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Anyone buy/wear briefs from Arena? I'm awaiting a shipment of a Polycarbonite II brief and a Mimetic brief. Both are polyester and spandex (as opposed to nylon/lycra), so I'm curious how soft and/or stretchy the fabric is.

I'm also curious if they run true to size or not...

Hi 52dno98I have a pair of Arena swim briefs. They are really comfy and run true to size. Let me know what you think of them? I am considering getting another. First tho Adidas Parley swim brief.

I ordered an Arena Carbonite II in red and black along with some Sporti Euro Briefs. All in size 32. I'd say they run true to size. They fit fine but I decided to return the Arena because it was four times the price of the Sporti Euros and I liked the Sportis better. There was nothing wrong with the Arena but they have wider sides than what I prefer to wear.

I have several pairs of Arenas but they are Nylon/lycra not polyester.

They are all true to size and fit really well. Love the feel of the nylon too.

BJE wrote:I ordered an Arena Carbonite II in red and black along with some Sporti Euro Briefs. All in size 32. I'd say they run true to size. They fit fine but I decided to return the Arena because it was four times the price of the Sporti Euros and I liked the Sportis better. There was nothing wrong with the Arena but they have wider sides than what I prefer to wear.

I received my suits yesterday and swam laps in the Mimetic brief this morning. The Carbonite II is 100% polyester- I think it's actually about half regular polyester and half "PBT" polyester, whatever that means. Anyway, it had very little stretch to it and while the fabric was soft enough, it isn't very smooth to the touch. The Mimetic, on the other hand... wow. What a brief. 80/20 polyester/elastene so it was stretchy and super smooth. I'm returning the Carbonite for sure and ordering another Mimetic in a different color.

52dno98 wrote:Anyone buy/wear briefs from Arena? I'm awaiting a shipment of a Polycarbonite II brief and a Mimetic brief. Both are polyester and spandex (as opposed to nylon/lycra), so I'm curious how soft and/or stretchy the fabric is.

I'm also curious if they run true to size or not...

I've bought Arenas in the past, and they ran true to size. I wear a 30 and wear them tight, and they fit well.

Man I love this suit!!!

Looks great on you!

I bought a pair of Arena, I could only get a size smaller than I usually wear but I still like them. Here are the pics I posted earlier

I received my suits yesterday and swam laps in the Mimetic brief this morning. The Carbonite II is 100% polyester- I think it's actually about half regular polyester and half "PBT" polyester, whatever that means. Anyway, it had very little stretch to it and while the fabric was soft enough, it isn't very smooth to the touch. The Mimetic, on the other hand... wow. What a brief. 80/20 polyester/elastene so it was stretchy and super smooth. I'm returning the Carbonite for sure and ordering another Mimetic in a different color.[/quote]

You are correct. PBT is a type of polyester that is woven into suits and have no stretch so you normally size up because of it. These types of suits will last you 3-4x longer or more from a chlorine perspective. They are used as training suits because they really do hold up from the chemicals in pool. The downside is that they are a little rough and have no stretch and a lot of people don't like them if you are a casual swimmer. If you go to a specialty swim store, these suits are normally more expensive than your typical lycra spandex suits.

I have house of swimmers and for the most part, we all have at least one polyester suit for this reason. It gets old quickly when you have to buy new suits every other month. Personally, I have given up on Speedo brand suits because they didn't last me more than a month or two of use where I swim in the winter time. I swim too often and the chemicals are too harsh. I am pretty much hooked on Turbos. I also have non-workout suits (Fashion suits) that I keep for beach and outside pools. Those brands are completely different and for what I paid, I would not go into a gym or hotel (indoor) pool wearing them. They would get destroyed.

Got another Arena suit- this one is a "Network" print brief. Love it, too.

Looks neat!

Those trunks look fantastic. Really suit you.

Very nice!

52dno98 wrote:Man I love this suit!!!

Looks really good on you. I had an Arena for a few years, liked it, and wore it out. Thanks for the memory jog on this brand!

52dno98 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 05, 2017 1:12 pm

Anyone buy/wear briefs from Arena? I'm awaiting a shipment of a Polycarbonite II brief and a Mimetic brief. Both are polyester and spandex (as opposed to nylon/lycra), so I'm curious how soft and/or stretchy the fabric is.

I'm also curious if they run true to size or not...

Have a range of Arena Trunks now,and recently added a section on them. (in the speedo talk section.)