Riding Suits...again

[1100RTGuy]

Hello great ones,

I am in the market for a riding suit. I can't spend the money on a "stitch" and was thinking of a Firstgear, are there any others out there? For the money the Firstgear looks very good and wanted to see if anyone on the db had one and what they think of it.

[EffBee]

FirstGear, as well as all of the other stuff in that price range, has gotten to be pretty decent stuff. Tour Master, Fieldsheer, Joe Rocket, they're all pretty much the same. The one that stands out, mostly because it's still made from Cordura instead of the cheaper stuff like Carbolex, which is a polyester-based fabric, is Olympia Gear.

 

Whatever you buy, make sure it fits well and that you're comfortable in it. These days, you can buy good gear and you can buy better gear. But it's almost impossible to buy bad gear.

[HexHead]

Whch FirstGear suit? If you are referring to the ThermoGear suit, it's very warm, windproof and waterproof. I just wish they'd put some armor in it. Then it would be the perfect cold weather suit.

[Troper3]

What else are you looking at?

[realshelby]

I have the new Olympia one piece suit and have now got to use it quite a bit. Very comfortable, not too stiff. Very easy to put on and take off. Especially once the velcro is used a few times and is slightly less "sticky". I have not ridden in any rain yet so I can't speak about waterproof. I won't be using the inner liner because I have a Gerbings setup. Once the temp hits 80 I want out of it! The top is well ventilated but the lower/leg area has no ventilation and with the outer fabric and the inner liner that is built in you can't stand it for long.

[Big_Bend]

My $0.02.. I too have the new Olympia Phantom with inner liner, and I love it!! Very rainproof, comfortable, great value for the $450 it cost. I rode in temps in the 20s without electric clothes and was fine. I think its awesome!

 

But ya, above 90 degrees and its just a sweat bomb, even with the vents open. Still, great suit, great value.

 

I got the bright yellow one, boy does it stand out in a crowd.

 

Take care.. allen

[Tony_K]

completely off topic! Big Bend Allen has the coolest avatar ever!

[flyingreg]

Fieldsheer makes a pretty good one piece suit called the Highland II. It is well suited for your winter weather in Ohio. You can get into or out of the suit in about 20-30 seconds. I have seen them on eBay for much less than the $329 retail price. But even at retail, it is a lot of suit for the money.

 

I have one of these suits for winter wear and it is worth the money.

[sevenup]

I had the Highlander suit and it leaked badly on the forearms and crotch from the start. The forearms had some kind of reflective panels and the water came in at the seams. In a good scottish november day ride (in the rain) I was miserable. Even commuting 7 miles I could get my shirt wet. I would like to go back to one piece that had the flexibility of the Highlander with its long zip but with a better quality of finish. I have looked at the Phantom and the Stich. with the $ weak at the moment, both of these look a bargain from my side of the pond even with taxes and packaging. The lower half of the Phantom is a bit of a problem because you don't get the liner out. Ok for most of the year here as we never get a summmer but would prefer a bit more flexibility.

[Wyn]

I've been wearing Tourmaster Intake jacket and mesh pants all summer. The pants I have are the 07 version. Nice, but they suck. I've played with the knee pads every way I can and the only way for them to actually be on my knees is to adjust them after I pull away. Otherwise the pads are on the inside of my leg. So I pulled the pads and wear pads independent of the pants.

 

The jacket is an TM Intake, air flows real well. In fact here in Florida in summer I prefer to wear it than not. No burn, and as long as your moving it's fine.

 

To squidish looking though, so I purchased TM's Transition II jacket. I'm impressed so far. Haven't worn it in the rain yet. I also have TM's Caliber pants. Real nice and the knee pads are perfect. Both come with warm liner and the pants have seperate rain proof liner. The Tansition jacket does not because it supposed to be very water resistant.

 

I know we can get in the whole thing about carbola, carnuba, whatever, in a down situation. Right now I can't afford a Stich so TM does the trick quite well and it beats jeans and a T shirt sliding down the pavement. At $152.00 for the Transition from Tonka.com and I think the Caliber pant were $132.00 I'm warm, happy, and hopefully dry.

 

TM makes good stuff, in fact today I'm going to order their new heated vest. $112.00 with collar and thermostat hard wire to battery.

[Rich06FJR1300]

i bought the bmw rallye 2 suit. Can't say its cheap as i got it for 700 bucks. But it has a lot of features that i won't even bother to get into being its probably out of your price range.

[Twisties]

All I've ever had was Olympia. I have the airglide mesh. The jacket fit well for summer user, but was a little tight with the liner, and there was no way I was going to get another layer under it. So I just got a bigger one in the day glow yellow color, and a heated vest to go under it.

 

My wife got the Olympia AST for winter riding, and the heated vest. We had a discussion about the pros and cons of the protective layer being also a waterproof windproof layer, me having chosen a mesh outer, she choosing treated cordura.

 

My thesis is that if I had gotten an AST, and we rode to warmer climes, I'd want my airglide when we got there. For me, the airglide liner is enough. Also the AST is cut longer and you sit on it. That scared me a bit for long riding comfort. Of course I'll need to install the liner to block wind when I want to use the heated vest, but I'm only carrying the one jacket that I'm wearing.

 

Her thesis is the more windproof and waterproof the better, and for mild conditions she can use her protective layer with the heated vest and skip the insulated liner.

 

Anyway, our original Oly suits are 4 years old and have held up well, and we liked them well enough to stay with Oly on our upgrades. FirstGear looks just as nice to me, but they didn't have my size in stock.

 

BMW stuff looks good, but costs double. If anyone carries Aerostitch around here, we haven't seen it.

 

Regarding the dayglow yellow, I wore it to work yesterday for the first time, and immediately had a fellow rider in my office checking it out. He had caught a glimpse at some point and said it had really jumped out, and he couldn't believe the visibility. Any reservations I may have had about it are now gone. It works.

[HexHead]

If anyone carries Aerostitch around here, we haven't seen it.

 

Nobody anywhere carries Aerostich. They are only available "factory direct".

 

'Stich don't do dealers.

[flyingreg]

I didn't state perviously that I haven't "tested" the rain worthiness of the Highlander suit. Here in California, my rainy season only lasts for five or six minutes.

 

I read the description of the Olympia Phantom suit and it uses "coated" cordura nylon. Personally, I would shy away from any coated fabrics. They don't breath and melt under high friction loads (read: sliding down the road). That is one of the problems with the "stich" is the GoreTex liner is bonded to the outer fabric. Althogh Gore supposedly breathes, it does so at a slower rate than most people can tolerate in warmer temps.

[notacop]

I had a First Gear Takai I got from Chapparrall in Ca. for 69-70 bucks on close out. It was great and very good in cold weather and Waterproof, tested in many rains. A decent pair of over pants shouldn't be difficult to find either. Bargains are out there for the shoppers.

Aerostitches are great, I have a Darien and a Roadcradter thanks to the 49er and Autumn Beemer bash and they really are good and comfy.

Barring the cost of most of the "suits" mix and match would be my choice.

[catneck]

I had the Highlander suit and it leaked badly on the forearms and crotch from the start. The forearms had some kind of reflective panels and the water came in at the seams. In a good scottish november day ride (in the rain) I was miserable. Even commuting 7 miles I could get my shirt wet.

 

I used NikWash in the washer and then wash in NikWax for my Highlander. Now it is water resistant to 99%-nothing I have tested is 100%. This is a great suit at a great price.

The liners could be better integrated, but I use a heated jacket, so the liners are not a concern.

Easy on & off without the liners too.

Excellent reflective material-highly visible at night or dusk/dawn-seems to scare deer too.

When it gets to 80 degrees I switch to mesh pants and jacket.

2-1/2 years of 3 season riding on this suit with the only wear is fraying on the sleeves and the middle of the back at the pad.

Probably will go 5 years.

Did I mention I love this thing?