Leathery Advice needed

[rypt]

Until now I've always had textiles, now I however want a leather jacket.
So today I made a trip all the way to Swindon to try on some jackets

Now, some things fitted me decently, some did not as you would expect ... however nothing fitted amazingly.
Now, I know that brand new leather will be a bit stiff, but nothing really felt like it could become a second skin for me, so to say, with time.

I'm after something that is good for commuting, but is still comfortable (and not out of place) to wear when you are simply walking around on the street at the end of the commute. Nothing I tried today seemed to fall into that category, I need a 46" chest jacket (one size up from my shirt size), however I then find the jacket to be a bit short at the front (and too loose around the stomach) and restrictive with the arm movement (perfectly fine for riding in though).

Now this may be due to the jacket styles that I tried, I guess I need something that fits like Vintage jackets (though the Frank Thomas stuff is not that far away form this). If you want a mental image for the sort of fit I am after, use Hugh Laurie in the image below

That thing fits him as if it is just a normal leather jacket as opposed to a thicker motorbike jacket (granted it has no armour in it, but it's not the armour that I was finding getting in the way but just the cut/fit of the jackets) - and yes I know his jacket is not CE approved, but is there any reason why a CE approved jacket cannot have that kind of it?

Any ideas? Or do I have such awkward requirements that I should just stick to textiles

 

[Fireskull]

His is tailor made

I was going to suggest Frank thomas but youve tried that, Was there any Dainese to try? they do that sort of style you are after but again they are a certain fit I find...

Really depends on your price also, as quite a few of the suit suppliers in the UK can do custom jackets etc.
Also the London bike show is on at the beginning of feb, might be worth going to try loads of stuff on

 

[rypt]

Don't think the George White outlet does Dainese

But yer, looks like a trip to the show is in order, if only to check out the bikes and try on lots of stuff


Out of interest, what is the opinion on getting a non-CE/armoured Jacket (but still with good stitching so that it won't come apart) and then wearing mesh under-jacket armour?

What other good places for gear are there not too far from me other than Getgeared and George White?

 

[MatteH Oxford]

I have some black frank thomas XTI2 leathers, got then from MPS in Berinsfield & they are the best fitting leathers that I've ever had (if you went to George White, unlikely they had any of these). A certain bike magazine rated them 20/20 for stitch strength (4 seams), slighty down rated for armour/impact protection but a decent back protector (which many leathers don't come with anyway) & some hip amour sorts that out.

I've had both Dainese & alpinestars before, these are just as good for 1/2 the price, the only thing is they were both one piece as opposed to my FTs which are two. Paid just over £400 for them.

 

[Electroshadow]

I wear the same sort of style jackets.

Triumph gear is what you want. Checkout there website

 

[rypt]

Cheers for the advice Matteh, popped into MPS to try on some stuff.
While I didn't like the XTI that much, the FT Richmond and Lichfield both felt pretty good.

Then popped into the Hein Gericke store, just to look around it as I've never been in it as yet. They don't do much in the way of leather jackets there, and none of the more relaxed fit ones.
However I started chatting to two of the guys who work there and they reckon that I should perhaps stay with textile stuff, as it will be very hard to find something that is both a good relaxed everyday fit but also the correct tight fight that you want in leather for protection.

Which got me thinking back to the 2 FT jackets I tried earlier, and how I actually had to be a size up from the ideal fit in order for them to have a more casual fit.


So perhaps I should just stick to textile ... or even go for mesh armour which would allow me to wear whatever I want on top of it?

 

[AtomicBanana]

Just FYI, the 'House Jacket' is a real motorbike Jacket : http://www.vansonleathers.com/product_pages/jackets/b_modelb.htm . Not that I've considered buying one just because of that or anything

 

[helpimcrap]

FWIW protection is always going to be bulky. if you don't want a big bulky jacket wear a tshirt.

I vote a Wolf jacket. i've crashed in Wolf 1piece leathers racing at up to 160mph (14 times in the same set!!!)

i had 1 accident on the road in a hein gericke textile jacket and broke quite a few bones.

do you want comfort or protection?

 

[rypt]

I want comfort off the bike and protection on the bike

Been looking online at some of the pure body armour stuff, as used by MX / Enduro / Dual Sport people ... which you can just wear under a jacket (with the jacket armour removed)

 

[Crixus00]

I have recently bought a jacket, a fleece inner, and two sets of gloves (winter and summer) from http://www.arc-on.co.uk/

Very pleased with the quality and the price is just excellent. Their comms are very good too if you wish to ask questions etc.

Edit: this is my jacket: http://www.arc-on.co.uk/all-products/jackets/casual-jacket.html

Has all The protection (CE), looks and feels good

 

[Bat]

FWIW protection is always going to be bulky. if you don't want a big bulky jacket wear a tshirt.

I vote a Wolf jacket. i've crashed in Wolf 1piece leathers racing at up to 160mph (14 times in the same set!!!)

i had 1 accident on the road in a hein gericke textile jacket and broke quite a few bones.

do you want comfort or protection?

Did you hit something hard in the road crash though? Sliding down the road and smacking into something solid will produce very different results!

 

[helpimcrap]

Did you hit something hard in the road crash though? Sliding down the road and smacking into something solid will produce very different results!

i did but thats my point. on a track everyone is going same way, everything like lampposts etc are removed and so technically on the road you need more protection than on a track.

 

[Hector]

Indeed, the road is far more deadly. Vehicals, curbs, potholes, posts, walls, ect.. A huge chance of a secondary impact.

rypt, take a look at forcefield as they make some very good stuff, not cheap but not the most expensive either.. Still very much worth having a leather over the top of a suit to get the best of both worlds, reduced abrasion and impact protection.

http://www.forcefieldperformance.com/

I'll be getting to look at the sixsixone evo tomorrow and within the next few days the forcefield pro action shorts and tubed knee pads. I'll let you know what I think of their stuff after I've tried it on and slung myself at a wall a few times

Correction, the shorts will be at the end of the month

 

[rypt]

The Evo pressure suit?

That's the sort sort of thing I'm thinking about, with a leather jacket with removed armour on top ... though preferably one that doesn't look as ugly as the Evo ... more inclined to the looks of this

Unfortunately all the ones with top of the range protection (with the better back protectors) seem to want to have the armour on the outside rather than under the mesh as in my link, which makes them look stupid if worn just on their own in summer ... but also makes putting items over them harder I would bet.


I need to go and look at some, but stuck with work and designing an engine for the next 2 weeks so not gonna get a chance to check anything out

 

[Hector]

There's got to be a fair reason that most put the armour on the outside, I'm thinking it's because those areas will also be the areas that rub on the jacket and that the mesh will soon wear through.. And perhaps that if the armour is not well secured underneath, there is an increased chance of it seperating away from the suit if the mesh is destroyed.


What about putting a draggin K-Shirt or a denim jacket over the top in the summer, to hide the armour? It'll let some air through, add a slight layer of abrasion protection (any is better than none), remove the ninja turtle look and give you the option of being able to select from more armour brands/models.

 

[Bat]

i did but thats my point. on a track everyone is going same way, everything like lampposts etc are removed and so technically on the road you need more protection than on a track.

Yeah I'd agree with that. Though do you feel you'd have received fewer injuries in the road crash if you'd been wearing your track gear?

 

[rypt]

There's got to be a fair reason that most put the armour on the outside, I'm thinking it's because those areas will also be the areas that rub on the jacket and that the mesh will soon wear through.. And perhaps that if the armour is not well secured underneath, there is an increased chance of it seperating away from the suit if the mesh is destroyed.

The AStars Bionic and the SixSixOne Pressure suits look of pretty similar construction with the mesh holding lots of the armour in place (and it is not that different to how stuff like Joe Rocket Mesh jackets are) ... however I do to take your point.

Perhaps wearing a motocross jersey over the armour and below any jacket would actually be the best solution for models that do cause jackets to catch on armour - though stuff like the SixSixOne Pressure suit looks like there isn't anything that can catch when putting stuff on top.



Dunno now lol

Is there a brick and mortar store that has different armour in stock to try on? Perhaps some sort of MX or Mountain Bike related store?
I want to go for a single suit rather than separate armour pieces ... but want to have the best armour possible, which means full chest and back protectors.

 

[Hector]

The armour topic, seems quite simple at first but it just grows into something quite mind blowing..

Pushbike, snowboarding stores and such often stock the same armour motorcycle users wear. They tend to do a few brands in each so it'll need a bit of travel to try on a good selection

A cheaper option of the MX shirt idea would perhaps be a long sleeved baseball shirt, I guess they would help but I'm not sure how much of an issue it'll be with a decent brand because they should be quite well attached and rounded off.

Another suit I've seen is the 'Halvarssons Tribal', fitted with the L2 back insert (which I believe is Forcefield's L2 (Level 2)) looks quite slick that should slip under a jacket with ease.

The Evo's just turned up and so I'll go and see what it's like.

 

[rypt]

Pushbike, snowboarding stores and such often stock the same armour motorcycle users wear. They tend to do a few brands in each so it'll need a bit of travel to try on a good selection

No different to travelling to try on different leather jackets, as again each store does a few brands or even styles each only

 

[Fireskull]

The armour is on the outside (titanium plates etc) to stop your leather from gripping and flipping you about, they are designed to help slide you along the floor, and not let your arms and legs get ripped in different directions