wetsuits for races in the past (from wwww.triwetsuitrental.com) and from those experiences I know I need time to get used to swimming in it. My two wetsuit races were by far my worst swims. My sprint swim took between 18 and 19 minutes because I wasn't used to the wetsuit. When I swam a sprint without a wetsuit, I finished at almost 11 minutes even. I'll admit some of that decrease was due to being better trained, but I simply can't believe it was all because of being better trained. Of course, the flip-side of that is that my poor swim wasn't all due to the wetsuit, but I still want plenty of time to train in it before my HIM.

How broad chested are you?

I was on the borderline between a medium and a medium-large, but because my chest is broader than average, they recommended erring to the side of going slightly larger, so that's what I did.

I am quite pleased with the medium-large ( I am 5'11" and 175 ish )

Given your height/weight and profile picture I would say you look quite broad, and would err to the side of the large.

Worst case scenario, they have a fantastic exchange policy, just send it back to them and they will send you a different size free of charge.

I also found the customer service person I spoke with did a fantastic job at recommending which size I should get after asking me a few questions.

Good luck!

Edited by dfquigley 2016-03-22 10:19 PM

^^This. Call Xterra and talk with them about sizing. They are very good to work with.

Perfect. I will call and ask before buying. I decided to wait until around May to buy. One lake in the area says they open their swim beaches on May 1st, but all the others are Memorial Day weekend. I figure if I wait until late April/early May I'll have time to get to the lake at least once or twice with it within their 30 day size exchange window.

Thanks for all the input, everyone!

What happens if you don't lose the weight? Will the wetsuit still fit? Their sizing chart is spot on (I've bought several wetsuits from xterra) I would think it would be best to buy what currently fits.