In my experience O'Neills customer service is very good - I had a spring suit that tore after 3 months use and they replaced it. They also repaired a 1 year old Fusion suit for me.

they are good but a bit slow, i had my psycho 2 replaced after 4 months when the knees gave way, the shop gave me a credit note for the cost of the original suit.
its a pity about their knees cause other than that they are the nicest fitting suit i had worn.

Are the Xcel's as flexible around the shoulders as the O'Neill Psycho II's?

I think they are, even though the neoprene feels thicker.

unless you bought it in the green room in lahinch. i bought a pair of boots in there - those circle one 2mm split toe socks with the kevlar soles. 9 surfs later (2 1/2 weeks) i had worn through the sole, and holed the rubber. back they went to be met with "normal wear and tear - no refund, no replacement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". was sold a second pair at discount. holed them after 11 surfs. "normal wear and tear." not impressed. stuart knows they fall apart - and has reordered 5mm boots for the winter.

The black weld on the inside of my fireskin(no.2) has started to crack, is it ok to patch it with the black witch stuff, felt on the last surf like it was starting to flush a little.

do that and you will invalidate your warranty.

No hassles when I returned the suit, a replacement will be available for me next week (size wasn't in stock). I didn't suggest a refund because having thought about what way to go over the last few days I felt I really liked the suit and am willing to give it a second run, plus the lack of a nearby Xcel stockist is a big negative for me.

In fairness, the guys in the Great Outdoors are probably the most genuine & helpfull of any I've come across around the country, so I'd have been surprised if they had resisted replacing it in lieu of a repair job first.

Robbie is a good guy.

It just annoys me that O'Neill don't just sort the knees out, you would think with the huge advances that they have made with wetsuit technology that they would be able to solve this relatively simple problem. I think the more O'Neill owners who take their suits back owing to dodgy suit knees the better

I've no experience with leaks in a wetsuit so am trying to figure out if what's happening with my new winter wetsuit is normal or not....have used it about 4 times now and as soon as I enter the water it feels like cold water is rushing into one of the lower legs while the other doesn't even feel the cold. Is this a sign of a leak? I can't see anything in the stitching but haven't really looked too closely. It's a Neil Pryde..

What I did to confirm the leak was use a trick another forumer on LBI had suggested a week or two ago, which was to tightly grab & twist one end of the leg then blow into it until it is inflated, seal off that end by then twisting it then push the two ends together to see where the leak is. I knew my leak was in the knee but it was usefull to do that to see just how bad it was.

Robbie explained to me that the Mutant has thick neoprene knee pads which are more durable but less flexible, as against the others which are thinner rubber.

If the Mutant is the latest suit from O'Neill, I wonder is this the way they're going with the knees in their suits? Hopefully they'll take a leaf out of Xcels book and keep the knees as a seperate replaceable patch.

I know someone who has already nearly knocked the knees out of his mutant. I havent looked closely at the knees of the mutant yet myself. What I found strange with the O'Neills was the way the knees would disintergrate from the inside out, as though the neoprene inside the suit was too soft around the knee area.

I think with the market gain that Xcel have made that O'Neill will be having a close look.

I still don't know how durable the Xcel is yet, but will keep the forum informed.

I had a look at the mutant in Lahinch recently and thought that it "felt" cheaper/less quality than the Psycho. I really liked the look of the modular hood system though. If they can put that hood on a pyscho and fix the knees they'll have a winner.

And make the liquid seams more durable, and sell it for half the price.

I would buy it then!.

I had heard that the psycho 2 had gone up in price this year?, whats it retailing for now?.