Wetsuit Recommendation

reidman · 26-06-2020 11:55am #1

Any suggestions on a wetsuit? I have had a nice huub the last few years but don't want to fork out that much again. Budget 300 or so and a suit that doesn't seem to nick every time you wear it. Thanks

Kurt_Godel. · 26-06-2020 1:00pm

reidman wrote: »

Any suggestions on a wetsuit? I have had a nice huub the last few years but don't want to fork out that much again. Budget 300 or so and a suit that doesn't seem to nick every time you wear it. Thanks

Speedo Photon €295 down from €695 from SwimKit.

I've just bought one of these myself, haven't swam in it yet. Coming from a HUUB that I still like but is covered in Blackwitch from the nicks... mind you I don't expect the Speedo to be much better!

Edit- tried it for size, I'm a MediumTall in the HUUB, this Speedo is XL and while it fits good, it does feel tight out of the box. Expect it will loosen up a bit with use. Good shoulder flexibility. It feels thinner than the HUUB.

audiRon · 26-06-2020 5:21pm

Kurt_Godel. wrote: »

Speedo Photon €295 down from €695 from SwimKit.

I've just bought one of these myself, haven't swam in it yet. Coming from a HUUB that I still like but is covered in Blackwitch from the nicks... mind you I don't expect the Speedo to be much better!

Edit- tried it for size, I'm a MediumTall in the HUUB, this Speedo is XL and while it fits good, it does feel tight out of the box. Expect it will loosen up a bit with use. Good shoulder flexibility. It feels thinner than the HUUB.

Got one myself from swimkit too. I had an old speedo that I loved, got a huub one 2 years ago and hate swimming in it, too loose on the cuffs, fills with water too quickly. The speedo one is nearly 8 years old, but I was using it til last week. Water too warm for a wetsuit now :-)

reidman · 31-03-2021 12:20pm

It's the time of year for wetsuit posts and I still haven't gotten round to doing anything about a replacement. So appreciate any feedback:

Had a nice huub last five years but it's in bits now, I'm a decent swimmer, lots of 70.3, IM and 5k swims and enjoy the water. Budget 400-550 or so, if I could find another archimedes I'd buy it but no joy. If anyone has a good suit recommendation I'd appreciate it. Other question is buying from uk website are you exposed to customs charges? Some sites that look like .ie domains are UK based.

Thanks!

Bertje14 · 31-03-2021 5:17pm

I have an Orca Sonar. Love it. Have it for 4-5 year now still in good nick. Tread your suit like your bike and it will last you for a long time.

Buying from UK. UK is now a 3rd country i.e. this means it is the same as buying from US. The rules aren't that clear cut but it is good rule of thumb. you buy from UK you will be liable to VAT & Import Duties. For example you buy books you won't pay anything as they aren't liable to VAT in Ireland. You buy a jumper you might have to pay VAT & customs. I do say might as a lot depends on how the company that send the goods is labeling it. So it can be a bit hit and miss.

Hope this helps.

reidman · 31-03-2021 6:27pm

That looks pretty solid - I’ll check it out thanks

Bertje14 wrote: »

I have an Orca Sonar. Love it. Have it for 4-5 year now still in good nick. Tread your suit like your bike and it will last you for a long time.

Buying from UK. UK is now a 3rd country i.e. this means it is the same as buying from US. The rules aren't that clear cut but it is good rule of thumb. you buy from UK you will be liable to VAT & Import Duties. For example you buy books you won't pay anything as they aren't liable to VAT in Ireland. You buy a jumper you might have to pay VAT & customs. I do say might as a lot depends on how the company that send the goods is labeling it. So it can be a bit hit and miss.

Hope this helps.

Kurt_Godel. · 18-04-2021 9:48pm

reidman wrote: »

It's the time of year for wetsuit posts and I still haven't gotten round to doing anything about a replacement. So appreciate any feedback:

Had a nice huub last five years but it's in bits now, I'm a decent swimmer, lots of 70.3, IM and 5k swims and enjoy the water. Budget 400-550 or so, if I could find another archimedes I'd buy it but no joy. If anyone has a good suit recommendation I'd appreciate it. Other question is buying from uk website are you exposed to customs charges? Some sites that look like .ie domains are UK based.

Thanks!

HUUB archimedies versions II, III, and IV are available in most sizes for 50% off on www.sportpursuit.com. You need to sign up to view- I've bought off this site for the past 3 or 4 years and its the real deal. No extra custom charges from this site.

Incidentally I had a Huub Archimedes II for the past 3 years as my workhorse, got lots of use but a few holes appearing now. I must have worn it over 150 hours mostly in the brine, so happy enough with the relatively short lifespan (I rinse it with fresh water after but otherwise ain't great at looking after it). Lovely suit to swim in and good freedom around the arms. I'm a fan of the "cloth" material on the bicep. I've ordered the Archimedes IV to replace it as my training suit, reviews suggest even greater arm motion (caveat they also suggest this suit is liable to get dings and nicks like the other HUUBs).

Racing suit is the Zerod Proflex which is in a different league again for range of shoulder motion, superb suit (although I would need to get to at least racing weight again to zip it up without ripping!)

Bertje14 · 19-04-2021 3:41pm

No wetsuit related but www.sportpursuit.com related.

I have bought my new helmet on it. Brand new out of the box. Fraction of the price. so yes it is the real deal.

reidman · 05-07-2021 12:11pm

Ended up going with the orca sonar, bought online no issues. Have done some distance in the sea and suit holding up nicely, doesn’t seem as fragile as the huub or I’ve learnt to look after my wetsuits a little better. Thanks for the recommendation!

Kurt Godelfish · 05-07-2021 1:54pm

Kurt_Godel. wrote: »

I've ordered the Archimedes IV to replace it as my training suit, reviews suggest even greater arm motion (caveat they also suggest this suit is liable to get dings and nicks like the other HUUBs).

Incidentally I've had to return the HUUB due to stiching coming apart at the seam. Second HUUB I've returned due to quality issues.

MojoMaker · 25-07-2021 10:16am

Have an Archimedes too and I'm 50/50 on it. Not completely sold on the benefits and it seems to be a very fragile suit indeed. The material doesn't feel any slippier than an old Speedo training suit I had and I didn't see any benefits in timed pool sessions between them.

Swimkit has always had some good deals on Speedo suits if you pop in at the right time of the year to grab last year's colours etc.

Tony H · 20-08-2021 12:31pm

Has anyone a recommendation on where to buy a swimsuit in Cork ?, my doctor said sea swimming would help with my r arthritis but I have another condition that requires me to keep my middle section dryish (i have a stoma , don't google it for your own sake , anyway a personal fitting would be best because of this and price would be max 250 ish .

mstewie · 20-08-2021 11:35pm

Hi Tony, I bought a TYR C2 wetsuit from The Edge Sports in Cork and found them good to deal with (just an fyi - the wetsuit is the only purchase I have made from this company). I am not anywhere near Cork so it was all done online but they were spot on with my sizing query. On a personal note the TYR wetsuit is a far better wetsuit than my HUUB wetsuit I have which required black witch repairs for nicks and tears that it seemed to get every time I wore it no matter how careful I was with it (I see other people on here with similar quality issues with HUUB).

Wetsuit Recommendation

Comments