What jacket and pants?

[Deviant Esq]

I've decided my leathers are too impractical for every day use, and it's time I got myself some cordura / textile gear for going to work and so on. I've had a bit of a look around a couple of the bike shops here, trying to get a feel for what's around at what price, but I thought I'd check on KBers opinions and recommendations before I splash out.

I'm looking for pants and a jacket that are comfortable enough to wear every day, and practical... so it'd be handy if they keep me fairly dry if it should decide to piss down from a great height as I'm riding home from work. Pockets and all the usual stuff. Had a look at a Dririder jacket in town that seemed quite good, looked like it would do a good job of keeping the rain out (and seemed to be a good price), but of the pants I looked at nothing seemed to say "pick me."

Any opinions on various brands? I'd prefer not to spend more than $500 for the pair, but if I must go a little over in the name of quality kit, so be it.

[Mom]

I have RJays jacket and pants, been wearing them for 4 years or so now, never got wet, never been cold. The only place I have ever had rain get in is between my helmet and collar. Mind you that was in torrential rain, so no complaints. They have the zip out quilted thermal lining for the cold weather.

The jacket has great pockets and some reflective panels so at night I stick out like the perverbial. Both pants and jacket are fully armoured at the obvious points and the jacket has a built in back protector too.

Not the most styley gear for sure, but good value for the investment.

And yes my arse does look big in them!...........LOL

[deanohit]

Yea mate, as Mom said, Rjays is good value. I got my jacket on special, but retail was still a good price and the thermal liner is brilliant, small enough rolled up to not notice it in the back pack, but still really warm and comfy. Not so impressed with the pants, very stiff in the knees, but still good.

[wayne708]

Have a look at Revit's "Factor" pants, I have a pair and have found them to be very good. A more taylored fit than some of the others out there and good armour. I believe Moto Mail in Ak have them. I have also just brought one of there Monza jackets as a lighter summer jacket,(when summer arrives) it"s also waterproof and has Knox armour.

[car]

I have RJays jacket and pants, been wearing them for 4 years or so now, never got wet, never been cold. The only place I have ever had rain get in is between my helmet and collar. Mind you that was in torrential rain, so no complaints. They have the zip out quilted thermal lining for the cold weather.

I've worn my RJays jacket about a dozen times, and three of the four loops holding the lining into the sleeves have detached. I noticed yesterday that the stitching around the zip on the quilted inner jacket appears to be fraying.

Apart from that, warm and dry, I just hope that it stops disintegrating soon.

[xwhatsit]

Quasi makes some good quality cordura stuff -- last time I saw on his site, it was still very cheap. Worth looking into.

[Rockbuddy]

I recently purchased an IXON jacket (fire model) I wear it nearly every day its comfortable has kept me 100% dry and has elbow, shoulder and back armour, I took the zip in thermal quilted liner out the other day as it was getting to hot, so it will be warm as in winter, previous to this jacket i have a dririder jacket which my missus now wears, equally as good

[SVboy]

I have SPOOL gear-I wont rave-average construction imho, with a rew loose threads...but after a years use-keeps me warm, and dry. FQ has Dri Rider stuff, he would be worth a PM.

[Pancakes]

I bought a whole new getup after giving the old stuff a working over when I got hit. I have to say I wish bike mechanics gave nearly as good service as these guys!! I went in and gave Mick an idea of what gear I wanted and what I expected to pay. I wasn't looking to throw my money away but am happy to pay for good things that will last. I commute everyday normally and don't need to get to work wet/cold etc. Most of the pieces Mick got me to try on were less than what I had thought I'd pay (had done some browsing at other shops too to get an idea of price etc and was still browsing at this stage) and he had a good eye for sizes and fit etc cos we narrowed things down real fast. This was 2 months ago. I went and picked it all up the other day. MAN! talk about nice fit and comfy! I got a Shoei Raid helmet $499 RRP (will just list RRP but they do package deals/add stuff in if your making a reasonable size purchase). Revit Warp Jacket $299. Revit Zip Pant $229. Diadora Cruise Boots $399 and Revit Farenheight Gloves $199.

Over the course of getting the right colour helmet in etc I dealt with a few of the staff there and they were all on the ball and easy to deal with. I think in terms of bottom dollar price I could have saved a few dollars thu the internet etc but the service and end result was more than worth a few bucks saved.

This stuff has lots of armour in the right places and fits so good I'm not really aware of it. There's other good gear and good places to buy from out there but from this experince and the result I'll be going back to Motomail from now on!

[homer]

I have dri rider jacket and dri rider boots + pants (dont recall if there dri rider but the same as (3m scotchlite on them )anyway all up total of $600
its the cheaper of the jackets an entry level which i thought may be the middle of the range would have been better.
Totaly happy with all of it jacket and the pants have a zip out quilt, jacket has padding in it which can be removed .Pants have padding and kevlar protected knees.
I would stick with dri rider in future.

[Sparky Mark]

Quasi makes some good quality cordura stuff -- last time I saw on his site, it was still very cheap. Worth looking into.

Quasi has got some really good value gear. I saw, and tried on , a few things when he was down in Welly. Sadly I couldnt' get the right fit for the cordura stuff. I did buy a really good leather jacket and previously some boots, which have been excellent.

Bret's a very good guy to deal with too...

[Nasty]

Hey hun

I have revit pants from motomail .. and they are awesome .. I bought a basic black riding jacket a couple of years ago brand neutral and it is fantastic and doesn't leak at all ... I have seen the revit jacket that goes with the pants and that also is great. The thing is to try things on and get the best fit an d ensure that they are as waterproof as possible ... cos if they ain't, down in chch, you may freeze bits with water that gets in!

[HungusMaximist]

Some of the revit stuff are the shit. A little more on the cash side but I guess they make up in quality. Never worn Revit stuff but I can tell they work.

Recently bought a Spyke jacket on sale and I am yet to try it out on a rainy day.

[timg]

I bought Spool Jacket & Pants. Nice fit and features, but they keep falling apart! I have had to stitch up a number of bits again, seams, dome tabs etc. Two of the zip handle tag things have fallen off. This was mid range gear, not the bottom/cheapest stuff. I expected better for gear that is only 9 months old & done approx 9000kms. I wont buy Spool gear again. Cheers.

[Pancakes]

Oh yeah, on the don't buy side of things, I wouldn't buy this stuff (and the pants). The guy has tons of stuff on tardme and I got a few days before the water was coming in and they were falling apart. Over a year threads were coming off, velcro coming unstitched. Wouldn't buy again. Only tried the exact items I linked to here so thats all the feedback refers too.