My body dimensions should have placed me perfectly within the sizing limits in both height and weight for a mens-small, but, I found the suit to be way too tight. Size up with this suit unless you have narrower arms and upper body. I purchased an Xterra Vector Pro X2 as a replacement and the difference in arm/shoulder mobility is unbelievable.

In purchasing my first ever wetsuit, I tried on both the Energie and Reaction by Blue Seventy and the Profile Design (by Aquaman) Bionik 2. I found the Energie to have a better fit than both. In the same size, the Reaction seemed to pool more water around the midsection and the Bionik 2 seemed a little too loose and they did not have the next size down to try. Moreover, my arms felt less tired after trying out the Energie than the Reaction.

I had my first open water swim this afternoon and the suit performed well. I stayed quite warm and those of us swimming estimated the water to be mid 60's at best. After roughly 2,400 m, I had no chaffing issues (something I'm sure is in no small part due to body glide). My arms did tire, but I'm sure of this is due in part to my inexperience swimming in a wetsuit. All in all, for the price I'd recommend it. I'm sure some higher priced wetsuits give a little more flexibility in the shoulders, but as a mid-pack age grouper, I couldn't justify the additional cost (another $100 to $150).

As I get some addtional swim time and a few races in, I'll post additonal details (especially if anything changes), but in researching what wetsuit to buy, I know there were very few actual reviews and I wanted to at least try and help the other folks out there.