New textile time...but what?
Discussion
I thought that I'd ask for some opinions about some of the gear that I'm looking at as I (like many others here) am finally having to face up to the fact that my old Hein Gericke gear is dying. They are an old faithful friend but while they've kept me dry, they also soak up the water in the outer layer and that means I have often had to set out that afternoon and sometimes the next day in cold, wet gear.
I've seen enough people swearing by the Goretex Pro Shell stuff - the water never penetrates the material and simply runs off. No more soggy textiles! So that's the only mandatory part of my search.
But trying to find anyone that knows what the hell they're talking about is a nightmare and the websites are generally poor at identifying if it's a Goretex pro shell laminate or not.
So for anyone else going through this pain, this is the gear that I'm looking at. If anyone has personal experience of any of this stuff I'd be really interested to hear your experiences.
Budget is about £1k for a full jacket and trouser combo which I thought would be plenty, and it is unless you get into either the stupidly over the top new adventure stuff or Rukka. Borrowing from sjtscott in the commuting thread I refuse to pay the Rukka tax so what else is out there?
Dainese D-Cyclone Jacket
This seemed to tick all the boxes but there are no trousers to go with it. Apparently there's new stuff coming in September but as Italy will be on holiday soon there are no guaranteed delivery times. A shame as I like the styling of the Black/white one that Sportsbikeshop have a deal on at the moment.
Dane Torben
Look nice, well made, expensive. But I tried one on a while ago and the fit wasn't great. Plus the arm adjustment is done using poppers which mens you have two positions that don't fit. Not helpful.
Held Cadora
Pretty plain looking jacket but looks the most similar to my old HG stuff. Apparently the sizing is pretty small but this is definitely in the mix.
Revit Poseidon
I don't know if I'm being a brand snob but I completely ignored the Revit stuff as I thought it was badly made, down market gear. Apparently not. Probably the best looking jacket, some nice technical features and it's towards the top of my list at the moment.
Alpinestars Managua
Another decent looking jacket. More expensive (paying for the brand?)
I've pretty much lost the will to shop any further so will come back to look at these in a bit more detail. If anyone has bought/used/discounted any of these I'd love to hear your reasoning/experience as the people that I've spoken to in the shops have been less than helpful. In some cases that's because they only stock one specific brand and have no experience of the others. In most it's because they don't stock any of it and just have it on the website.
For ref I've mainly been looking at places like GetGeared and Sportsbikeshop but if you've got any other recommendations about where to get this stuff then I'm all ears,
I've seen enough people swearing by the Goretex Pro Shell stuff - the water never penetrates the material and simply runs off. No more soggy textiles! So that's the only mandatory part of my search.
But trying to find anyone that knows what the hell they're talking about is a nightmare and the websites are generally poor at identifying if it's a Goretex pro shell laminate or not.
So for anyone else going through this pain, this is the gear that I'm looking at. If anyone has personal experience of any of this stuff I'd be really interested to hear your experiences.
Budget is about £1k for a full jacket and trouser combo which I thought would be plenty, and it is unless you get into either the stupidly over the top new adventure stuff or Rukka. Borrowing from sjtscott in the commuting thread I refuse to pay the Rukka tax so what else is out there?
Dainese D-Cyclone Jacket
This seemed to tick all the boxes but there are no trousers to go with it. Apparently there's new stuff coming in September but as Italy will be on holiday soon there are no guaranteed delivery times. A shame as I like the styling of the Black/white one that Sportsbikeshop have a deal on at the moment.
Dane Torben
Look nice, well made, expensive. But I tried one on a while ago and the fit wasn't great. Plus the arm adjustment is done using poppers which mens you have two positions that don't fit. Not helpful.
Held Cadora
Pretty plain looking jacket but looks the most similar to my old HG stuff. Apparently the sizing is pretty small but this is definitely in the mix.
Revit Poseidon
I don't know if I'm being a brand snob but I completely ignored the Revit stuff as I thought it was badly made, down market gear. Apparently not. Probably the best looking jacket, some nice technical features and it's towards the top of my list at the moment.
Alpinestars Managua
Another decent looking jacket. More expensive (paying for the brand?)
I've pretty much lost the will to shop any further so will come back to look at these in a bit more detail. If anyone has bought/used/discounted any of these I'd love to hear your reasoning/experience as the people that I've spoken to in the shops have been less than helpful. In some cases that's because they only stock one specific brand and have no experience of the others. In most it's because they don't stock any of it and just have it on the website.
For ref I've mainly been looking at places like GetGeared and Sportsbikeshop but if you've got any other recommendations about where to get this stuff then I'm all ears,
kurt535 said:
just to add my euro's worth,
myself and fellow instructors went down two bad weather routes:
1. full leathers as usual but with top and bottom gore tex suit under the seat, bought from an outdoor wear shop.
2. leather bottoms and cordura goretex jacket. again with a pair of goretex trousers purchased from said outdoor shop under the seat
one major issue with goretex is it does clog and eventually fail. washing it helps but it does degrade.
having separate components means as one piece of gore fails, you can buy a new piece far cheaper than a new m/c gore jacket.
leather is also to superior textile in the event of an off; it doesn't 'grip' the road.
If my riding was only for pleasure then I'd buy leathers and an oversuit as I think that they are more protective. But as most of rising is commuting and I am wearing 'normal' office clothes underneath textiles are far more flexible.myself and fellow instructors went down two bad weather routes:
1. full leathers as usual but with top and bottom gore tex suit under the seat, bought from an outdoor wear shop.
2. leather bottoms and cordura goretex jacket. again with a pair of goretex trousers purchased from said outdoor shop under the seat
one major issue with goretex is it does clog and eventually fail. washing it helps but it does degrade.
having separate components means as one piece of gore fails, you can buy a new piece far cheaper than a new m/c gore jacket.
leather is also to superior textile in the event of an off; it doesn't 'grip' the road.
I managed to get to Getgeared in Leatherhead yesterday and tried on three of the jackets.
Revit Poseidon - really solidly built, nice fit and the trousers were the best fit for me so far. Good to see that the arm adjustment isn't poppers and the armour felt decent. All in all I'm much more positive about it now than I was.
Dane Torben - I've pretty much discounted this now. It looks decent enough quality and ticks all the right boxes but the cut feels very basic. They've made a well featured jacket but it just doesn't fit me very well.
Alpinestars Managua - Mixed impressions here. It fits best of the three that I've tried so far. My worry is the waterproofing of the vents. They open up on the chest but you're relying on "waterproof" zips to hold it all together. I think that could be quite a big mistake as the zips like that that I've used in the past have been pretty patchy. Also there's no standard back protector so there's even more expense...
I'm going to try and get a look at the Dainese and Rukka today and see if those are any different / better. As we have family arriving that may not happen for a couple of weeks though.
Revit Poseidon - really solidly built, nice fit and the trousers were the best fit for me so far. Good to see that the arm adjustment isn't poppers and the armour felt decent. All in all I'm much more positive about it now than I was.
Dane Torben - I've pretty much discounted this now. It looks decent enough quality and ticks all the right boxes but the cut feels very basic. They've made a well featured jacket but it just doesn't fit me very well.
Alpinestars Managua - Mixed impressions here. It fits best of the three that I've tried so far. My worry is the waterproofing of the vents. They open up on the chest but you're relying on "waterproof" zips to hold it all together. I think that could be quite a big mistake as the zips like that that I've used in the past have been pretty patchy. Also there's no standard back protector so there's even more expense...
I'm going to try and get a look at the Dainese and Rukka today and see if those are any different / better. As we have family arriving that may not happen for a couple of weeks though.
I managed to get to see the remaining gear that I wanted to yesterday.
Rukka:
I got the full sales pitch from Infinity which was actually a bit more off-putting than not.
The Rukka gear does feel pretty good - typically much lighter than the equivalent jacket. The styling is typically very plain and while there are some nice touches there are an equal number of irritating design areas. They are another manufacturer that use poppers to resize sleeves which bunches the material in an uncomfortable way. The pockets were awkward to get into in places too. The "cheap" jacket at £700 doesn't come with a back protector (£60-70) and the trousers then take it up to £1250. Due to the premium price, it needed to be perfect to be in the frame and it wasn't. I'd need to go to the £1000 jacket to get the functions that I wanted in a style that I liked and I refuse to pay that much for a jacket.
So while I'm sure they are good bits of kit I don't see the value other than the five year warranty. But my understanding is that goretex provide a 5 year warranty anyway so I'm a bit stuck as to what it is I'm paying for, particularly as they're all made in the same factories.
Klim:
Another well put together jacket and trouser set. It's obviously designed with hotter climates in mind as the vents are all over the place. They again rely on 'waterproof' zips for their vents which I'm very wary of. They also don't come with any kind of thermal liner. I tried on the jacket that Vara2NC kindly suggested (the Blade) but I couldn't get over how insubstantial it feels. It really is a waterproof shell with some armoured areas. Good value though at £300. The Badlands is a bit more substantial but is in Rukka price territory and still doesn't have a thermal liner. Maybe if I was doing a lot of miles in hot places. But that's maybe 10 days of the year here.
Dainese
The d-cyclone was a very nice jacket. Fitted well, looks nice, plenty of features etc. A few niggles (the duvet style removable inner collar which would get soaked didn't make much sense to me) but the biggest issue is the lack of matching trousers. Apparently they have been promised for some time but haven't appeared. So while I like the jacket a lot there aren't any matching trousers or any kind of Pro Shell stuff from Dainese (according to the sales guy). It also uses a double zip combination on the front (one inner and one outer) which I think would irritate me.
I'm not averse to mixing and matching but the zip together part of it needs to work.
Conclusion
So after a few hours online and and couple of hours in the shops I think that I'm down to one - the Revit Poseidon. Hopefully this blurb will be of use to some others. It's all very subjective of course due to my very specific set of criteria and preferences which won't fit everyone.
I just need to pay for it now...
Rukka:
I got the full sales pitch from Infinity which was actually a bit more off-putting than not.
The Rukka gear does feel pretty good - typically much lighter than the equivalent jacket. The styling is typically very plain and while there are some nice touches there are an equal number of irritating design areas. They are another manufacturer that use poppers to resize sleeves which bunches the material in an uncomfortable way. The pockets were awkward to get into in places too. The "cheap" jacket at £700 doesn't come with a back protector (£60-70) and the trousers then take it up to £1250. Due to the premium price, it needed to be perfect to be in the frame and it wasn't. I'd need to go to the £1000 jacket to get the functions that I wanted in a style that I liked and I refuse to pay that much for a jacket.
So while I'm sure they are good bits of kit I don't see the value other than the five year warranty. But my understanding is that goretex provide a 5 year warranty anyway so I'm a bit stuck as to what it is I'm paying for, particularly as they're all made in the same factories.
Klim:
Another well put together jacket and trouser set. It's obviously designed with hotter climates in mind as the vents are all over the place. They again rely on 'waterproof' zips for their vents which I'm very wary of. They also don't come with any kind of thermal liner. I tried on the jacket that Vara2NC kindly suggested (the Blade) but I couldn't get over how insubstantial it feels. It really is a waterproof shell with some armoured areas. Good value though at £300. The Badlands is a bit more substantial but is in Rukka price territory and still doesn't have a thermal liner. Maybe if I was doing a lot of miles in hot places. But that's maybe 10 days of the year here.
Dainese
The d-cyclone was a very nice jacket. Fitted well, looks nice, plenty of features etc. A few niggles (the duvet style removable inner collar which would get soaked didn't make much sense to me) but the biggest issue is the lack of matching trousers. Apparently they have been promised for some time but haven't appeared. So while I like the jacket a lot there aren't any matching trousers or any kind of Pro Shell stuff from Dainese (according to the sales guy). It also uses a double zip combination on the front (one inner and one outer) which I think would irritate me.
I'm not averse to mixing and matching but the zip together part of it needs to work.
Conclusion
So after a few hours online and and couple of hours in the shops I think that I'm down to one - the Revit Poseidon. Hopefully this blurb will be of use to some others. It's all very subjective of course due to my very specific set of criteria and preferences which won't fit everyone.
I just need to pay for it now...
A quick update.
I waited until the foul weather started to kick in and have now bought the Poseidon. Typically it arrived just in time for me to be not using the bike for ten days!
Two things to be aware of:
- It doesn't come with a back protector as standard. I bought the CE level 2 approved one from Revit.
- There's no hip armour as standard which is a bit of an irritant which I hadn't spotted.
Good luck to all the others out there that were looking, hopefully you have found some good stuff to keep you warm and dry.
I waited until the foul weather started to kick in and have now bought the Poseidon. Typically it arrived just in time for me to be not using the bike for ten days!
Two things to be aware of:
- It doesn't come with a back protector as standard. I bought the CE level 2 approved one from Revit.
- There's no hip armour as standard which is a bit of an irritant which I hadn't spotted.
Good luck to all the others out there that were looking, hopefully you have found some good stuff to keep you warm and dry.
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