Leather or textile

[chipsonfriday]

I have never worn leather bike gear before, always preferring the man-made stuff.

 

I am looking to replace my current protective gear and naturally I am looking at textile - old habits...

 

Interested in the opinions of you guys though as to whether leather is better than textile. Particularly interested in thermal qualities and rain protection.

 

Chips

[Marek]

I have never worn leather bike gear before, always preferring the man-made stuff.

 

I am looking to replace my current protective gear and naturally I am looking at textile - old habits...

 

Interested in the opinions of you guys though as to whether leather is better than textile. Particularly interested in thermal qualities and rain protection.

 

Chips

 

You can't beat textile for warmth and weather protection, and with all the textile technology it offers pretty good protection as well. I hear that England is getting warmer than it used to be but you still need to keep it covered and insulated.

 

Mark

[RichEdwards]

You can't beat textile for warmth and weather protection

 

And you can't beat leather for road-rash protection. That's why racers always wear leather.

[chipsonfriday]

Quote:

 

You can't beat textile for warmth and weather protection

 

And you can't beat leather for road-rash protection. That's why racers always wear leather.

 

 

And so it begins...

 

so what is the BEST compromise between weather protection and body protection?

[Albert]

Having worn both, mostly leather over the years but now textile, I doubt that I'd ever return to leather. I'm not a track guy but yes leather is considered superior in abrasion resisitance. Textile is waterproof (usually), contains much better venting capabilities, packs smaller, weighs less and often has the ability to breathe. I like leather but for practicality I don't see how you can beat the textile stuff out there today. This is just my opinion, good luck.

[Paul Mihalka]

so what is the BEST compromise between weather protection and body protection?

There is no "BEST". It varies by person, riding style, bike (naked vs. full fairing) etc.

The newest setup which I like, is water repellent non-absorbing leather with a Goretex liner. BMW, Harley, and others have it. Seems to be the best of both worlds.

[chrisolson]

Particularly interested in thermal qualities and rain protection

just another $.02 ... When its really hot, neither really makes a difference. When its really cold, electrics are the "hot ticket" , and when its really wet, a dedicated rain suit works the best for me.

 

For all the time in between, I prefer leather ...and I have a good selection of both although my wife says too much of a selection .

 

If you're going to be wearing something hours upon hours, nothing beats a well worn, well cared for leather jacket or pair of leather pants that have moulded to your individual shape and are just supremely comfortable.

[John Bentall]

It was 2.5 degrees C here in London this morning. I would have had to have worn thermals under my leather or textile jacket & trousers. If had been going out for the day I would have used a textile suit and a heated waistcoat.

Leather looks nicer but is so much less practical for our immensely changeable Ënglish weather - and it is so much easier to wipe clean.

Since there is no such thing as a 4-seasons suit - apart from a multi-layer Rukka, treat your self to a mesh suit for the summer.

A lot of people cannot buy off-the peg sizes, they have to get made-to-measure leathers.

Racers wear leather, but they ride mainly in summer and are always at or near the limit. What use is a bit of extra abrasion resistance if you slam into a car, tree or lamp-post?

[TN_R_Girl]

While I now sport leather 99% of the time, I did take a nasty spill wearing all Joe Rocket Ballistic textile gear. It barely looked like it had hit the ground at all.

 

I'd go with heavily armored textile if you're going to be dealing with wet weather and just deal with some temperature discomfort if it's going to be a bit warm as full mesh offers little protection even if it's got armor in it.

 

My opinion FWIW

[Boffin]

Quote:

 

You can't beat textile for warmth and weather protection

 

And you can't beat leather for road-rash protection. That's why racers always wear leather.

 

 

And so it begins...

 

so what is the BEST compromise between weather protection and body protection?

 

For the UK, Quality textile with armour. My BMW Phase 3 suit had hardly a mark from a 40mph get off and I think it would be fine up to 60-70mph. If you plan on riding at consistently higher speeds than this the equation shifts towards leather.

 

For wet weather textile is best and is usually the best for the cold. A heated under-jacket takes care of the coldest days.

For speed or warm (not hot) Leather is better.

 

Andy

[Jerry Johnston]

Always felt leather pants were the most comfortable because they streach were they need to but felt leather jackets were less comfortable than textile due to weight. If the leather jacket is light weight it will probably tear in a spill.

[velomoto]

And you can't beat leather for road-rash protection. That's why racers always wear leather.

 

Perhaps this is true, but the new synthetics are excellent at providing protection! I would expect that the high end textile gear from top suppliers (Motoport, 'stitch, BMW, others) would be provide protection comperable to the best leather gear. Due to the higher cost of leather, compared to nylon and other synthetic fabrics, I would expect one could make lower cost "good quality" textile gear.

 

Another consideration is care and deterioration. Leather is affected by water. Both leather and textile are affected by sunlight. IMHO leather requires more care otherwise it will lose it's softness and some of it's ability to protect. Textile is pretty much maintaince free (other than the occasional bath to remove the "aromas").

 

Just one person's opinions...

[BerryG]

I prefer leather for the protection. After seeing the big holes that were ground through the J.Rocket jacket that my friend was wearing when he went down at 50 mph, (along with the hamburger looking skin on his back that somehow just happend to match the pattern of the holes in the textile jacket,) I will alway be a firm beliver in leather.

To reinforce this I sometimes pull from the closet an old leather jacket and pair of leather pants I was wearing when I went down at over 70 mph two decades ago that have no holes, just some heavy scrape marks.

 

Besides, my wife says the leather pants still make my butt look good.

[Jerry Johnston]

Besides, my wife says the leather pants still make my butt look good.

Funny, mine say's it looks like I dropped a load, when I wear leathers.

[MadDuck]

A friend and I had been riding thru real rain for about an hour when we hit some mud in a truck hauling zone. It was narrow but we both went down at about the same spot. My Aerostitch stuff looked like new after cleaning. His "wet leather" was destroyed. Stretched, torn and significant parts worn thru. I don't think you can count on wet leather for real protection.

[EricJRW]

Having a bit of MotoGP fever, I bought the DVD Speed...

 

While watching it I learned that the leather that the racers wear is actually kangaroo ... The explanation being that is lighter, stronger and thinner.

 

Just thought I's toss that out...

[Todd_Z1]

I have a strong preference for leathers no matter what the weather conditions. Search for "demerol" going back at least 7 months and read about my encounter with an Arizona deer and you'll see why. I am having a set of full race leathers modified so I can wear my Gerbings underneath for warmth. When it rains I just put on water proof outerwear. No matter what you wear make sure it is fully padded/armored. I wear an Aerostich suit for commuting.

 

Cheers!

 

Todd

[gezerbike]

I've had all sorts of textile gear over the years and still have a Olympia Recon Suit and a Savannah II suit but nothing is more comfprtable than good quality leather. Draggin a rain suit along is a pain, but for me, nothing is more comfortable. And when the weather turns cold, I have yet to have a textile keep me anywhere as near as warm.

[Urban Surfer]

It was 2.5 degrees C here in London this morning. I would have had to have worn thermals under my leather or textile jacket & trousers. If had been going out for the day I would have used a textile suit and a heated waistcoat.

Leather looks nicer but is so much less practical for our immensely changeable Ënglish weather - and it is so much easier to wipe clean.

Since there is no such thing as a 4-seasons suit - apart from a multi-layer Rukka, treat your self to a mesh suit for the summer.

A lot of people cannot buy off-the peg sizes, they have to get made-to-measure leathers.

Racers wear leather, but they ride mainly in summer and are always at or near the limit. What use is a bit of extra abrasion resistance if you slam into a car, tree or lamp-post?

I believe I have a four season bike suit. I bought a Motoport air mesh kevlar suit and have ridden in all kinds of weather. The only draw back to it is the layers you put on or take off. You can eliminate most of the frustration by not zipping everthing together. I havn't used my electric vest since I bought it, and the best thing going in hot weather. The wind blows right through the entire suit! It's very visible and heavy duty.