Last week we touched on a good few of the various technologies you can find in motorcycle gear, what they do to keep you safe, warm and dry as well as giving you some kind of guide to what each of the terms are referring to. Dainese has such an extensive number of technologies used in their gear that we’re going to take a second look at some of the other ones they have available to you as a motorcyclist.
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The number of different technologies that are available in bike gear nowadays is slightly mind-boggling. Gone are the days of simple leathers, denim or waxed cotton, now there are membranes, thermal regulation on top of different types of impact and abrasion resistance. Unfortunately for the hapless biker, brands often have their own versions of each thing, but fortunately we’re going to go through some of the ones most common to Dainese (and next week we’ll examine Alpinestars). Hopefully after this you’ll be a bit more confident decoding what means what!
We all take for granted that the helmets we buy from reputable retailers, such as ourselves, have passed a set of tests that make them useful to you in the event of a crash. It’s possible to buy cheap, fake and dangerous helmets but what makes a ‘proper’ helmet a ‘proper’ helmet? The basic regulation, set by the Economic Commission for Europe, has been updated for the first time in 20 years so it’s high time to see what goes into making a helmet safe.
Your feet are two of your critical control methods on a normal motorbike so it’s important to keep them protected from both the weather and any untimely accidents. With the weather changing it’s high time to sort out your weather protection.
Last time we covered some of the best waterproof jackets on offer, looking at textile and leather options to suit your riding – this time we’re looking at the other half; trousers.
It’s fair to say our excellent run of scorching weather and clear blue skies seems to be at an end. While it’s still fairly warm it’s definitely worth ensuring your waterproofing is up to scratch, if you’re caught out getting soaked your life can become a misery pretty quickly.
Sometimes it can be quite hard to recommend full-on summer gear to UK bikers – not so this year! We’ve been having minimal rain and a decent amount of sun that’s ideal for digging that vented gear out to enjoy sticky roads and clear blue skies.
Summer is most definitely with us with the UK having seem some scorching temperatures that make riding a bike a sheer necessity for the sticky tarmac and a guarantee of no frozen fingers or toes.
If you’re in the market for a quality set of gear with racing pedigree and Italian flair behind it you’re spoilt for choice in the motorcycling world, with Dainese and Alpinestars being two of the hard hitters in this segment. There is a third contender who is very much worth your consideration however with a reputation as good as the aforementioned brands; Spidi (not to be confused with Sidi or Spada!)
If you ladies are considering, or have done track days, you will know that for the best protection, you need to have a leather one-piece suit or leather trousers and jacket that connect together with a 360 degree zip. So here's my pick of the best motorcycle suits, and connectable jackets and trousers that are out there:
