Bike clothing - what do you use?

[Simon64]

15 year old Aerostich Darien jacket which has never leaked and still comes up bright yellow every wash. Aerostich could do with having a UK distributor! Usually have a Forcefield back protector underneath it with whatever leather jeans fit this year! Altberg Clubmans -Old and superb.
Helmet is a Schuberth C3 basic and gloves from Halvarrsens. It's not high fashion but it works.

[mjab]

After using various brands, mainly triumph kit bought when Triumph world were having their sales, 2 years ago, after hanging up my kit overnight to find it still sodden in the morning, I invested in the latest Rukka (courtesy of Jenks) laminated Jacket and Trousers and I now have Rukka gloves.


What a difference, my kit doesn't absorb the water to an internal layer that takes ages to dry, and last Friday having ridden over 100 miles in the rain when the sun came out my kit was perfectly dry within 30 mins as I continued my journey.


And whats more, this kit will outdo the rest of my biking career I think

[BarnsleyBob]

Good to see this thread STILL going... 

I think someone else said it but it's really great to see what are essentially proper real world reviews of kit. I'm still using my Klim Latitude for longer distance & crap weather rides, and the Forma Adventure boots which don't seem to want to wear out! I use Kevlar lined RST jeans & a Triumph leather jacket on short summer rides. The post above hit exactly my reason for buying a decent laminated gortex suit; zero faff with layers & no sodden outers.

Lid wise I eventually got around to buying the Schuberth E1. The Neotech I had was awesome quality but fit wise it turned out to be just not quite right, even with the different liner pads. In between I tried on the Klim Krios (hurt the top of my head within 20 mins so sent it back), NEXX XWED2 (faulty so sent it back) and a cheapy in the LS2 Metro Evo, which was surprisingly comfy but I had one of the screws which secure the peak/visor/flip front (yes, all together) fall out on the M11 at 70mph...

Ghost Bikes were the retailer and were utter dog toffee in sending a replacement screw (although I did get a partial refund) so it eventually went in the bin when I bought the E1 on offer. At last I think I've found a long term lid. Perfect fit, quiet and good quality. Not sure I'd pay £600 for one but I got mine for £299 in a sale. 

Next investment will likely be some new gloves but haven't made my mind up yet; either Klim or maybe the Held Air & Dry as recommended by someone on this thread.

All the best!

[JG_XRT]

I just ordered a Klim Induction jacket and Voyager Air pant for summer riding.  I will be trying these out on my trip to Pittsburgh this weekend, where it is supposed to be pushing 90F.

I have a Klim Badlands Pro jacket and pants for most of the year. It gets really warm when it gets above 80F or so, but anything below that, the suit is perfect.

I would have liked another Triumph Adventure Mesh jacket and pants (the suit I have is from 2006) but Triumph doesn't really make anything like it anymore- it fit perfectly, had the perfect colors and was fabulous in hot weather.  I still have it, but the pants shrunk.  And it's time to replace/update the armor which is 13 years old. 

I have various gloves for different conditions.

For cold or wet riding, I love my Alpinestars Toucan boots (comfortable in hot weather, too).  For warm weather and a longer ride, it's Alpinestars SMX Plus Vented boots.  For back and forth to work or a quick trip to the store, I wear SMX 1-Rs.

The lid is always a Shoei Neotech.  Love the helmet.  Waiting for the Neotech 3 to come out and I'll replace this one.  I like the Neotech IIs, but don't want to invest in another com system.  Plus, the one that integrates with the NT2 has not had great reviews.

[Jake_Hag]

I have been wearing an Olympia Troy jacket lately. I recently went on a 6k trip around the western US and the jacket didn't fair so well.  The grey turned purple and the stitching in the left sleeve came apart.  The Olympia mesh pants I have have been outstanding though I can't remember what model they are. 

I don't live all that far from Duluth so I plan to take a drive up there one of these days and get fitted for an Aerostich two piece suit.  They're kinda spendy but everyone I have talked to that has them say they are worth the money. 

[Robbomeister]

I use a set of BKS leathers if it’s dry, and Rukka if it’s wet. Boots are Daytona’s, Helmet a Shoei Neotech and gloves are an old pair of Hein Gericke gore-tex that refuse to leak!
This set up suits me, kit is a very personal thing though!

[gibboian]

I just recently acquired the Triumph Malvern jacket and I'm very impressed. My old Oxford Montreal textile jacket leaked and took forever to dry, this new one is 100% waterproof and dries In under an hour.

The malvern trousers are on order.

Boots are RST Paragon 2,less than a year old and now leaking. Gloves are Held gore-tex, totally waterproof and great fit. Helmet is HJC FG-ST, a recent bargain.

[CaptainTrips]

Originally Posted by BarnsleyBob

the Forma Adventure boots which don't seem to want to wear out!

+1 for Forma adventure boots. They took about 3 days to break in, but have proven to be comfortable, even to walk in, and stayed dry at highway speeds on a 600 km pouring-down day in South Africa.

[Yellerbelly]

I recently got back from a 3 weeks trip through the Alps and back through central France. The pants on my Hein Gericke suit, which is probably about 8 years old decided to split down the outer leg seam on the same day as we had a torrential downpour. Due to the liner I still kept reasonably dry that day and for the rest of the trip, but they were beyond repair.

Earlier this week I decided to by the Dainese Carve Master 2 Gore-tex suit from the Sports Bike Shop at Milton Keynes (highly recommended) and although I haven't put it to the test yet it really does seem to be a quality bit of kit for the money. Hopefully it will live up to good reviews it seems to have.

I also decided to invest in some new boots as my old Richa's were getting scruffy. Thanks to posts above I went for a pair of Forma's Low Adventure boots which are very comfy straight out of the box.

[Xtof]

My gear was about 18 yo when getting my hands on my Xrt in may this year.
Since I was planning on a year round commute on it, I needed some new gear.

Rev'it Poseidon GTX jacket and trousers. Perfectly waterproof and great 4 season gear. The parts one can open to get more airflow work surprisingly well, but the big touring screen just takes away much of the wind that would cool one down.

Rev'it Corona jeans and an old summer jacket from Hein Gericke.

Rev'it Trail H2O boots. Ok-ish but on long ride, still wet feet. Discussing with Rev'it atm.

Cheap old leather gloves, but in urgent need of some goretex ones... the Rev'it Livengood series, good for heated grips or the Held Air'nDry ones are top of the list.

Shoei Neotec II helmet. Awesome piece of gear. Super silent...
Combined with the Cardo Freecom 4+ system (JBL speakers, work perfect for some background music <3)

And always a cheap buff from somewhere :)

That's about it!

Xtof