Welcome to Gear Talk with our friends Annie and Brooke from Swimrun Labs.

In this episode, we have another wetsuit review. This week we do a deep dive on the brand new Ark Sports ORNÖ X Swimrun Wetsuit. This suit was just released a few weeks back and we were lucky enough to get 4 suits sent to us to test by our friends at Ark Sports.

Our complete review is coming later in the show.

Gear Updates

Brooke finally realized that she is small and not a medium as she previously thought after using Trista’s Ark Sports KORP suit. That small fit much better and resolved her issues of water entering the suit.

Chipper just picked up 3 pairs of the Magic5 swim goggles. These are allegedly custom-made and are sized to fit your face by using a facial recognition-type app to get the sizing right. Chipper also is trying out the Hoka One One Torrent 2 as his new Swimrun shoe. More updates on how that goes in the coming weeks.

Annie also got a set of the Torrent 2’s and will report back as well.

Chris recently updated his “team” race kit by replacing his trustworthy compression bandage with a new slimmer H&H Mini Compression bandage. It’s a lot slimmer than the old one and capable of being worn in a kangaroo top due to its design.

Untethered Thoughts

This week’s untethered thought comes courtesy of Greg Dierksen of the Boston Wet Sox. He DM’d us with the observation that there is very little information about “the tether” out there and recommended that we do a Gear Talk show on the tether. Great observation and suggestion and we will be releasing that show soon! 

Thanks Greg!

ARK SPORTS ORNÖ X Wetsuit Review

Check out our first impressions video here to get our first look at the ORNÖ X wetsuit.

Here’s how ARK describes the ORNÖ X:

ARK Sports ORNÖ X is an evolution of our flagship model ORNÖ which has been tested and trusted by the Worlds best swimrun athletes since its launch in 2017. A pioneering suit positioned as the most thermal and buoyant suit in the ARK Sports line without compromising of keeping the lowest weight. What came to be the world's fastest swimrun suit, has now been developed, optimized, and revolutionized for the start of the 2021 swimrun season.

The suit retails for $710 and features premium Yamamoto Limestone neoprene, running+ bottom, thermal+ foam waist belt, and comes with arm sleeves. A men’s medium weighs just 510grams and a women’s medium weighs 500grams.

Out of the box, this suit looks and feels premium. But how does it perform?

Swimming Impressions

Chris and Chipper tested the ORNÖ X during two long Swimrun practices where the water temps were around 55 degrees. The suits worked amazingly. The suits felt properly warm and the thermal+ belt really helped to keep the core warm. The shoulder mobility was excellent. The anti-leak neckline worked as advertised. The running+ bottom felt like it was providing some warmth which might be due to the neoprene material lining of the running+.

Annie tested the suit with both a pull buoy and without. She felt that the ORNÖ X provided some buoyancy even without a pull buoy. She was surprised by how great the shoulder material felt during the swim. The shoulder material also feels more flexible and stretchy compared to the ORNÖ 02 which might mean that it will have better durability (read: fewer armpit holes requiring repair).

Brooke got her mind blown by the suit. She felt like she was swimming in a second skin and a perfect suit for the Pacific Northwest. She thought that just how it performs in the swim makes it well worth the money. 

Transition Impressions

Basically a non-issue. Everyone thought that the suit performed great coming in and out of the water. The zipper size felt sturdy. Cabbing down and up was a little challenging, partly because of fear of tearing the suit.

Everyone loved the new design of the rear pocket on the suit. It was really well thought out and worked as advertised. Similar feedback for the zipper size of the suit.

The .5mm arm cuffs were another innovation in the suit that everyone thought was great. They help the suit stay in place and keep the arm sleeves well-positioned to create a good seal to keep water out.

Running Impressions

Everyone thought that running in the ORNÖ X Suit was great. The running+ material that ARK uses allows for complete running freedom and no one had any major complaints about the run performance of the suit. 

Chris runs hot and felt like he had to cab down/lower the zipper on most runs. Chris also experienced a tiny amount of chafing with one of the seams on the inside by the leg opening but it was barely noticeable and nothing a little bit of body glide wouldn’t fix.

Brooke continued to get her mind blown running in the suit.

Pull Buoy Rankings Rankings

Brooke 5 Pull Buoys

She was smitten by the ORNÖ X Suit. A joy to run in, a joy to swim in, and she can’t wait to race in it.

Chris 5 Pull Buoys

He thought that this suit is the pinnacle of technology for the sport and ARK Sports once again raised their own high bar. Next to the VIGG, it was the best wetsuit that he’s ever worn.

Annie 5 Pull Buoys

She thought that this was the best suit that money can buy and worth every penny.

Chipper 5 Pull Buoys

Chipper wants to use this suit all the time. It was a joy for him to train in and he is looking forward to the next time that he can wear it...whether to a Swimrun or not.

Overall Impressions

This is definitely a milestone for us. The ORNÖ X is the first item to be reviewed that received 5 Pull Buoy ratings across the board. While it’s an expensive suit, it has all the latest innovations in terms of design and materials that raises the bar on what’s possible in a Swimrun wetsuit. Major kudos to the DaVinci of Swimrun, Daniel Sand, for once again raising the bar of what is possible in wetsuit tech! 

That’s it for this week’s Gear Talk show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, please be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, and/or meme ideas. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.