Best Gear???

[Shagnasty]

What brand of gear do you like best (jackets,gloves,pants,boots,helmets) synthetic or leather???

pics are welcome,thanks for the input

[tophyr]

I wear Joe Rocket Comet (Textile) jacket (yellow, for visibility), Joe Rocket Ballistic 5.0 pants, Icon Mainframe Solid Rubatone helmet (black), and some Joe Rocket Dry Tech gloves that I can't find a link for.

It's all textile (Cordura, it's basically nylon canvas, couldn't cut this stuff with a knife if I tried), because it's waterproof and I live in Seattle :p

[Alphamazing]

The best gear is the gear that is made well and fits you correctly.

[scratch]

Depends on what you're looking for.  Raingear: TourMaster Elite rainsuit, ColdFront Carbon gloves, the zip-up over-booties they sell.  Helmet: the one that fits your head best.  Warmth: Again the TourMaster ColdFront Carbon gloves with silk gloveliners, Some neck fleece thingie from a manufacturer I can't remember.  Fieldsheer Monza II jacket, Carbolex overpants.  Protection (summer): TourMaster Cortech Coaster Air perforated leather jacket with full circumference zip to Apex Air perforated leather pants, Sidi Vertebre II boots, and TourMaster CarbonComp II real leather perforated gloves; Shoei Tz-1 in solid white with reflective tape all over (see avatar; that's the Fieldsheer jacket with FS Astropants).

[Shagnasty]

What gear fits you the best and is made well for you???

[scratch]

Ah, @ 125lbs, 5' 10", the Fieldsheer is okay in S, bordering on loose; the pants fit perfect in medium.  The TourMaster is short in the arms in XS for the jacket, and the pants are a shade long in XS.  Gloves vary from XS to M in the TourMasters summer gloves, but almost always M in winter gloves.  Shoei XS or S.

[Alphamazing]

What gear fits you the best and is made well for you???

Being 5'10 and weighing 130... none of it fits me very well. I find the quality of Teknic, Alpinestar, Olympia, Sidi, Fieldsheer, and Shoei products to be impeccable. I don't like Joe Rocket stuff because the stitching is crap and breaks easily, as well as the fact that very few of their products offer CE armor. Dual-density padding is not good enough armor in my book. Your best bet is to go to a shop and find out what fits you the best.

Leather is better in most cases because it is more durable and has better abrasion resistance. Mesh and textile lets more air through, keeping you cooler. It all depends on what type of gear you want.

[Shagnasty]

Yeah from what i have tried on i like the Alpine stuff as far as jackets go, the quality seems impeccable, and it looks sexy also, can't wait to take the trip to make my first jacket purchase. Thanks for the post Alpha

[Mandres]

Before you buy Joe Rocket take a look at other brands.  You can easily find better quality gear for a similar price elsewhere.  I'm planning to pick up a Tourmaster Flex jacket in a few weeks: http://www.newenough.com/tour_master_flex_jacket_page.htm .  Supposedly this is a fantastic jacket for all-season riding.  It has textile panels that zip open or off and mesh underneath.  The textile is 600+ Denier, which is better than anything JR offers in this price range.  It also comes with higher-quality armor than the JR stuff.  Seems like a good idea and at $150 it's a good value too.

-M

[RVertigo]

The best gear is the gear that is made well and fits you correctly.

++ +And that you'll actually wear...

Moto-Leather (1.2mm+) is the best protection against skidding all your skin off...  But, moto-textile (500 denier +) can be really warm, really cool, and/or water-proof...  And is WAY safer than non-moto gear (IOW, a second-best to moto-leather)

Other than that...  get what you can afford, what fits well, and what you'll actually wear...  (Riding around with your leather jacket in your tail-bag, 'cause it's too hot, doesn't count. )

[scratch]

Here's another reason for having summer and winter gear, instead of just one all-season jacket: when you zip out the liner of your jacket, it becomes looser.

[RVertigo]

Yeah...  I was just going through that with my wife...  She tried on a bunch of jackets and picked one she liked...  Then I said, "OK... Now, take off the sweater, take out the liner, THEN try it on..."

She needed a smaller size.

I doubt she'll be doing much winter riding with me though.

[xtalman]

Jackets: I own a lot of Fieldsheer gear.  Great value for the money.  Fit is extremely important.  I have not seen much Olympia gear, but it seems to be excellent quality gear too.

Gloves: Held is considered one of the top brands.  I have the Held Kryptons, bought them from http://www.motobrio.com for about $100 less than I could find in the US.  I had Dainese too, but wasn't impressed with them.

Pants: Also Fieldsheer.

Boots: Sidi.  I have the Sidi Vertebra II, very protective.

Helmets: Arai or Shoei are considered top of the line.  I have an Arai.  First chance I get, I'll get a Shoei X-11.

Leather is better than textile, as far as protection.  However, sometimes the weather just isn't suitable for leather.  Here in Texas, I need mesh gear in the summer.  You'll probably end up owning tons of gear if you ride a lot.