Protective Gear?

[dranac23]

How much should I be spending on gear?

Leather Jacket
Kevlar/Denim jeans
Boots
Gloves

I'm guessing that more expensive means more protection but what is a reasonable first time?

Looking to just be road biking on a 600
Thanks

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Depends, how precious are you on used gear? My current leather cost £35, my textile jacket £15, both as new. Textile trousers were about £40, but pretty much just wear normal jeans. Boots were £90, I think, but also have a pair of foundry boots that cost me a tenner. Just bought two pairs of gloves for £25 in the bargain bin at my local J&S.

Expensive <> more protection.
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[arry]

Of all of that the leather jacket is going to be the expensive bit if you're buying new. Textile jackets tend to be a bit cheaper and pop up second hand on eBay all the time, so take advantage really.

Gloves - I've spent £70 on a pair of summer gloves recently that split at the seams on their own volition with nothing but a bit of wind blast to tempt them. My winter gloves are Spada, were £50, have had for ~6 years and been nice and toasty, water proof and still intact. My mate's Knox Handroid gloves were £180 and totally exploded in an off - which was a big off but still one he got up and walked away from. You could say the glove did its job but I still have it as a keepsake reminder of what goes wrong when you mess up, and it's a bloody mess.

Boots can be had for less than £100 that'll be totally usable and versatile. There's no need to go all out on Sidi Track boots with sliders if you're riding in jeans.

[tom_e]

More expensive tends to be a bit more comfortable and come with more features rather than massively increasing the protection I've found.

[dranac23]

Sounds as if its also like the helmets - The actual protection is similar, that expensive ones are due to features & comfort more so?

[arry]

[dranac23]

Great advise, thanks guys

[ZX-7R]

My current gear was mostly bought from Infinity's discount warehouse in Camberley.

£400 for an Ixon leather jacket,leather jeans and a waterproof textile jacket.

£35 for Ixon gloves.

RST Tracktech boots from HGB for £109.

Can easy kit yourself out in decent gear for £500 if you look around.

I have done the casual gear riding and it ain't fun when you crash.Worth spending a bit more on decent but not really top end gear in the long run.
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[ackack]

I started out with an Aldi special winter/summer coat, leather jeans from Gibralter because they were bloody cheap. Sidi boots and Spada gloves I think. Whole lot didn't cost a great deal but it got me through 2 months on a 125 and 4 years on bigger bikes. It wasn't until I had a lowside (about 40MPH) that I had to replace the jacket which held up surprisingly well.

I've since used RST leathers but the set I got last year the quality is noticeably poorer than previous 2 piece sets I've had.
Just get the best you can afford and just make sure everything fits well so try on gear before you buy. You will eventually in time have a couple of sets of gear for summer and winter. If all else fails just go for Rukka and Daytona boots for about 3k

[winz]

I started with some Kevlar Jeans, Textile Trousers and leather jacket. Didn't spend more than £300 for the lot. That was road riding on a 600.

Still got all that gear and bought an RST 2 piece and boots, usually wear that now as it's lighter and more fitted.
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[zico]

Nothing wrong with used gear if you're on a budget. I started with a reduced textile jacket from my local bike shop at £80, a used pair of Oxford textile waterproof trousers at £30, a Box helmet at £35, Oxford boots at £50 and Rayven gloves at £25. £220 all in and it all served its purpose very well. I then started upgrading as and when I could.
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[grr666]

Apart from my lids, my boots and one of my pairs of gloves (all bought brand new) all my jackets, trousers, back protectors, textiles was bought used via fleabay/bumtree. Bugger paying top dollar for stuff that ends up coated in fly guts anyway.
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[Silver_Fox]

[B5234FT]

I paid:

£35 for a pair of Hood kevlar jeans on ebay

£15 for a long touring textile jacket (Frank Thomas) on ebay

£30 for a mesh sport jacket in the Triumph sale (new)

£35 for a set of VERY 90s two piece leathers on ebay

£42 for a pair of alpinestars SMX-4 boots on ebay

£30 for a pair of gloves (bufallo I think) in my local bike shop when I was in for bits as I really wanted to try these on

£30 for a pair of textile trousers in an online sale for when its too cold/wet for jeans

Other than that I've got a high vis, a neck tube thing, some underarmour style wicking tops and a pair of willwalking style elastic waisted waterproof trousers and a LOMO roll top rucksack.

That said I've not tried falling off in any of it yet!

[Val]

[BTTD]

If you're buying new, Hood jeans get good reviews both online generally and from other members on here.

[talkToTheHat]

watch out for ebay bargains that have been crashed in. I know a few jerks that offload kit that's been thrown down the road on ebay.

A textile jacket can be cheaper but might wear faster than leathers. My (bankrupcy era) Hein Gericke jacket lasted 3 and a half winters. The zips gave out just as I was getting worried about wear between the waist belt and fabric underneath. Less complicated (sports?) styled kit have less zips and belts than adventure styled kit. I'm on an RST Tractech textile jacket at the moment, it has kept me dry and warm in the arse end of this winter and has not been too warm with the vents open and lining out in the recent warm weather. I think that was 120 new.

I had some £30 "australian bikers gear" trousers when I started riding. First pair fell apart in about a month. Replacement did their job in a 25mph off and were never used again.

I've had a set of £40 second hand RST leather trousers and they were great until crash #2, still have the matching jacket, which hasn't gone down the road and I'm getting too fat for it. I think that was about £60 in "as new" condition. Had my money's worth.

Both crashes killed a glove, and I don't skimp on them, they are the oone place where goretex is really worth paying for, so my waterproof gloves were about £100 new. my summer gloves are Held, but I got them at the onssent of winter for next to nothing.

I'm picky about boots. What you really need is crush proof soles and some ankle support. I paid for Altbergs because CE boots weren't in fashion then. Now you can pick up £70 Tuzo boots that meet the same standard.

It's better you get a full set of kit than one or two pricey items and no kit elsewhere. get covered then upgrade the shittest compnent as your budget allows. A few weeks of riding and you'll know how the next bit of kit could be better.

Anecdote alert: Took the girlfriend shopping for kit. She threw a paddy when I asked her if the first jacket we found that fit had adequate pockets. Now she complains that she can't fit her smartphone into the the jacket easily. Of course my last jacket shopping trip I made a point of cheching i could get my wallet/keys/phone into the jacket i wanted.
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