Hot Weather Gear

[ajensen]

I found that wearing a Cycle Gear Heat Out long sleeve shirt works well under my Cycle Gear mesh jacket. I also use perforated leather gloves. I am fairly comfortable over 90 degrees as long as I am moving. Anyone else have ideas?

[ShowBizWolf]

I'm "that one person you know who is always cold" haha... so hot weather riding + the right gear isn't too much of an issue for me. I wear my Joe Rocket Corona textile jacket like always and just open the vents if I need to.

I also last year finally bought myself a pair of summer gloves, which are Joe Rocket Speedway gloves. Amazing how they are leather and armored but they still let air flow through! I very much enjoy them.

Awesome to hear from a person who has tried something from the Heat Out line... cuz I am a huge fan of the Freeze Out stuff

[Watcher]

As both an AZ resident who rides daily, AND an employee of Cycle Gear, I have many suggestions.

Heat-Out for sure!  That stuff works just as good as (if not better than) Under-Armor at a fraction of the price.  Tops, bottoms, and a helmet liner cap.  All three and you're good to go!
A good option to synergize with that is the water activated cooling vests.  They're like $50, but you soak them and they hold water and actively cool, not just passively cool like the Heat-Out does.

Mesh jacket is the right idea.  Best options from CG are the Bilt Techno which is mostly mesh, the Sedici Giovanni which is all mesh, or if you want to go super-awesome-Desmo-bada$$ the Dainese City-Guard or Sport Guard, which is all mesh and has a premium armor package.

For gloves I'm rocking the Sedici Bruno which is leather palm, mesh back, with a hard knuckle and heel slider.  Well vented without sacrificing protection.  Bonus, they're only $40!

Of course a vented pant is a great idea, but moto-jeans are a good choice.  Denim is somewhat breathable on it's own, add some Kevlar and kneepads and you have a pant that will protect you while remaining relatively light and being something you can wear all day long.
AlpineStars makes some great mesh riding pants, as does Dainese (for a price), both as independant and over-pants.  Almost all of them are good options.

And for shoes I recently got a pair of the AlpineStars SMX-1R boots.  Short cut (more like a high-top shoe than a boot), perforated leather, and a proper protection scheme with a toe slider and heel cap.
Of course moto-shoes are a good option, but be wary of the cheaper Bilt shoes as they offer almost no protection.  Sedici Pietro is a good choice (fits narrow) as is the S&S Kickstarter (fits wide).
If you don't want to go dedicated motorcycle footwear, did you all know Reebok makes boots?  Went to a local MilSurp and got some Reebok combat boots recently that are seriously lighter than my gym shoes!
High-top, very meshy, super comfy!  10/10, 100/100, would buy again!

[qcbaker]

Watcher is probably a pretty good authority on riding in the heat, so I'd trust his advice on this topic.

Anyway, here's my summer/hot weather gear from top to bottom:

HJC CL-17 helmet, all vents open (flows air decently when moving, usually will open the face shield when stopped though)
Hanes ComfortSoft Slim Fit White T-Shirt (They're pretty thin shirts so they breathe really well)
Speed and Strength Chain Reaction Jacket, all vents open. (This jacket has big arm vents, and zip-off sections that are all mesh on the front, and basically the entire back zips off and is mesh underneath. And of course, CE rated armor on the shoulders, back, and elbows. Just bought a new Bilt Max Speed Perforated Leather Jacket though. We'll see how well that does in the heat)
Regular Jeans (I know, I know. Planning on getting some riding jeans soon.)
Sedici Ultimo perforated leather gloves. (They're armored leather gloves, but all the leather is perforated, so they flow air pretty well.)
Icon 1000 Truant Boots (Very sturdy, but the sides are perforated leather so they don't get too hot.)

All in all, I'm usually pretty comfortable when riding even into the 90's. Gets pretty hot when I'm stopped, but as long as I'm going above ~20mph, I don't feel overheated.

Just an all around hot weather riding tip: If you're riding in temps 85+ degrees F, you should make sure you're stopping and drinking a bunch of water at least once an hour. Even if you don't feel like you've been sweating, you have. If you have decent airflow, the sweat is just evaporating very quickly. You can get pretty severely dehydrated much quicker than you think, especially if your sweat is evaporating that fast. Getting badly dehydrated SUCKS. Splitting headache, nausea, disorientation, etc. Not stuff you want to be happening to you while you're riding.

[Watcher]

All in all, I'm usually pretty comfortable when riding even into the 90's. Gets pretty hot when I'm stopped, but as long as I'm going above ~20mph, I don't feel overheated.

Just an all around hot weather riding tip: If you're riding in temps 85+ degrees F, you should make sure you're stopping and drinking a bunch of water at least once an hour. Even if you don't feel like you've been sweating, you have. If you have decent airflow, the sweat is just evaporating very quickly. You can get pretty severely dehydrated much quicker than you think, especially if your sweat is evaporating that fast. Getting badly dehydrated SUCKS. Splitting headache, nausea, disorientation, etc. Not stuff you want to be happening to you while you're riding.

This brings up really good points.

Keeping the air flowing is a big issue.  You are wearing layers of heavy protective gear, it WILL cause you to overheat in it of itself, even if it's mesh.  If you are stuck in traffic or accidentally got on a road under construction, reroute.  Take that right turn at a red-light you know is long, make a u-turn and go the long-way if traffic is backed up, get off the interstate if it's moving at a crawl.  If air isn't flowing through your gear, it's not cooling you down.

Drinking water speaks for itself, but it's worth reiterating.  By the time you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated.  Here in the desert it's frightening how fast it can happen.  You're fine, feeling great, life is good, not a care, then in a matter of minutes you get dry lips, then dry mouth, then headache, then dizziness, then nausea, and ultimately death.  So drinking regardless of your "feeling" is critical.

And on the subject of water, if you use Heat-Out or any other sort of wicking garment, getting it wet before you put it on and go out in the heat starts the evaporative cooling aspect before you even start sweating in it.

In my area, it seems counter-intuitive but, one of the best ways to beat the heat when you're out in it is to remain covered.  Sun on skin will pretty literally cook you, not just in a sunburn sense but will make you feel hotter, so staying in long sleeves is pretty important.  My Dainese City-Guard has such an aggressive mesh on it I can feel my arms being heated by the sun through it!  So if I'm out riding, I use a LONG-SLEEVE Heat-Out shirt.  It helps tremendously.  For my short rides to work I stay in a short-sleeve so it's more convenient to wear all day, but often if I'm stopped at red-lights I can just feel my arms getting hot.  Once I get moving it's instant relief, but for those minutes...  Ugh!

[Bluesmudge]

Mesh can be dangerous once the outside air temperature is much above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit because you are constantly bombarding your body with air that is warmer than your core temperature. At those temps you want just enough airflow for your sweat to continue to evaporate. Too much airflow and you are dehydrating yourself very quickly for very little cooling benefit.
I have pretty much given up on mesh and just wear well vented leather gear year round.

Those cooling vests that Watcher mentioned work really well and are worth the cost if you ride frequently in 90 degree+ temps.

[ajensen]

Lots of good information--thanks. I want to ride to Nashville (about 3 hours) later this week, and it is supposed to be mid-90s on the way.

[qcbaker]

I got my new leather jacket today. Its a Bilt Max Speed jacket. It didnt come with a back protector (just a crappy foam pad), so I just took the CE back armor out of my other jacket and installed it into this one pretty easily. I had checked at the store that it would fit prior to ordering the jacket. So, now the new jacket has the same level of armor as the old one, plus the leather. It also feels like it fits much better than the old one. Much tighter, but not restrictive at all. Wearing this one, I think the old one was a size too big, honestly. I also think it looks pretty sharp lol. Very happy with it in terms of protection and style/fit.

As I said before, it's perforated leather, so it does flow air decently. And there is a big neoprene section along the inner part of the arm, which also flows air pretty well. Today, I rode back to work after my lunch break (about 15 minutes) in the new jacket. There was an accident along my route, which led to traffic being much slower than usual. I didn't feel significantly hotter than I did in my textile jacket but because I was in very slow traffic I did end up sweating quite a bit. Because of the sweat, and the fact that this jacket is tighter fitting than my old one and is made of leather, I did have a little bit of difficulty getting the jacket off, but I think that's to be expected. Seems like a small price to pay for the increased protection. So, all in all, I'm pretty happy with it. Would recommend.

[mr72]

I have a Bilt Cafe jacket and I think it is great. It's reasonably cool but frankly if it's above about 94 degrees F I just don't ride. It's just too freakin' hot. I have a Jeep with air conditioning for those days. I can't imagine any jacket would make it tolerable. It's too hot with no jacket (riding around my neighborhood at <30mph).

I might consider the vest like Watcher suggested. Basically there's 1.5 months of summer when I can't ride due to temps, only riding in the very early morning. It's too hot by 10:00 am. So I relish the chance like on a Saturday morning to go on a donut run at 6:30am. OTOH from about mid-September thru early June is prime riding weather with only about three or four days a year when it is too cold, so I can't really complain.

[rscottlow]

I wear a Rev-It Tornado mesh jacket, and I stay plenty cool here in Southwest Ohio. Right now it's about as hot as it'll be all year with highs in the mid-90's. We might have a day or two where we hit triple-digit temps, but on those days I'll only be taking a half-hour ride home from work in the extreme heat. Wearing a button down shirt and an undershirt beneath my jacket can get a little uncomfortable, but as I'm riding home anyway, I just grab a cold drink and cool off when I get there.

QC brought up a good point about the helmet. I also have a CL-17, and it can get pretty steamy in there when I'm stopped. I definitely have to open up my visor when I hit a red light. Even riding at a moderate to slow pace with all of the vents open can get a little uncomfortable on a hot/humid day, so I usually crack my visor open to get some extra air flow if I'm going to be riding under about 45 MPH.