Recommend a new riding jacket

[roy826]

5 minutes ago, 1moreroad said:

Promise you - Aerostich zippers fail. They'll tell you that with the newer, more waterproof ones. They are very up front with what works well on their suits and what doesn't. 

 

25 years never had that happen! Yes first one piece leaked a bit in crotch. Followed the procedure on the phone and no more issue. New one is even better just bought it last year rode in it for 7 days to key west and back no issues. 
 

I’ve looked at the Vietnam made stuff that’s so popular now. No comparison in feel and quality. Only thing similar is the price lol I’ll ride my stitch to the 6’ hole. 

[Ride365]

18 hours ago, roy826 said:

Made in Vietnam all I had to see. Yes I have many friends who’ve bought it. 25 years with aerostich and I’ve had not one issue with a zipper, fading yes,some Velcro failure after 10 years, oh well,  fit yes I lost weight and had to rebuy it all. 

Not my Darien jacket, but yes my AD1 pants are.....hey it's not CHINA so I'm totally fine with that.

Edited November 28, 2020 by Ride365

[Ride365]

12 hours ago, 1moreroad said:

Promise you - Aerostich zippers fail. They'll tell you that with the newer, more waterproof ones. They are very up front with what works well on their suits and what doesn't. 

 

Still waiting on mine to fail......I'll keep waiting.

[1moreroad]

41 minutes ago, Ride365 said:

Still waiting on mine to fail......I'll keep waiting.

Aerostich told me this in a call I had after my main zipper failed after 5 years.  I use it as a commuter suit so lots of on/off zipping. Just about broke it 120 miles from home trying to close the suit. Not sure if it would have held in a crash. The newer waterproof zippers don't last as long as the older, leakier ones. Since I only had 2 or 3 years of service life left in my suit and I was frustrated in the ventilation (RC is not a good commuter suit in the MS Delta) I tried Klim. Their Gore Tex is failing making me think I'll go back to less expensive jackets in the future.

I've got 2 jackets that are going on 20 years that I still use seasonally, so some of my gear lasts a long time. 

For the OP:

Tourmaster jacket - 1 year until waterproofing started peeling off

Teknic (don't think it's sold in the US anymore) - mesh jacket still in use in summers after almost 20 years. Multilayer jacket discarded after too frayed and torn after 15 years. Replaced by the Klim. 

Aerostich - Bought used 2010. 5 years until refresh needed after lowside crash at 20 mph (no injury). Zipper failure after another 5 years. Very waterproof. Poor ventilation but still somehow cold in 50 degree temperatures without layers. Replaced lowers with AD1 pants. 

Spidi leathers 2 piece - Bought 2003. Used for all travel until the Aerostich. Still use jacket. 1 track lowside at 30+ mph, 1 highside at maybe 20 mph screwing around on a supermoto. No jacket damage no injury. Velcro is well worn. 

Klim - 1 year and a tear in the Gore tex that I'll get repaired. 

[KeithQ]

On 11/23/2020 at 2:23 PM, Ride365 said:

Aerostich Darien.....all you need.  

Or even an Aerostitch Darien light. They make excellent stuff that lasts for years. I have a Darien that is about 20 years old. I did send it up and had a couple of repairs and some of the reflective strips replaced last year. 

[Ride365]

42 minutes ago, KeithQ said:

Or even an Aerostitch Darien light. They make excellent stuff that lasts for years. I have a Darien that is about 20 years old. I did send it up and had a couple of repairs and some of the reflective strips replaced last year. 

Yup I have the Darien light.  

[Rick123]

And the new addition (to Klim Latitude Misano jacket/pants combo) Carlsbad jacket is on it's way. This one for riding around and for summer time. Prefer it over Aerostitch because of much better venting. That's the main reason. 

[roy826]

Aerostich is so well made after you get your 10 or so years use out of it you can go sell it on ADVrider and let someone else get use out of it on the cheap. Every stitch item I have sold used on there the buyer was extremely happy with it. I've even swapped sizes on there during my up and down size transformations over the years.

Could the Aerostich gear be better? absolutely but for me the fit is good right off their rack in regular sizes (except the darien pants I hate those high stride things) and I get years of use with minimal maintenance to the gear during that time.

[keithu]

I've had many Aerostich zipper pulls fail over the last 23 years, but never the zipper itself. Zipper pulls aren't too difficult to repair yourself: Aerostich sells kits and Youtube has videos. 

[roy826]

4 hours ago, keithu said:

I've had many Aerostich zipper pulls fail over the last 23 years, but never the zipper itself. Zipper pulls aren't too difficult to repair yourself: Aerostich sells kits and Youtube has videos. 

Yes me too snd it was an easy fix after a quick trip to a craft store for a zipper pull. 

[keithu]

13 hours ago, roy826 said:

Yes me too snd it was an easy fix after a quick trip to a craft store for a zipper pull. 

My local craft store never seems to have the correct zipper pulls so I just order the repair kits from Aerostich. 

[rlambke19]

Resurrecting this old thread - but I am looking for a waterproof riding jacket and pant set. I have Gore Tex gloves and boots and am tired of stopping and throwing on the rain gear.

Does anyone have any experience with either Held or iXS gear from Europe?

Cheers,

Rob 

 

[1moreroad]

On 12/15/2020 at 3:49 PM, keithu said:

I've had many Aerostich zipper pulls fail over the last 23 years, but never the zipper itself. Zipper pulls aren't too difficult to repair yourself: Aerostich sells kits and Youtube has videos. 

I had a zipper fail. Not the pull, the teeth and the ends. Local seamstress recommended tearing it out and splashing it as did Aerostich based on photos. Aerostich told me this sometimes happens on their newer zippers.

[Rick123]

11 hours ago, rlambke19 said:

Resurrecting this old thread - but I am looking for a waterproof riding jacket and pant set. I have Gore Tex gloves and boots and am tired of stopping and throwing on the rain gear.

Does anyone have any experience with either Held or iXS gear from Europe?

Cheers,

Rob 

 

Get well vented set (Klim perhaps). Gore-Tex doesn’t breathe as well as textile gear. 

[rlambke19]

7 hours ago, Rick123 said:

Get well vented set (Klim perhaps). Gore-Tex doesn’t breathe as well as textile gear. 

AFAIK, the majority of Klim gear uses Gore Tex for waterproofing.

My experience with Gore Tex is that it is the ONLY waterproofing membrane technology that actually breathes.  

Edited March 3, 2022 by rlambke19