Good successor of the Advance Robe with room for improvement
"Coming from the original Advance Robe, I was excited to try the Nexus. It improves significantly in weather resistance and adds some useful features, but a few design changes (particularly the zipper and inner pocket) feel like regressions. Combined with some quality-control issues, I think the product is great but the premium price is still difficult to justify. I’ll mainly compare the Nexus to its Advance Robe predecessor. Overall, I’m quite happy with the new Nexus Robe and was eager to order and try it out as a surfer. The Nexus builds upon the popular Advance Robe and introduces several improvements, turning it into a more technical and urban-oriented changing robe with better weather resistance and some useful new features. In my opinion, the Advance Robe had started to feel somewhat outdated and had fallen behind some of the more modern alternatives on the market. The Nexus successfully catches up in several areas with its more technical features. However, it unfortunately also takes a step backwards in a few areas, and there are still several things I would like to see improved. I. What I like about Dryrobe robes: One thing I generally like about Dryrobe robes is their generous size and length compared to many competing products. The additional coverage is particularly useful at the beach when changing clothes and provides better protection against cold and stormy weather. Something I initially disliked, but have come to appreciate much more, is the choice of the relatively coarse fleece for the inner lining instead of the softer teddy/sherpa fleece commonly used by other brands. The coarser fleece isn't quite as comfortable against bare skin, but it is significantly better when putting the robe on over a wet neoprene suit after a session. It slides over the wetsuit much more easily and doesn't tend to grab onto the wet neoprene as much. II. Design & Price: The new Nexus design is great und looks more technical and advanced. . . than the Advance Robe! Both colors Black and Sand Camo look really nice and will fulfill your needs of either stealthy or eyecatching style. The product itself is really good, but I think the price is still difficult to justify. The Nexus is significantly more expensive than many competing changing robes, and considering some of the shortcomings and quality-control issues, I don't feel that the price is fully reflected in the overall product quality. III. Positive changes: - More technical outer material: Better waterproofing and breathability than the Advance Robe (30K vs. 25K waterproof-rating and 10K vs. 8K breathability rating). - Adjustable fleece hood: A welcome improvement and more practical. - Reach-through pockets: A neat and genuinely useful feature, especially when wearing the robe over other clothing. - Improved external chest pocket: Better made and more usable than the rather cheap-feeling internal chest pocket on the Advance Robe. IV. Negative changes / things that could be improved: 1. The new YKK water-repellent Aquaguard zipper sounds like an upgrade on paper, but in actual use I find it noticeably worse than the zippers on the Advance Robe. - It feels way less smooth, less robust and frequently gets caught on the inner flap. Especially when reaching down to start closing the zipper its difficult to smoothly attach the zipper parts and close it without getting stuck. - The lower section of the zipper is quite fiddly and frequently gets stuck when trying to open the robe from the bottom while leaving the upper part closed. - The double-sided/reversible zipper pull from the Advance Robe is gone. This was actually a very useful feature, similar to what you find on sleeping bags for a good reason. With the Nexus, you can no longer open the zipper from the inside while changing with your arms inside the robe. For me, this is one of the biggest regressions compared to the Advance Robe. 2. Handwarmer pockets - The handwarmer pockets on my robe are somewhat restrictive due to the poorly positioned inner bands attaching them to the fleece lining. These bands can press against your hands and are slightly uncomfortable. The concept of the pockets is great, but their construction could be improved. 3. Smaller inner pocket - The inner pouch on the right side appears to be smaller than on the Advance Robe. It is also now made from a plastic-like mesh rather than the much nicer fleece material used previously. I don't see a clear advantage to this change. The older design felt more premium and was also quite water-resistant. Now your towel or underwear gets wet instantly. V. Additional improvements I would like to see: 1. More storage options: There is still plenty of unused space inside the robe that could be used for additional storage. - An additional inner pouch on the left side would be very useful for carrying more personal items or changing clothes. - Upper hand/storage pockets would also be a great addition. Something similar to the pocket placement on the Mystic DTS Poncho would work well. This position is not only useful for storage but also very comfortable for resting your hands. - Consider integrating a Fidlock pocket 2. Improve the inner mesh pocket - The current inner mesh pocket should be larger and ideally return to a fleece material rather than the plastic-like mesh. - Improved hood design: The hood would benefit from an integrated rain cap/visor extending slightly beyond the face. This would help prevent rain from running directly onto your face. A similar solution can be found on the Red Paddle Co Evo Pro, and I think this would be a great addition to the Nexus. 3. XXL size As a 2 meter tall person I missed the XXL option on the Nexus, which is offered on the Advance Robe. For taller/larger users, this would provide a much better fit and preserve one of the things that makes Dryrobe robes so useful: their generous coverage. 4. Build quality and quality control Unfortunately, my robe also had several workmanship issues, and I noticed what appears to be inconsistent quality control. For example, on the Sand Camo version: - garment panels were not always neatly stitched together at the same height - pocket zippers were positioned at different heights - some patch stitching was visibly off, several seams looked messy. - some marks of damaged fabric Of course none of these issues individually prevents the robe from functioning, but on a premium-priced product they make the overall build quality feel somewhat sloppy. VI. Overall: Despite the issues mentioned above, I’m overall happy with my Nexus Robe. It brings several welcome improvements over the Advance Robe, particularly the more technical outer material, improved weather resistance, adjustable hood and reach-through pockets. At the same time, I think Dryrobe has missed an opportunity to make the Nexus an even better successor to the Advance Robe. Some design decisions, particularly the zipper and inner pocket, feel like regressions, while the workmanship and quality-control issues are disappointing at this premium price point. I also contacted Dryrobe regarding the workmanship issues, and their customer support experience was good. They responded to my concerns and offered compensation, which I appreciate. With some improvements to the zipper, storage options, hood design, quality control and pricing, I think the Nexus could become an even better product. Overall, a good and capable changing robe, but with some unnecessary compromises and room for improvement — especially considering the premium price."
