The Bike Gear Thread - Wilsons leathers need not apply.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > The Bike Gear Thread - Wilsons leathers need not apply.

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builds character: Jan 16, 2008; Keep at it.

Seashell Salesman posted:

I ordered a medium and a large Olympia Odyssey suit online and after trying them both on I'm really not sure of the fit. The medium is definitely not working because the legs are comically short, to where I almost can't get my feet up on to the pegs of my bike. The large legs are fine (maybe still shorter than I'd like in heavy rain, but perfectly serviceable), but the torso feels slightly too long and I'm worried that the shoulder armor isn't snug against my shoulders. If I wear a sweater or light down jacket under the large, the shoulders feel good and snug but I can't do that for most of the year. The ventilation (went for a ride with vents open, even at 20mph I could feel a lot), price, abrasion resistance, and armor all seem quite good and I really didn't see anything else out there with the same features and price point so I want to make it work if I can. Has anyone tried something like extra shoulder padding or sewing darts into the chest of a suit? Maybe it's not a big deal for the shoulder armor to not be snug, and I'm just wrong? Please advise.

e: this is the thing I'm talking about if it matters http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/olympia-odyssey-one-piece-suit

If you have a decent tailor, you can definitely get it tailored.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 04:29

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# ? Jun 10, 2024 21:42

Stugazi: Mar 1, 2004; Who me, Bitter?

Seashell Salesman posted:

I ordered a medium and a large Olympia Odyssey suit online and after trying them both on I'm really not sure of the fit.

e: this is the thing I'm talking about if it matters http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/olympia-odyssey-one-piece-suit

If it doesn't fit send it back and try a different brand/size. Not all brands work on all bodies.

Gear needs to fit right to be effective. I wouldn't trust gear that's had any major tailoring. Defeats the design of the gear for protection.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 05:22

Digital_Jesus: Feb 10, 2011

The problem with tailoring is you need to find a tailor who has experience working with motorcycle gear and the proper thread weights / stitching patterns to survive a crash.

Your local "take in my shirt please" tailor is not really qualified for that kind of alteration.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 12:06

MetaJew: Apr 14, 2006; Gather round, one and all, and thrill to my turgid tales of underwhelming misadventure!

I think he meant a made to measure/custom fitted leathers. Dainese and other brands will do it, as will smaller shops.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 15:29

clutchpuck: Apr 30, 2004; ro-tard

Looking at helmets. I have a Shoei Qwest that I would like a lot more if it didn't whistle really loudly with the visor up. Anyhow, it's really gross now, too. All the vents are clogged with dead bees and bird poo poo, and it doesn't have a removable liner.

Anybody have a Shoei GT Air? Thoughts? Looks like a nice step up from the Qwest, but it's not Snell rated. I assume that is because of the internal visor.

Are the internal visors that cool? I am perfectly happy to run sunglasses, but I'm looking for something a little lighter than the Qwest with removable liner.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 17:43

Digital_Jesus: Feb 10, 2011

Why not look at the 1200 and swap to a smoke visor on sunny days?

# ? Apr 30, 2015 17:45

clutchpuck: Apr 30, 2004; ro-tard

The 1200 has removable liner? Cool.

Have you run one? How is the venting? Does it whistle?

Re smoke visor: still perfectly happy wearing sunglasses because I prefer polarized lenses. Sort of wish they'd do polarized visors.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 17:54

M. Night Skymall: Mar 22, 2012

clutchpuck posted:

Looking at helmets. I have a Shoei Qwest that I would like a lot more if it didn't whistle really loudly with the visor up. Anyhow, it's really gross now, too. All the vents are clogged with dead bees and bird poo poo, and it doesn't have a removable liner.

Anybody have a Shoei GT Air? Thoughts? Looks like a nice step up from the Qwest, but it's not Snell rated. I assume that is because of the internal visor.

Are the internal visors that cool? I am perfectly happy to run sunglasses, but I'm looking for something a little lighter than the Qwest with removable liner.

I have a GT Air and I love it. Not having to swap visors when the sun goes down or because the sun came out of the clouds or whatever is amazing. If you're going to ride in varied enough conditions where you don't want the hassle of carrying 2 visors I'd say it's worth it. SHARP gives it 3 stars which isn't the highest of course but is enough that it's probably fine. It also does a pretty good job of blocking out wind noise when I'm talking to people on my Sena and has built in pockets for speakers that fit a lot of systems. Had it about 7 months(maybe 5000 miles) now and have absolutely nothing to complain about. Construction all feels super solid and the sun visor still works just like the day I got it.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 17:58

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

Digital_Jesus posted:

Why not look at the 1200 and swap to a smoke visor on sunny days?

This is the way to ride. There's no substitute for that field of view and not getting sunburn on your nose.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 18:43

Manifest Dynasty: Feb 29, 2008

Does anybody have any experience with the transition self-tinting visor for the 1200? I've heard they are finally starting to become available. I'm also looking to replace my Qwest and want to avoid needing to swap visors...

# ? Apr 30, 2015 19:09

Digital_Jesus: Feb 10, 2011

clutchpuck posted:

The 1200 has removable liner? Cool.

Have you run one? How is the venting? Does it whistle?

Re smoke visor: still perfectly happy wearing sunglasses because I prefer polarized lenses. Sort of wish they'd do polarized visors.

I have an 1100 which is basically the same drat helmet. Venting is good. Doesn't whistle if you adjust the visor tension. Doesn't matter if it whistles if you wear earplugs.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 19:13

Marxalot: Dec 24, 2008; Appropriator of
Dan Crenshaw's Eyepatch

clutchpuck posted:

The 1200 has removable liner? Cool.

Have you run one? How is the venting? Does it whistle?

Re smoke visor: still perfectly happy wearing sunglasses because I prefer polarized lenses. Sort of wish they'd do polarized visors.

I've had an 1100 and a 1200. Venting seems good, but it only hit 85 here since I got it. No whistle, even when I crack the visor a bit. Thing owns.

Marxalot fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Apr 30, 2015

# ? Apr 30, 2015 19:22

YOLOsubmarine: Oct 19, 2004; When asked which Pokemon he evolved into, Kamara pauses.

"Motherfucking, what's that big dragon shit? That orange motherfucker. Charizard."

I have a 1200 as well and love it. Never noticed any whistle, though I do ride with plugs most of the time. The removable liner is great.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 19:40

predictive: Jan 11, 2006; For awesome, press 1.

Bought some Sedici gloves and they started coming apart in two days. Returned and got some Alpinestars gloves instead, hopefully they're better quality.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 19:46

Yuns: Aug 19, 2000; There is an idea of a Yuns, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.

predictive posted:

Bought some Sedici gloves and they started coming apart in two days. Returned and got some Alpinestars gloves instead, hopefully they're better quality.

I've been riding with the same Alpinestars GP Plus for 14 years.and even though the black dye is now faded a bit, the gloves and stitching have held up great.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 19:53

M. Night Skymall: Mar 22, 2012

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:

This is the way to ride. There's no substitute for that field of view and not getting sunburn on your nose.

How would you get sunburned? Even clear visors stop 99.9% of UV A/B and putting an internal visor down doesn't do anything to limit your field of view.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 20:44

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

Manifest Dynasty posted:

Does anybody have any experience with the transition self-tinting visor for the 1200? I've heard they are finally starting to become available. I'm also looking to replace my Qwest and want to avoid needing to swap visors...

Not riding experience, but they're super awesome. Transitions is a customer of mine and I've been watching them develop those things for a few years now.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 21:13

Frosty-: Jan 17, 2004; In war, you kill people in order to change their minds. Remember that; it's fuckin' important.

clutchpuck posted:

Anybody have a Shoei GT Air? Are the internal visors that cool?

I've got one and I think it's great. The internal sunshade works very well. I've heard some helmets with this feature suffer from noticeable distortion, but I think Shoei did a great job on theirs because I never feel like I'm looking through a thing; everything is just tinted.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 22:51

Lynza: Jun 1, 2000; "Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."
- Robert A. Heinlein

I don't have a Shoei, but I have a Transition visor and is absolutely the bee's knees. Previously I had an HTC helmet with the sun visor built in thing, and it was alright, but the Transitions is just great. Less weight, no rattle, and mine goes pretty dark. Even really bright sunny days don't bother me.

# ? Apr 30, 2015 22:54

its all nice on rice: Nov 12, 2006; Sweet, Salty Goodness.; Buglord

I have an RF100 and it is fantastic. That is all.

# ? May 1, 2015 00:41

Marxalot: Dec 24, 2008; Appropriator of
Dan Crenshaw's Eyepatch

predictive posted:

Bought some Sedici gloves and they started coming apart in two days. Returned and got some Alpinestars gloves instead, hopefully they're better quality.

Same, but I got Dianese gloves instead. They almost look new.

# ? May 1, 2015 00:53

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

NippleFloss posted:

I have a 1200 as well and love it. Never noticed any whistle, though I do ride with plugs most of the time. The removable liner is great.

I have a 1200. It is awesome and doesn't make noises because I adjusted the visor properly.

My only criticism is that it's cut so high at the back that the shape of the padding combined with the shape of my head means I get two jets of icy cold air shot directly at my ears on cold days. It's the first helmet I've owned where I feel like I'll need to get one of those neck/face tube things when winter hits full swing.

# ? May 1, 2015 01:29

funeral home DJ: Apr 21, 2003; Pillbug

Frosty- posted:

I've got one and I think it's great. The internal sunshade works very well. I've heard some helmets with this feature suffer from noticeable distortion, but I think Shoei did a great job on theirs because I never feel like I'm looking through a thing; everything is just tinted.

I just bought a GT-Air and about an hour of riding on it, and insofar it's spectacular. Not too much wind resistance when looking straight forward and it's not a horrible distraction when craning your head around at 70mph. Keep in mind, though, that you will need the Pinlock right away - I found that the chin shield thing they put in directs my breath right at the face shield and I'm constantly cracking the thing open when I come to a stop. If you keep moving there's no noticeable fogging but yeah, there's a reason they included a pinlock for free.

Frosty is absolutely right on the internal sunshade. It's pretty drat close to optically perfect and barely causes distortion at all.

# ? May 1, 2015 02:47

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester: Oct 3, 2000

M. Night Skymall posted:

How would you get sunburned? Even clear visors stop 99.9% of UV A/B and putting an internal visor down doesn't do anything to limit your field of view.

Maybe you don't get sunburned, but I do under a clear visor.
I shouldn't have generalized about the internal visors, I haven't tried them. But I know that there is a visibly better fov going from sunglasses-under-visor to just a tinted visor.

# ? May 1, 2015 03:19

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:

Maybe you don't get sunburned, but I do under a clear visor.

You must be the whitest kid you know. Are you a ginger or albino?

# ? May 1, 2015 04:01

clutchpuck: Apr 30, 2004; ro-tard

Slavvy posted:

I have a 1200. It is awesome and doesn't make noises because I adjusted the visor properly.

My only criticism is that it's cut so high at the back that the shape of the padding combined with the shape of my head means I get two jets of icy cold air shot directly at my ears on cold days. It's the first helmet I've owned where I feel like I'll need to get one of those neck/face tube things when winter hits full swing.

You're all talking about adjusting the visor properly... I know what you're saying, my Qwest whistles with the visor closed unless I press it in a little with my hand and then it stops. But there's no manual adjustment to the visor, it's supposed to be automagic according to the helmet's manual. There are springs in the ratchet mechanism that hold it tight... they barely work.

That's not what I'm talking about though. I'm talking visor full open, it's like a train whistle anything north (south for Slavvy) of 30MPH. I do a lot of riding with it open, and I want to get a new helmet that doesn't bother me through earplugs when I ride. Keeping it closed all the time isn't going to work for me.

# ? May 1, 2015 04:10

goddamnedtwisto: Dec 31, 2004; If you ask me about the mole people in the London Underground, I WILL be forced to kill you; Fun Shoe

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:

Maybe you don't get sunburned, but I do under a clear visor.
I shouldn't have generalized about the internal visors, I haven't tried them. But I know that there is a visibly better fov going from sunglasses-under-visor to just a tinted visor.

You must be buying some cheap loving visors, because any decent visor will be UV-blocking (not least because UV makes polycarbonate yellow and brittle).

# ? May 2, 2015 00:17

predictive: Jan 11, 2006; For awesome, press 1.

So I want some mesh pants with armor so I can ride with shorts underneath. I have an Olympia Switchback 2 jacket which is great, and it does have matching pants with a liner, which I want. The thing I don't like about the pants is that they're pretty loose, and I worry the armor will be useless in an off since it'll just flop to the side. Does anyone know of some good mesh pants with some kind of cinching straps or adjustment to get the armor tight on the knees? I'd prefer a liner and a back zipper.

# ? May 2, 2015 01:25

Chris Knight: Jun 5, 2002; me @ ur posts; Fun Shoe

Only problem I had sound-wise with my RF1100 was whooshing through the top rear vents. Leaving the top pair closed and the bottom pair open did the trick.

Other than that, it's the best fitting helmet I've owned.

# ? May 2, 2015 02:31

Ridgewell: Apr 29, 2009; Ai tolja tahitta ferlip inbaul intada oh'l! Andatdohn meenis ferlip ineer oh'l!

Ridgewell posted:

Thank you both, this is helpful. I am definitely looking only for high-quality gear, only used (but not abused) to lower the cost a bit. I would rather buy a full set of gear ridden for 4000km (~2500 miles) for EUR 300 (~USD 330) than the same gear for EUR 1300 (~USD 1400) new.

I did it and bought some used gear. It fits well (I could probably wear a thin sweater or some other second layer underneath the jacket) and feels comfortable. It looks to be in excellent shape; there are no scrapes or any other damage. The gloves feel particularly nice.