Life Span of the New Tech Suits

I know from experience I'm just not going to swim close to best times unless I'm shaved and tapered. I applaud those who can swim best times in season, but I'm definitely not one of them. The rubber suits were a different story. With those I could just get in and swim fast any time. Not so with textile jammers. BTW...You gonna be "shaved and tapered" for Sunday...???? Hmmmmm.... :bliss: If not...that's okay too. :applaud:

I will look into Yingfa for my size - a 38 in speedo. Would that be a xxl or xxxl?

You'll probably find responses from females more useful, but I find my Tyr Tracer Light jammers pretty durable. I use them for 4-5 meets before I replace them, and they would probably last longer. I don't take care of them as well as I should. I've used my Tracer Light jammer at a ton of meets and it hasn't gotten stretched or worn out at all. I ripped a little hole in a seam during the first meet, but the stitching is good and the hole hasn't gotten bigger.

Tom, I don't know about the new Area suits but a friend has an older one and he really liked it. He wore it for several meets before it became stretched a bit.

All of these posts seem to be talking about one or two suits. Yeah, the LZR or tracer are really good, but what about others? The one I really want to know about is the yingfa sharkskin. Do they last for a few meets? Are they worth the $30? I don't have the budget for a suit much more expensive, but if it'll be useless after one swim, it's not worth the difference in price when I race perfectly well in a tight practice suit.

This is such a qualitative discussion - how long a suit "lasts" depends on what you think that means - until it rips, starts to ripple from material stretch, see-throughness, etc..... The main issue I see with attempting to give you ONE answer to your question is that there is VARIANCE among suits, even same brand same model. It is the luck of the draw if you blow out the seam on the first wearing, or if it lasts you as much as you have worn yours and beyond. I currently have 5 kneeskins, Speedo FS Pro (1), Speedo LZR Elite (3), and 1 BS (latest model). They have ranged from 3 meets & a tear to a full season and going strong (albeit somewhat stretched out), and one with tags just ready to be worn!!! My recommendation is to get multiple suits and rotate them. You don't wear the same pair of shoes everyday, right? So rotate at least 2 suits at a time. I personally wear the "lastest" suits at every sanctioned meet. I see no reason to signal that I am not ready or waiting to wear a "faster" suit. You wait for the laundry spin cycle and checks to clear, but not for opportunities to swim fast at any meet! If you wait until you're ready, you'll never be ready. And i'd like to head Dophin 2 off right now. I am a bit tired of hearing ad nauseum (sp) his well-known dislike of tech suits and the $$$ involved. The $$$ is unambiguous, you just have to budget your $$, and suits are something I think are worthwhile TO ME to spend lots of $$$ on.

All of these posts seem to be talking about one or two suits. Yeah, the LZR or tracer are really good, but what about others? The one I really want to know about is the yingfa sharkskin. Do they last for a few meets? Are they worth the $30? I don't have the budget for a suit much more expensive, but if it'll be useless after one swim, it's not worth the difference in price when I race perfectly well in a tight practice suit. I have a a Yingfa Jammer. I have worn it at 5 meets, 8 total days going back to April last year. I don't think it has noticeably deteriorated. It is probably slightly stretched but it has held up well. I haven't worn any other tech suits so I can't compare it to anything. As it was cheaper than my training suit I have no complaints!

The main issue I see with attempting to give you ONE answer to your question is that there is VARIANCE among suits, even same brand same model. It is the luck of the draw if you blow out the seam on the first wearing, or if it lasts you as much as you have worn yours and beyond This is interesting because I've never blown out a seam on a racing suit. Seam blowouts are always death knell for my training suits, but not the ones I race in. I guess I retire them before they get to that point. Also I suppose women's suits have a little bit more seam to blow out than men's do. I'm also in the camp that only wears expensive suits at taper meets.

This is such a qualitative discussion - how long a suit "lasts" depends on what you think that means - until it rips, starts to ripple from material stretch, see-throughness, etc..... The main issue I see with attempting to give you ONE answer to your question is that there is VARIANCE among suits, even same brand same model. It is the luck of the draw if you blow out the seam on the first wearing, or if it lasts you as much as you have worn yours and beyond. I currently have 5 kneeskins, Speedo FS Pro (1), Speedo LZR Elite (3), and 1 BS (latest model). They have ranged from 3 meets & a tear to a full season and going strong (albeit somewhat stretched out), and one with tags just ready to be worn!!! My recommendation is to get multiple suits and rotate them. You don't wear the same pair of shoes everyday, right? So rotate at least 2 suits at a time. I personally wear the "lastest" suits at every sanctioned meet. I see no reason to signal that I am not ready or waiting to wear a "faster" suit. You wait for the laundry spin cycle and checks to clear, but not for opportunities to swim fast at any meet! If you wait until you're ready, you'll never be ready. And i'd like to head Dophin 2 off right now. I am a bit tired of hearing ad nauseum (sp) his well-known dislike of tech suits and the $$$ involved. The $$$ is unambiguous, you just have to budget your $$, and suits are something I think are worthwhile TO ME to spend lots of $$$ on. I've had pretty much the same experience and definitely use the same approach -- I only wear "tech" suits at meets and rotate them. Karlene, I don't think I'd expect these suits to last much more than 6 meets. As Chowmi points out, they may not be falling apart, but they will get very stretched out, especially if you're in them all day. I've got a LZR Elite (my preferred suit) that's lasted many meets, but I've also had a rip or tear on nails/pull buoy, etc. on day 1. Interestingly, and unlike the real tech suits, I've never had a total blowout in the kneeskins.

I personally wear the "lastest" suits at every sanctioned meet. I see no reason to signal that I am not ready or waiting to wear a "faster" suit. You wait for the laundry spin cycle and checks to clear, but not for opportunities to swim fast at any meet! If you wait until you're ready, you'll never be ready. I agree. I wear a tech suit at all meets. Why just wait for the "right" meet. It might pass you by while you are waiting. Of course, my tech suit is a TYR Aquapel that I've been wearing since Nationals lat May. It's stretched out but since I'm still getting PB's in it, why bother hanging it up now?!