Full Leathers Or Textiles And Armoured Jeans

I wear 2 piece leathers and armoured boots when I go out of the city. I've never really trusted textiles and it always feels to me like leather moves with me better and breathes more than plastic.

In the city I wear the leather jacket, Kevlar Jeans with knee and hip pads (my jeans have 30% kevlar woven INTO the denim and then 100% kevlar on arse and knees, so I'm pretty confident in their abrasion resistance) and 'normal' over the ankle leather boots. As others have said, it's so much more convenient when the bike is your only transport to be able to get off and walk around town without sweating your cobs off or looking like an asthmatic power ranger lugging your leathery hide around!

And for the bad weather, I've always got the one-piece waterproof suit on the bike somewhere.
 
Andy, I use your city setup for all my rides, do you think it's worth getting a set of leathers and do you think they're safer?
 
AndyManCam said:
I wear 2 piece leathers and armoured boots when I go out of the city. I've never really trusted textiles and it always feels to me like leather moves with me better and breathes more than plastic.

In the city I wear the leather jacket, Kevlar Jeans with knee and hip pads (my jeans have 30% kevlar woven INTO the denim and then 100% kevlar on arse and knees, so I'm pretty confident in their abrasion resistance) and 'normal' over the ankle leather boots. As others have said, it's so much more convenient when the bike is your only transport to be able to get off and walk around town without sweating your cobs off or looking like an asthmatic power ranger lugging your leathery hide around!

And for the bad weather, I've always got the one-piece waterproof suit on the bike somewhere.
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i tottally agree its just the advantage of using the textiles and gearing up alittle faster with less time spent messing with an over suit
And yes leathers are safer and more durable
 
Theres numerous studys and tests on how much better leather is agaisnt sliding down the road
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/5/417/motorcycle-riding-gear1.asp
Here is my own proof too, Weise textile jacket, classed as a midrange jacket and the rst razor leather bottoms, classed as budget leathers.
As you clearly see from the same crash the textiles took more damage where as the leather only had the black colour taken off.
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I guess your a massive penis then if thats all you seem to belive even with studys behind them, Leather will last longer under abrasion its a fact wether you like it or not. If it wasnt there would be racing done in textile suits. http://ixion.org.uk/riding-tips-and-techniques/why-wear-leather/
Email the likes of rst, dianese alpinestar. they will all tell you leather is better for sliding down the road and will prevent gravel rash.
Im not saying textiles wont stop the same injurys but the length of time that textiles will last is alot shorter.
 
Name calling? What a nice chap you are.

I guess you're also the solitary guy who has started going around and disliking all my videos, which amuses me greatly if so. It's funny how that started happening after you disagreed with a comment I made.
 
CBRHoonigan said:
Im not saying textiles wont stop the same injurys but the length of time that textiles will last is alot shorter.
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I'm not fussed about how long they'll last as I will replace them after 1 fall anyway. All I'm after is some well thought out tests with some evidence rather than simple hearsay, so that I can make informed safety decisions like any sane person would.

Edit: If you're going to behave like a child then I think we should just leave it there. I fully expect you to need to get the last word in though as you always seem to do.
 
Well think it through, Leather will survive more than 1 fall, textiles wont, usually means leather is stronger its logical, leather is safer, textile is eaiser to live with day to day. go into your local bike shop ask an expert.
 
And i didnt go round disliking your videos i think i watched 3 of them thats all. and even comented on 2, but whats that got to do with leather being more abrassive resistant than textiles?
 
C&C said:
Andy, I use your city setup for all my rides, do you think it's worth getting a set of leathers and do you think they're safer?
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I think that everything to do with bike safety gear is kind of like insurance. You're never 100% covered and there are many options available.

The better your insurance, the more you are 'covered' if something goes wrong. Furthermore, you tailor your level of insurance depending upon the level of risk you perceive there to be.

When I'm in town I think to myself that I'm not very often going to go above 40 mph. Also there's a lot of very hard and heavy things all over the place that i will likely bounce off of. So for this situation I think to myself that Kevlar jeans are fine, as long as all of the pads are in place. It's unlikely there will be much opportunity to slide and abrasion resistance only need last a few seconds.

As soon as I head out, I'm going to be doing 60-90 MPH. If I come off, it's going to take SOME time to stop moving (in the optimistic lamppost / cow / HGV free scenario) so I want to know that my clothes can stand that. With the kevlar jeans, I'm sure they can deal with the abrasion (The ones I have, 'Vanucci' Passatiempo have won several awards this year in Germany) but I can't be sure that they will stay in place. The road is rough and it will bunch my jeans up into a Kevlar wedgie in 5 seconds! And then all of the pads and reinforced areas have shifted and I'm squidding down the road looking like I'm wearing a denim nappy.

The leather trousers will keep the pads in place, keep my skin covered, and I'll probably be able to use them again.

So yes, I would recommend Leathers for out of town riding!! :D

I wore my kevlar jeans while I was riding through Spain, even though I had leathers with me. But I weighed up the lower protection against the risk of coming off due to lack of concentration as I pickled in my own sweat in the Leathers. It was hotter than the kitchen on the Sun. But we sell the risks to ourselves in whichever way makes them palatable to us. Pretty much nobody else I saw even had gloves on. Maybe they tell themselves they'll ride so carefully they'll never come off?
 
C&C said:
Any non anecdotal evidence for leathers being safer than quality textiles?
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I think this is as simple as looking to Moto GP. Motor racing has ALWAYS been the bleeding edge of everything to do with cars and bikes.

Disc brakes started on F1 cars, and filtered down to production cars. Carbon fibre components, same story. Double clutch (DCT) gearboxes, Super sticky tyre compounds, Steering dampers, fully adjustable shock absorbers, blah blah bah.

So if textiles were any where near as safe or functional I really believe that the Moto GP riders would be using them. Especially as they have many positives that could benefit their riding such as being cooler, lighter, easier to work into complicated designs, cheaper to manufacture, waterproof, easier to colour and easier to print for sponsorship branding.

But even with all of those positives they don't use them. Because the abrasion resistance just isn't up there with leather.

I do wonder if anyone has made a Lorica leather suit? The Lorica people would have you believe that it's better than leather as it has no imperfections. But I'm not sure if it works for man-sized clothes rather than just boots and gloves?!

EDIT: Just saw that @CBRHoonigan pretty much said the same thing. OOps!
 
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