Home Chat General Chat

My SURF wet suit...

Hi all!

My name is Sham I am 25 and Im from Poland. Im staying in England for few months to earn money for new bike and few other things for thriathlon and not only. Because I want to go to Military school on Poland and I have to pass many exams(Polish Air Force) I started to run. Because I couldnt swim I started to swim too to pass exams with best marks. I was very proud with mysefl that Im 25 and I started to learn swimming. I started to love running, I started to love swimming and because as a little boy an as a teenager I cover many kilometers on bike I set up my second life goal(after PAF): Ironman on Hawaii. That will take years and I know... Such as graduation Polish Air Force. So that was little introduction of myself.... Because I was staying in Cornwall there was many shops for surfers and I bought RIPCURL SURF RC W2196E (E-BOMB). In your magazine I can see many wetsuits dedicated to triathlon. I read that it is more flexible. What do you think should I keep my Ripcurl or better it is to buy proper triathlon wetsuit? My wetsuit is in Elatsomax E3 technology. It has seamless underarm and Shoulder panels and something like "GBS SEAM CONSTRUCTION" seams are glued(?) and blind stitches for max stretch and minimum water penetration. That is written on label

Help me please I have doubt with that wetsuit and only 5 month left to my forst triathlon "SUSZ" in Poland on sprint distance!

Thank you for answer in advance

sorry for errors in msg - Przemyslaw "Sham" Bartkowiak

Comments

  • See if you can find somewhere to try a proper triathlon wetsuit. The design is probably quite different to your surfer's wetsuit. A tri wetsuit is designed to be swum in. The buoyancy is set to be favourable for that purpose and it has extra flexibility for the arms and legs.

    I've never worn a surfer's wetsuit, but I'm guessing they're designed to kept you warm and bouyant for when you come off your board - rather than swimming.

    You can pick up a brand new Tri wetsuit for under £100 these days. Many places let you 'rent' one for a season. I bought my Orca S2 from Wiggle for £120 or something like that - with the option to return it at the end of the season for a refund of £50 I think. I'll be keeping it as it does the job for me.

    I'm not sure Wiggle still do the hire option, but there are a number of other companies that do the same thing (http://www.puretri.co.uk) etc.

    Hope that helps,

    Matt.
  • A bit late I know, but I started out using a wetsuit I used for Windsurfing. I found it way to buoyant in the upper body but the biggest difficulty was the lack of flexibility in the arms / shoulders. A few hundred meters and my shoulders were aching! Between that and the extra buoyancy I had a lot of trouble with my stroke and never felt comfortable during swims in it.

    I bought a blue seventy suit and it was a huge difference - the flexibility in the arms was great compared to the older one and I seemed to lie in the water much more naturally.

    I'd definately recommend going for a tri specific wetsuit - it will save you hours of discomfort, greatly improve your open water swim sessions and ultimately your times!

    Good luck
  • Hey,
    I too started swimming in a surf wettie,
    rip curl e-bomb. Prob the most flexible surf wettie I've had.

    It feels okay until you get into a proper swimming wettie and feel
    like a shark gliding through the water!
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    As above, a tri specific suit is best. Defintely try it on before you buy.

    Pop along to a tri and there will always be a stand or two where you can try gear on.

    A hire/buy scheme may be an idea.

    Good luck
  • PrzemekBPrzemekB Posts: 2
    Hi all!

    I see many people didnt know that surf.windsurf wetsuit is not quite good for racing. What I have done. I bought Blueseventy basic wetsuit. You can see differences straitgh away. I havent tested it yet but Im sure it will be much more better.

    Thank you Bargolf for answer. I appreciate.

    Everyone good luck at competitions. My first is in June...

    Training hard...
Sign In or Register to comment.