opinions on Olympia riding gear?

[subvet]

I'm looking at their AST 2-piece suits, or the Phantom 1-piece. I was at Bloodworth's last weekend and checked them out. They look functional enough but they were out of the sizes that fit me so I could not get a good test fit.

Gotta admit, the price is attractive for the functionality. I've read the testimonials on-line but am looking for other real-world opinions from the gang here.

[jbr7t]

I had the Olympia Airglide jacket and pants. I was very pleased with them. They were comfortable in the heat and with the liners pretty good in the cold. I am most likely going to purchase olympia again. Like you said, the price is reasonable and as for my experience the quality was great.

[RoadJunkie]

Love the quality of Olympia! Both my wife and myself have the complete Airglide set and love them. I use the pants year round with the liners. I also bought the fluorescent green vest and the quality is great, as well.

[johnt650]

I have the AST jacket and am very pleased with it. Even though it is very well vented I find it too warm for riding at temps much above 80 degrees. The quality is very good and it is well armored with good stuff.

[Tony_K]

The search function CAN be your friend.

Some info

here and here

[ScottM]

Good fit and look but do not hold up well in a get off. I had a low speed (relatively) 15mph and the sleeve came apart at the seem. I guess it could have been my skin instead but I had expected better.

Scott

[Bullett]

I have and old set of airglide and the new AST with phantom pants. The AST seems to run larger than the old airglide sizing. I ordered the same size, but the jacket and pants are too big. No crash test yet.

[GoldenK9]

As a former dealer I can say I've tried a lot of different brands. I currently have both an Airglide 2 Jacket and the matching AG2 Pants. I also have a Cortech 3/4 length jacket and an Fieldshear Mesh Jacket. I have to say I'm a real Olympia fan. The fit is good. The styling is great and the functionality is well thought out. Quality seems to be as good, if not better, than anything else on the market, and the pricing is spot on. Can't contribute on the durability aspect and hope I never can. Go for the Olympia.

You can't go wrong.

[velomoto]

After 10K miles the gear is showing mild signs of wear. Comparing it to gear others are riding I'd say it's wearing about the same - no better or worse. IMO the most important factor is how well it performs in a get-off. Fortunately I don't have any experience with this and I couldn't find any info on this before deciding to buy my gear.

[realshelby]

We have 4 pair of the airglide pants in the family. I have 30K on the first set with no sign of problems. I use one set for overpants and one set as hot weather gear with shorts on underneath. Highly recommend these pants.

 

I also have a Phantom 1 piece suit that I have had for about a 9 months. Good quality for the price. Easy to get into once you master the velcro on the legs. Only waterproof if you take the time to make sure the velcro closures are fastened down properly. The Zipper seams DO let water in. While the top half is well ventilated the legs are NOT. Sweat traps! Above 75 degrees they are uncomfortable, at 80 degrees I want out of this suit! Still a suit I can recommend for colder weather riding.

[subvet]

thanks for all the replies folks. sounds like the consensus is the AST and Phantom are better 3-season suits. I'm presently using a Roadcrafter 2-piece I picked up used from IBMWR. It's never fit quite right (even before gaining 20 lbs. ) and does not do well in middle TN summer heat. I though possibly Olympia would fit the bill a bit better......I'll probably sell the Roadcrafter and buy Olympia suit anyway, but I probably also need to suck it up and buy something designed for summer weather.

[realshelby]

There was a rumor that Olympia was coming out with a one piece summer riding suit. If so, I'll be one of the first to try it out. Anyone here heard more about that?

[DonMcCall]

I've got the Olympia Phantom, great suit for winter riding - one of the other guys is right, only waterproof if you've very careful about getting the velcro battened down. But it's kept me warm in 28degree weather with windchill below that. I haven't had it out in anything above the 70's yet, but with the vents it was quite comfortable then. I expect it's gonna be pretty hot come summer in Georgia though. If anything, I would expect this suit may be even hotter than the aerostich you already have in warm weather. But the price is right, and I wouldn't trade mine for the 'stich at this point. Hope they come out with the summer suit - i'll be in line.

[Ben_Ricci]

I also have a Phantom 1 piece suit that I have had for about a 9 months. Good quality for the price. Easy to get into once you master the velcro on the legs. Only waterproof if you take the time to make sure the velcro closures are fastened down properly. The Zipper seams DO let water in. While the top half is well ventilated the legs are NOT. Sweat traps! Above 75 degrees they are uncomfortable, at 80 degrees I want out of this suit! Still a suit I can recommend for colder weather riding.

 

I agree with everything realshelby says about the Phantom. I rode for a few hours in a drenching rain* on Saturday with my Phantom without the liner or Gerbings (42-43 degrees) and it was all but perfect. I should have worn the liner, however. It was a bit on the cold side. I had a light jacket on underneath. I did get some moisture infiltration, that I would describe as minor: damp area on my pants near my waist. I did discover that I accidentally left one of the non-waterproof side pockets open, so that may have been a factor. The bottom of my pants legs were damp as well. I'm still satisfied, given I wasn't too careful about making certain the seams were properly closed and it realistically couldn't have been a more thorough test for water tightness. I'm guessing only a solid, non-breathable one-piece rainsuit would have been better.

 

*The longest, hardest rain I've experienced since I got my Phantom last March.

 

I ordered a Stealth, "the ventilated Phantom." As soon as I get it I'll post an impression. Seems like a perfect complement to the Phantom. You can see it at the Olympia web site.

[EffBee]

I ordered a Stealth, "the ventilated Phantom." As soon as I get it I'll post an impression. Seems like a perfect complement to the Phantom. You can see it at the Olympia web site.

 

Ben, your Phantom suit arrived Friday afternoon. We'll be shipping it out, along with the Stealth you wanted, on Tuesday.

 

Regarding the Stealth, we got them in just in time for our big Open House this past weekend. We were demo-ing them all day long, showing how easily you can get in/out. Since it's mesh and not waterproof, there are no Velcro flaps. Three fast zippers and you're done.

 

Anyway, we sold quite a few, which is good because we stocked a LOT of them. It was a warm afternoon and we got some positive feedback before the day was done. I bought one and took a quick ride in it on Sunday when it was 79 degrees. Very comfy.

 

For those who are interested, the Stealth is purely a mesh one-piece suit. It uses 500-denier cordura in the armored areas (knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, spine), and what Olympia calls "ballistic" mesh throughout the rest of the suit. It flows a ton of air. The armor, BTW, is CE-rated.

 

No, it does not have a liner nor does it have any provision for a liner. But that's part of what makes it so affordable. At $299 MSRP, it's a great deal (and we had an extra 10% OFF during our Open House). And yet, I imagine that with a pair of jeans on underneath (which is how I intend to use it) and perhaps a fleece liner on top, you could easily ride it down into the upper 40's.

 

As for waterproofing, I have a $100 BMW one-piece rainsuit that folds up small and works very well. In fact, I imagine that a Stealth suit, a rain suit, a fleece top and some waterproof gloves would be a gear combo that you could mix/match to go anywhere in the U.S. this summer, rain or shine.

 

As for the OP's original question about Olympia gear, it's just plain good.

[sundaeman]

Got a AST and Ranger2 pants. Great stuff and value. I also have Olympia Airglide pants and Motoport mesh gear in the mix for when things get warmer.

[Ben_Ricci]

I ordered a Stealth, "the ventilated Phantom." As soon as I get it I'll post an impression. Seems like a perfect complement to the Phantom. You can see it at the Olympia web site.

 

Ben, your Phantom suit arrived Friday afternoon. We'll be shipping it out, along with the Stealth you wanted, on Tuesday.

 

And yet, I imagine that with a pair of jeans on underneath (which is how I intend to use it) and perhaps a fleece liner on top, you could easily ride it down into the upper 40's.

 

In fact, I imagine that a Stealth suit, a rain suit, a fleece top and some waterproof gloves would be a gear combo that you could mix/match to go anywhere in the U.S. this summer, rain or shine.

 

Thanks again EffBee!

 

Folks, this is exactly how I intend to utilize the Stealth. An extra layer under the Stealth for the a.m. commute and street clothes only in the warmer afternoon. I have the BMW rainsuit in my tank bag anyway (just in case) because I typically wear Airflow gear when it's warmer.

 

I think the Stealth is a great solution for a.m./p.m. commuters. I suppose if one was inclined you could wear the Phantom liner under the Stealth for added warmth, too--recognizing it wouldn't be buttoned or zippered in.

[co_g30]

Thank you for the posting you made re the stealth mesh suit, am thinking of buying one myself for year round use and I am hoping you'll post your feedback online once you've gotten some use out of it.

 

I presently use a Firstgear KilimanjaroAir mesh jacket year round, with the liner+fleece jacket and if cold enough a heated vest, I've been down to below 15 degrees with no major issues re cold so I think using layers/liner with this mesh suit should work out fine as well.

[Lion_lady]

I got to try on a Stealth suit (yes, the men's). Loved it, EXCEPT the Large had enough leg length, but way too much room across the shoulders, plus about 4 inches too much sleeve length.

 

The medium fit well, except the pant length is about 2 inches too short and the sleeves are still a bit long. The rest of the fit is too bad to consider getting the Large and shortening the sleeves. Whats up with the sleeve length? I've got longer than average arms, I'd imagine that someone with average length arms would be in trouble in the Stealth.

 

>>Hubby has the Phantom suit (in the Lightning Bug yellow), and LOVES IT!! Noted that it will leak in a hard rain, if the velcro and flaps aren't closed up just right.

 

P