Kangaroo leather - worth it?

[Esceptico]

Took my leathers in for repair at the weekend but was going to be far more than I thought. Now thinking of replacing them with made to measure set. Extra £400 to have them in kangaroo - which is a lot but then if I am going to shell out for a new set then shouldn’t I go the whole hog? I’ve never owned one made from kangaroo. Shop said it would be quite a bit cooler in the summer and also feel much lighter.

Anyone on here had both and can comment? Was it worth the extra?

If it makes a difference I expect to be mostly road riding with the very occasional track day.

[308mate]

I've worn cow hide Dianese two-piece, cow-hide Spidi one-piece and my current Arlen Ness are one-piece 'roo hide. I find the Arlen Ness the most comfortable and most importantly, the lightest to wear. Cant say that's purely down to the animal in question, though.

[Krikkit]

Rawwr recently had a set made by Dainese in kangaroo and he liked them, looked the bks too:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[SAS Tom]

Kangaroo is stronger than cow hide so it doesn’t need to be as thick. That makes it lighter and more flexible. I’ve had both and couldn’t really tell a missive difference between the two.

[black-k1]

My previous BKS leathers were cow hide and my current set are kangaroo. It is noticeable how much lighter the ‘roo leathers are. Also, the ‘roo leathers took a lot less time to “break in”.

One additional bonus. Apparently, ‘roo skin is stronger because it comes from a part of the kangaroo that has no pores. (The tail I think, but please correct if you know better). That means ‘roo leather is also a lot more water resistant than cow hide so if you’re caught out in the rain it takes a lot longer for the water to get through to the layers below and the leather doesn’t become so saturated.

If I was buying another set of leathers I’d pay the extra and have kangaroo hide.

[moto_traxport]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I too have a set of those. I think they are cow on the back of the glove and roo on the palm. As you say your palms feel naked but unparalled ‘feel’ from the bars - almost too much over a 3 day 500 mile Euro track weekend.

I’ve crashed 4 times in them (30-80mph) back in club racing days and they functioned okay and are still my back up pair.

[Thats What She Said]

I used to wear them. They were ok, but made me feel a bit jumpy.

I'll get my coat

[MDUBZ]

because roo is thinner it's not so great this time of year, it's much better in the spring..

ok... i'll get mine too

[Dakkon]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Having crash tested some Held summer gloves with Kangaroo palm, they crash well if that is endorsement enough? I tried to put my hand through a van door at about 30-35mph, not my finest hour.

[SAS Tom]

Also forgot to mention. Don’t always assume made to measure will fit better. It’s only going to be as good as the person measuring. Not to say there aren’t good places to get it done but all companies have made badly fitting suits before. You don’t want to find that out when it’s too late.

[UnluckyTimmeh]

The other thing to consider is because kangaroo is thinner leather (normally 1.0-1.2mm) than cow (1.5mm), there is a good chance in a long slide that you burn from the abrasion heat through kangaroo leather easier than you would cow hide.
This is why 4SR (and I believe held) leathers don’t use kangaroo anymore.

[Rawwr]

Pros

• Feels nicer; much smoother, supple and softer
• Slightly lighter; don't expect a massive reduction over cow because a suit is still a whole bundle of skin and armour
• Less cumbersome due to being thinner; sitting on and moving around on a bike feels somehow more natural
• Slightly more waterproof; but you'll still have plenty of point of ingress so that's kinda redundant

Cons

• Quite a bit more expensive
• Harder to maintain; significantly lower porosity than moo leather so feed/treatment takes more effort
• Nobody will believe you when you tell them you're wearing a kangaroo, like it's somehow not a thing

[tom_e]

Never had a roo suit but my gloves are full roo and are so much more comfortable and better feel than my other cow hide ones also they didn't really need a break in period they were comfortable enough for a 5 hour ride around Wales in blistering heat straight from the off.

[CoolHands]

Can we stop saying roo

[graham22]

The stuff doesn't slide - you end up bouncing down the road.

[vonhosen]

[Pothole]

Do they have a really big, baggy front pocket?

[Kawasicki]

Have kangaroo leather gloves. As far as I can tell they are indestructible. They are also super comfortable. I gulped at the cost, but bought them anyway. 15 years and a few crashes later, they are still intact.