Seeing as if you want to ride a bike in this country you have to spend a lot of time wet and cold I m thinking of getting some textile / gortex riding kit as part of an early Xmas present. Anybody use similar gear and have any advice ? I feel a little worried that the protection will be questionable when compared with leathers or have things moved on. I just have a scary thought that if sliding down a road they will tear easy with the abrasion although with modern armour fitted I m sure the impact protection is good its just the abrasion resistance that's worrying me.
Unlucky for you and lucky for me, I have not come off in my Goretex so cant really comment on its abrasion resistance. Although it does seem quite strong and generally if you are wearing these its probably lashing down, wet, moist etc so hopefully that would decrease abrasion too. The difference between Goretex and the clones, is night and day imo! Im a big boy and I get real hot in waterproofs but in the Kushitani Goretex trousers I got recently are a lot more wearable. Mine and Im sure most come fitted out with armour which hopefully will help. My best advice is to try not to slide down the road, hope this helps!
Ps: if you do a search for Raw-Biker on Ebay, good bloke with lots of pre owned, liquidised stock etc on clothing specially goretex.
I've got a Hein Gericke 2-piece Gore-tex suit for touring and winter riding, which is excellent as zipster has said. Protection is good imo, although I've not had a 'proper' crash only a low-side with a bit of sliding to a stop. It wore the outer shell down on a 1" diameter on the top of one leg but it's still 100% waterproof. Amazing kit.
Rukka Arma S jacket and trousers. Excellent all weather protection but expensive and very hard wearing. Kept me bone dry and toasty during a very wet return from the TT this year. 400+ miles.
Yeah a mate of mine went down on his shoulder at 30mph in the wet. It ripped the seam below the shoulder and wore through on the shoulder itself. In fairness it was a cheap jacket from A stall at BMF, but luckily he has no real damage as the armour took it, mullered his helmet though as his head went down too I reckon a lot has to do with kit quality, which is why i bought a £350 Hein Gericke jacket + trousers with a bum patch.
From what I have heard, no direct experience. Textiles might well protect you the once but I don't think they survive for a second time. A couple of instances at work with pupils as we do CBT and DAS training where one had a nasty off around 50mph, one sleeve was ripped off and one trouser leg shredded but it did protect her, just. Another case at a slower speed and a side seem in a jacket failed split but again it did protect but obviously had to be replaced.
I like my Halvarssons gear. It's never let in a drop. I keep it well toshed up with Fabsil Gold. I did a bit of road breakdancing in it last year once. I wasn't going more than 40 tops but my pert buttock wore a hole in the textile layer. The abrasion resistant layer beneath it looks untouched. The range seems quite reasonable and I got the kit from John at Slocombes/Metro in Dollis Hill in London. One of the things I like about it is the legs come in various length measurements in the Zen trousers.
