Question about my first purchase of a wet suit?

Yes, Xterra is a widely used triathlon wetsuit.  I have both the full sleeve and the sleeveless.  I'm assuming you mean "restricted or constricted" in your OP.  A full suit that is put on correctly and is the right size will not feel much more constricting than a sleeveless...if at all.  See the following thread for more info.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=243444&posts=21#M3379543

I got my Xterra full sleeve suit in the mail on Sat (first one ever too).  I went with the full sleeve to keep my arms as warm as possible. Like you I am not looking to set any records I just want to finish.  I figured April in the Neches River will be a cold swim, I didn't want to get out of the water with blue arms .  I may get a sleeveless later when the water temp comes up some, but then again I may like the full suit.  I am 5'7'' and right about 175(which is dropping daily with my training schedule), it fits me great and the flex areas under the arms feel comfortable.  I will be trying it out in the next few days in our local lake, I will let you know how it goes.

There's my $.02

Mike

You may want to reconsider your decision on a sleeveless suit. If you do a Google search on the key words "triathlon start" and hit the images tab you'll like see a bunch of images like these:

Now, this is a pro wave start- you can tell since they are diving off a pier- something we generally don't see in age group starts.

The point, however, is you don't see any sleeveless suits. In general, sleeveless suits tend to be what people buy before they buy a full suit- and if they stay inthe sport they generally do wind up with a full suit.

Full suits, bottom line, are measureably faster. When anyone disputes that, they seldom (never) have empiracle evidence to support their argument. This is worth a look:

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/wetsuit.shtml

Thanks for the great post Tom. I love it when people provide data in support their post.

Xterra suits are good and a great value when on sale.  I have one.

If you get the right size, the full sleeve suits won't constrict you in any significant way.  You may need to get used to the feeling but it will make you faster to have the sleeves (as Tom shows).

I figure if the water is cold enough that I want a wetsuit, then I want my arms warm too.

I did find a used sleeveless suit on e-bay for $30 last year so now I have one, but I have yet to use it.

Get the right size and you will be happy.  Xterra is cool about letting you exchange your suit easily if you get the wrong size initially.  They are also responsive with questions you have about fit (say if you are between 2 sizes and undecided).

Xterra suits are ALWAYS on sale, 50% off.  It's their marketing thing.

LOL..I just got this in my inbox:

Offer brought to you by Active.com - Up to 60% off XTERRA Wetsuits 2011 models - Use Coupon Code:ACT  (for the Vortex 3 model reg.$400 on sale for $159)

Still seems like a good deal though.