What makes leather better than textile in jackets?

[DrunkenMistake]

Really, thats remarkable
if youre a standard ish size its easy to fit correctly in a off the rack, its not a space suit

This is true, you only need a set of a few measurements,

Unless your short and round

[Maha]

Some gear has numbers ie:L as a size and some has letters ie:54.
The bloke that recued me form making a purchase mistake on saturday really new his stuff when it came to bike gear.
I had tried on about 3-4 different sets of pants and was getting fuddled with what was in the changing room
Some fitted well some did not...always pays to try before you buy (my rule)

The pants thus far was not what I went in for (as he pointed out)
He was the 2nd salesman to enter the scene (1st chap fainted I think)
He asked me what I wanted.....I told him and he went and got what I wanted.
$299 down from $499 fitted mint and was exactly what I went in for.

[Banditbandit]

Tear and Abrasion Strength by the numbers
Pounds of force until fabric tears Abrasion cycles on pavement until fabric fails
CottonJeans 4.5 pounds to tear 50 cycles to failure
70 Denier Standard Nylon 4.5 pounds to tear 165 cycles to failure
500 Denier Polyester 8 pounds to tear 180 cycles to failure
200 Denier Standard Nylon 7.5 pounds to tear 275 cycles to failure
500 Denier Cordura 22 pounds to tear 710 cycles to failure
620 Denier Cordura 35 pounds to tear 1200 cycles to failure
NEW Competition Grade Leather 80-110 pounds to tear 1200-1700 cycles to failure
1000 Denier Cordura 110 pounds to tear 1780 cycles to failure
Air Mesh Kevlar 1260 pounds to tear 970 cycles to failure Stretch Kevlar Blend 420lbs pounds to tear 1800 cycles to failure

This is how quickly some materials take to hole:
Material Seconds
Denim 0.2 to 0.5
Some race gloves 0.6
Most leather gloves 1.0 to 1.8
Keprotec stretch material 0.9
Poor Kevlar 1.0
Two layers of waxed cotton 1.3
1.3mm thick cow hide 3.8
Two layers of 1.3mm thick cowhide 18
Three layers of 1.3mm thick cowhide 55
Two layers of Kevlar plain weave 5.6
Suede 18
Boot leather (generally 2.2mm thick) 20
Leather stretch panels 20.4


There is also this test from a while back:

Drag Test

"For the Drag Test, samples were stitched to a bag that held a 75-pound
sandbag inside a milk crate, then dragged behind a pickup truck..."

New, 100% Cotton Denim Jeans ----------------------- 3' 10"
Senior Balistic Nylon ----------------------------------- 3' 10"
Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz/sq. ft. --- 4' 3"
Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz/sq ft. ------------- 4' 4"
Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans ------------ 4' 5"
Cordura Nylon Type 440 ----------------------------- 18' 3"
Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713 ------------------ 22' 1"
Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz/sq. ft. -------- 86' 0"


Taber Test

"For the Taber Test, the specimen was mounted on a rotating platform and
scuffed by two rubber-emery grinding wheels." The numbers represent the
number of revolutions until the fabric totally fails. A vacuum clears
debris.

Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 168
New 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 225
Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713 506
Cordura Nylon, Type 440 559
Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz./sq. ft. 564
Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz./sq. ft. 750
Senior Ballistic Nylon 817
Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz./sq. ft. 2600

More to consider...

"Finally, protection from road abrasion cannot be guaranteed by a
materials abrasion resistance alone. A jacket may have panels of
highly abrasion-resistant materials, yet if low-quality stitching joins
those panels and the seams come apart upon impact or during a slide, then
the abrasion resistance of the panels could count for nothing.
Furthermore, an ill-fitting garment may ride up in a slide, contorting
the body and exposing the skin. And the best jacket in the world, left
unzipped and/or unsnapped, won't give riders the protection they pay
for. When it comes to safety, the issues are more complex than just the
abrasion resistance of materials."

The textiles vs leathers debate is all about tradeoffs. Choosing which material to use to cover your hide with and spend your pennies on depends on how much you value individual tradeoffs and ultimately, your intended use and riding conditions. Sounds easy enough, but deciding between textiles vs leathers has had great rider minds in a muddle and increasingly so over the last couple of years as the quality and versatility of both materials has improved so much! Just type in “textiles vs leathers ” into google and you will find that 90% of the results are from forums with the answer ultimately resulting in the fact that it depends on your personal preferences. The problem is that this does not help those new to the biking world who have not had the time or experience to develop their own, well-guided preferences… and so the argument goes on.
But, it’s really quite simple if you use the BMI (Best Motorcycle Information) textiles vs leathers test. This test takes the four most differentiating attributes of the two materials into consideration – price, maintenance, comfort and protection. Each attribute is also assigned to either leathers or textiles, depending on which material has the greater advantage in terms of the attribute. After reading the brief summary on each, assign a score out of a hundred to each attribute, giving those attributes that are most important to you higher scores, so that in the end the total score of your four attributes adds to 100. Then add up the score that you gave to the leather attributes and textile attributes, and the material with the highest score is your answer – and best of all it will be unique to your personal preferences.
Price - Textiles
Motorcycle textiles are cheaper to buy than leathers. It is also much harder to judge the quality of leathers and so you take the risk of paying a lot of money for a suit that does not have quality stitching and construction. (Just beware however that it is widely accepted that your textile suit will probably only survive one crash before you have to fork out for a new pair.)
Maintenance - Textiles
This one is simple – motorcycle textiles can be thrown in a commercial washer, while leathers will need to be sent to the cleaners.
Comfort - Textiles
Motorcycle textiles have an all weather capability: vents for when it is warm, liners for when it is cold and water resistance for rain. It breathes more easily than leather, and water slides off it like a ducks back.
Leather is also much heavier than textile.
Protection - Leather
Tests are conducted all the time to compare the abrasion resistance of motorcycle riding gear materials and leather always comes out on top as the most durable material. Furthermore, leather does not melt from friction, it will cushion your fall more than motorcycle textiles would and it offers the best protection against a road rash. The fact that leather also lasts through multiple crashes whilst textiles will probably only last through one, says a lot about the difference in protection and impact between the two materials.
The textiles vs leathers debate basically comes down to protection vs everything else.

Found the information part off an american site, and couldnt be bothered converting the values.

Fuck ... er ... So .. to sum up .. which is better? Textiles or Leather?

[ducatilover]

Fuck ... er ... So .. to sum up .. which is better? Textiles or Leather?

Leather. I've already said it, because it's sexy.

[DrunkenMistake]

Fuck ... er ... So .. to sum up .. which is better? Textiles or Leather?

Leather. I've already said it, because it's sexy.

^^^ as above haha

[HenryDorsetCase]

just looking at that set of results, it seems fairly clear that dragging a cow, buffalo or kangaroo hide down the road is going to be much better than your own skin, and most textiles.

plus de bitchez looooove eet.

[Robert Taylor]

Yes, leather is better in a crash. No, leather doesn't breathe better.

You can get vented textile and leather for a cooling draught if required.

Leather can sometimes be repaired after an accident (Not if I'm wearing it. If I have an accident everything is fucked - me, the bike, my gear) textile gear tends to melt and develop holes when subjected to the friction of a human body pressing it into tarmac at 100 km/hr. Leather abrades, acting as a series of ablative layers. So long as it's stitched together well.

Be prepared for some sanctimonious twat to pop into your thread and spout pages of crap around "you get what you pay for". Ignore it. It's just a rant to justify their own ego-driven, mega-expensive purchases.

http://www.trainwreckstudios.net/abrasion/road.html

So many other factors come into injuries generated by crashing a bike that it's pointless to over think your gear. If you get trapped under a bike the extra mass helps to wear through leather rapidly and textile even quicker. Have a look at Aaron Slight's hands sometime. He had his hand trapped under a bar after crashing on the track and it was stuck under there a fair distance. Muntered it is. My wife broke her ankle at 30 km/hr after the bike we were on fell over. Those bikes are horribly unstable. I've broken ribs, neck, back, head, fingers, toes, ankle, wrist, ear drum, and teeth in bike accidents. All those injuries were generated under 75 km/hr. The only thing I haven't had to suffer is a wire brush in a huge graze to get the gravel out prior to skin grafts because I've always worn head to toe gear with some protective properties.

Ive ( sanctimoniously ? ) ordered an Alpinestars leather jacket because I know that the quality of the leather, the detailed construction and the stitching strength is WAY better than the cheap stuff on the market. I dont particularly harbour the idea of crashing but Id like to know that a better quality jacket may minimise my gravel rash and injuries.

Bell Helmets used to run an ad something like ''If you have a $10 head wear a $10 helmet'' I dont see any of the MotoGP and WSBK riders wearing any of the cheap brands of leather that are budget price. I think theres several very plausible reasons for that.

[Quasievil]

Ive ( sanctimoniously ? ) ordered an Alpinestars leather jacket because I know that the quality of the leather, the detailed construction and the stitching strength is WAY better than the cheap stuff on the market.

So errr hey RT what is the Jacket leather thickness ? and how many rows of stitching and what type is used in this Jacket that is WAY better than the cheap stuff on the market?

I bet one of mine would whip its arse !!

bet ya dont even know lol

And yes Im shit stirring but ya know me lol

[Robert Taylor]

So errr hey RT what is the Jacket leather thickness ? and how many rows of stitching and what type is used in this Jacket that is WAY better than the cheap stuff on the market?

I bet one of mine would whip its arse !!

bet ya dont even know lol

And yes Im shit stirring but ya know me lol

I wasnt referring to your brand but theres some seriously low standard stuff on the market, as we both know. I have all the specs for AS, but at work. When I had a serious road crash at high speed in the 80s I was at that time wearing Dainese. The stuff did its job, admirably. As did the Bell helmet that in those days was pretty much top of the tree.

[Quasievil]

I wasnt referring to your brand but theres some seriously low standard stuff on the market, as we both know. I have all the specs for AS, but at work. When I had a serious road crash at high speed in the 80s I was at that time wearing Dainese. The stuff did its job, admirably. As did the Bell helmet that in those days was pretty much top of the tree.

Yeah I know that and yes youre right on the money, I was being mischievous really, many people say things like this is WAY better and the like but often they really wouldnt have a clue

just being naughty, see you in a couple of weeks buddy

[nzspokes]

Well rode tonight in my handmedown textile jacket. Nice and warm.

My legs in jeans however are still shivering.

[Quasievil]

Well rode tonight in my handmedown textile jacket. Nice and warm.

My legs in jeans however are still shivering.

Try some polys underneath or some of those wind proof jobs they work a treat, I wear my KNOX jean armour as well keeps me warm as.

[nzspokes]

Ive got some pants coming I got on TM to suit my fat shortness.

Should be here tomorrow.

Would love new gear but life wont allow that right now.

I saw some Dianese gear in motomail. Would love some of that.

[James Deuce]

Ive ( sanctimoniously ? ) ordered an Alpinestars leather jacket because I know that the quality of the leather, the detailed construction and the stitching strength is WAY better than the cheap stuff on the market. I dont particularly harbour the idea of crashing but Id like to know that a better quality jacket may minimise my gravel rash and injuries.

Bell Helmets used to run an ad something like ''If you have a $10 head wear a $10 helmet'' I dont see any of the MotoGP and WSBK riders wearing any of the cheap brands of leather that are budget price. I think theres several very plausible reasons for that.

You cheeky bugger.

You are allowed to spend your money as you wish and if you can afford it more power to you. I buy the best I can. It probably won't meet the expectations of the gear cognoscenti though.

My point is that people on KB are more than happy to heavily critique someone else's purchasing decision, expecting people to instantly spend more than the bike they just bought on gear. MotoGP riders have very different requirements from the gear they wear compared to a newly minted biker, and they arguably ride in a vastly safer environment than a road user does.

[James Deuce]

Also my experience of injuries related to motorcycling has made me very cynical of the claims made around the safety benefits of said gear by manufacturers. All I can say for the gear I've been wearing in road accidents is that they prevented me from suffering gravel rash. It didn't help much with internal injuries, fractures or permanent, crippling joint injuries.