Cordura v leather?

[awa355]

Okay!! I realise this has probably been covered often before, but I'm reasonably new to KB and have gone back thru many pages of threads trying to find a discussion on this.

I have a new cordura jacket with the 'armour' in the right places. Have now been told that when I crash the 1st thing that happens is the outer skin shreds away, the armour tears out and all this in the 1st metre. ( still have 6 m's of tarseal before the powerpole stops me) , or, if I'm lucky the armour will twist around my elbow and help sever my arm at that joint.

Will leather do a better job of keeping me in one piece untill I can find a convenient pole/post to pull me up? Cheers

[Markw336]

well leather is thicker/stronger but gives less movement and cordura will give you more movement but personally id go with leather as it doesnt break as easy but thats just my opinion

[MaxCannon]

Someone will be along shortly to scold you for not using the search function.

In brief.

Leather gear offers better protection - textile gear offers greater convienience.

I ride to work everyday. Textile is lightweight, breathable and waterproof.
I don't have to try and put on a rain suit when it starts raining half way to work.
If I do get wet my gear gear dries during the day.
On hot days I can unzip the vents to get some air moving through.

When I go to the track I pull out my leathers.
If I wear then in the rain - I get wet.
They also stay soggy for days.
They don't breath very well - no vents.

If you are just starting out I'd worry about getting good quality textile gear that fits properly.
I'd also recommend a back protector - regardless of what you have on over the top.
I got mine for $100 - it takes 6 seconds to put it on and could make the difference between walking away from a crash and being carried away.

[TerminalAddict]

both.

leather for the weekends and hooning
cordura for communtering to work every day

[steve_t]

Will leather do a better job of keeping me in one piece untill I can find a convenient pole/post to pull me up? Cheers

Yes
Highly recommend Quasi's gear
www.qmoto.co.nz
You don't live too far away either so a cruise over to the tron to try stuff on before you buy would be easy and more convenient than sending back incorrect sizes

[Neon]

I've slid along the road in both and I know which one I'd choose...

Like anything, gear has to fit you properly to be of any real benefit. Poor fitting textiles and armour can result in burns/abrasions through the material, and as you pointed out injury from twisting armour.

In saying all this, I have both but I concede a degree of protection in winter months for increased warmth. No point being so cold you can't concentrate on what you're doing.

[Neon]

Yes
Highly recommend Quasi's gear
www.qmoto.co.nz
You don't live too far away either so a cruise over to the tron to try stuff on before you buy would be easy and more convenient than sending back incorrect sizes

Yep, +1 for Quasi's gear. I am part of his unofficial product testing department.

[ital916]

Okay!! I realise this has probably been covered often before, but I'm reasonably new to KB and have gone back thru many pages of threads trying to find a discussion on this.

I have a new cordura jacket with the 'armour' in the right places. Have now been told that when I crash the 1st thing that happens is the outer skin shreds away, the armour tears out and all this in the 1st metre. ( still have 6 m's of tarseal before the powerpole stops me) , or, if I'm lucky the armour will twist around my elbow and help sever my arm at that joint.

Will leather do a better job of keeping me in one piece untill I can find a convenient pole/post to pull me up? Cheers

Well whoever told you that is speaking out of their arse. Cordura offers excellent levels of protection. Yes leather is more protective and can be crashed in more than once as it is repairable and textile gear is not. However leather does not have the convenience or useability of textile gear.

Be assured that quality textile gear will have excellent protective qualities and should not rip apart in the first meter of sliding unless it is shit gear.

Note that I speak from experience about the protective quality of textile jackets and pants...though I wish I didnt

Oh and if you keep thinkin you are going to crash then you will, spend that extra brain power in upping your observational skills and awareness on the road.

[sleemanj]

I have a new cordura jacket with the 'armour' in the right places. Have now been told that when I crash the 1st thing that happens is the outer skin shreds away, the armour tears out and all this in the 1st metre. ( still have 6 m's of tarseal before the powerpole stops me) , or, if I'm lucky the armour will twist around my elbow and help sever my arm at that joint.

Whoever told you that is an idiot, or maybe just old.

Cordura (or whatever copy your clothes are made out of) is very abrasion resistant. Because it's a nylon material it melts togethor with the heat from sliding rather than pull apart, have you ever sealed a nylon rope by using a lighter on the ends - same deal.

It does come in different weights however, you want a heavy weight in your gear, 500 or 800 "denier", maybe even 1000.

It's waterproof (mostly), it's comfortable in pretty much all weather (ever worn a leather jacket in the middle of Summer, damn things are like a sauna), it's not very expensive on the whole, and it affords excellent protection and durability for ROAD riding.

If you're on the track, doing track stuff, then a leather body suit is better for you, because it's even more abrasion resistant than cordura, and probably more importantly it can withstand a lot more repeated abuse (sliding contact) than Cordura can.

The repairability of Cordura is limited, not really because you can't, but because it'd cost you more to fix properly than just to buy a new jacket really. We're only talking about a couple hundred bucks each for jacket and pants at the mid-range scale, on the road I'm hoping you're not coming off badly enough to require replacing very often!

In short, textile garments = teh awesome for road usage.

Leather for track, and harley riders.

As for hard or soft armour, many wide and varied opinions on that, some accidents hard armour can do damage, some accidents hard armour can save damage. So... six of one half dozen the other really I think.

[cambridgedan]

Yep, +1 for Quasi's gear. I am part of his unofficial product testing department.

another +1 for Quasi

ive crashed in textile and now i have leather, enough said.
altho textile is more practical

[mister.koz]

Quasi two piece and an overshell for the rain

Leather:

• feels safer
• survives bin's better
• the armor is way less mobile
• better abrasion resistance for your skin
• usually has more armor
• slides off less

Be sure to get good stuff though, cheap-crap is cheap-crap. I'm more than happy with my quasi gears and my tecnic rain overshell keeps me dry in the driving rain and only cost $100 or so...

I would suggest getting perferated leather, the air goes through it so you don't fry in summer. Also i am opting for non-white leather now.. the heat in summer is fricken nuts in leather....

[mister.koz]

Oh and talk to quasi (quasievil) - he's a top bloke and he's been selling the gear for a while now got the best advice from him.

[vifferman]

Meh.

I've had both (three leather jackets, one pair of leather pants, one pair of cordura+leather pants, one cordura jacket, one cordura jacket with leather in abrasion-prone areas).
Ideally, a person would have every kind of bike garment. Failing that (because we're poor bikers?) you need to ge the best gear you can afford for the riding you do. For me, that means four-season gear, so I have a leather jacket with a thermal and waterproof liner, and bits that zip off for increased ventilation in winter. Before that, I had a cordura jacket, with kevlar pads in the elbows and shoulders. Unfortunately, you can't always choose how you hit the deck, so it ended up with very small holes from very small 'road encounters', in areas of the jacket where the kevlar wasn't. It ended up with leather on the sleeves and shoulders, and was almost the perfect jacket (until it became faded from the UV, and manky from the road spooge.

I used to wear leather pants all the time on the bike, and slip waterproofs over them when it rained. Pretty good, and they survived the same spills the jacket needed surgery on. All the pants needed was the scuffs treated with nugget and leather conditioner. However, I now prefer my cordura pants, as if it rains I just keep riding, don't have to stop to put my plastic pants on. Plus they have vent zips, are more comfy, have a removable thermal liner, better armour (including hip armour, which my leathers didn't have). I can also wear them over slim jeans if I have to.

[Hiflyer]

My leather jacket is waterproof and I have never had any problems with heat cos it has shoulder vents.

Alpinestars=good

$900=worth it if you can afford it

[Owl]

My leather jacket is waterproof and I have never had any problems with heat cos it has shoulder vents.

Alpinestars=good

$900=worth it if you can afford it

Hmmm I paid $450 for my $899 Alpinestars jacket If I was outlaying $900 for a jacket, I'd be getting custom made from Celtic Leathers Although good, my Alpinestars isn't in the same ball park as a Celtic jacket!