All dressed up an no bike to ride
All New Gear Transit suit, Sidi Boots, Held Gloves, Nolan Helmet
http://www.aerostich...piece-suit.html
I have about 1200 miles on this suit now, worn in a heavy downpour and in 97 degree heat and now its time to give it an honest review. I found the fit to be very nice on the jacket however the pants tend to bunch up in the upper thighs, I had to exchange the pants for smaller ones at first going down a size helped the fit tremendously. I used the fitting guide but its rather generic in terms of this suit, there are no custom sizing options like the roadcrafter or darian suits offer. There is armor in the elbows, shoulders, a back protector and hip pads and knee armor in the pants. For pockets there are two front pockets on the jacket , an upper pocket on the breast thats almost useless and a mesh pocket inside the jacket. Not nearly the pocket space of the textile stuff they sell. This to me does not detract from the suit since I have always felt that carrying things on your person in a suit should be kept to a minium and nothing that could serve as an object to be embedded in your ribs come time you might kiss the pavement. Small things like earplugs, wallet, and soft tissues or cloth that wont cause injury if you should go down.
So the pocket space is less but there are adequate pockets to get the job done. Zippers are of the new water proof kind but after riding in the rain in North Carolina I am here to say that this suit is just like all suits I have worn its not waterproof, it leaks, this suits weakness is the neck area. I had a drip comming down my neck from runnoff on my Nolan helmet and it would go down my neck and into the suit into the front. I am not sure if the main zipper leaked or it was a result of runoff from the helmet but I was wet on the front of my shirt down to my belly. So its a leaker if its raining super hard, which it was. However the outter shell will not penetrate from the leather! It tends to shed water in that regaurd.
Heat, after spending the last 2 days riding in 97 plus degree heat in full leather I am proud to announce that the pigmented leather is indeed cooler than other leathers I have worn, the big vent on the back and the zipper provide adquate ventelation for riding in intense heat. I was even comfortable on the heat, save low speed city riding and stopped at gas stations and such where I would sweat alot. This only provided me with swamp cooling effect one I got rolling again. The jacket tended to inflate when the Zipper was down 6 inches or so I was well vented but it wasnt annoying unless you were going very fast, zip it up a couple of inches and it would smack close to the skin. Opening the front pockets also cooled things off too. No underarm zipper for pit cooling though was a feature I miss fromt my old roadcrafter. So though I did not need it from the micro pores and the big rear vents.
I have also unfortunalty suffered a crash in this suit, 30-40 mph get off I can barely see the damage at all to the suit, a small scuff here and there but no huge scrapes, leather is indeed the best thing for abrasion protection. The armor performed well the new tf5 armor kept me from hurting my back, shoulders and arms. The knee protection worked well and the hip pads definitly provided comfort I am glad hip pads come standard. I did pull a groin and hand was sore, shoulder ached for a day but I walked away and I have this suit to thank for my safety. Well worth the money for the protection it provides.
Overall I have to say this was a great purchase and I would do it again, I am very happy with it, I like that I can take off the jacket at stops and just wear the pants, I like not having to put on rain gear, I will find out if a new helmet stops the leaking issue, and I like the fact that I have on proper gear for the way that I ride.