There’s a good chance you’ve heard of the brand Rukka, they’ve become something of a byword for the best textile gear available. You’ll find some commuters swear by their gear, not just due to the great quality, but because of the up to 6 year warranty that actually delivers on its promise.If you’re doing a lot of miles in all weathers and as a result can justify getting the very best, look no further than Rukka.
Where did Rukka come from though? Their reputation didn’t just appear overnight after all!
As seems to often be the case, the ever-ingenious Scandinavians are responsible for this great all-weather riding gear. We Brits consider our weather to be some of the most pitiful to put up with riding in, but at least we haven’t got hard winters to contend with, and we still get a nice chunk of daylight in the winter months. Head into the upper latitudes and you still get a lot of the rain, but it gets a damn sight colder and darker, so you would expect the hardy people living there and riding bikes to know how to keep themselves dry and warm.
Rukka’s gear is a culmination of this desire, and because our weather is like a wetter, less cold version of Scandinavia’s, it’s ideal for riders over here.
Rukka pushed out its first bit of waterproof gear in 1953 as AB Sportsbeklädnad Urheiluvaatetus Oy (I can’t pronounce it either!), based in Finland. Eventually in 1966 it became Rukka Products, and finally Rukka. The flags you see in the logo of Rukka are the flags that spell R.U.K.K.A in the International Flag Signal alphabet.
Partnerships with Gore (for Goretex) and DuPont (for Cordura and other advanced materials) have meant that Rukka, along with its in-house research and development, have stayed at the forefront of motorcycle gear, with the first Goretex-Rukka product appearing over 30 years ago; suffice to say things have only improved since then!
Advances in thermal and weather protection layers, such as Outlast, and the aforementioned Goretex, all do come at a cost to the customer, but you really are getting the very best. For example, Rukka is one of not a huge number of manufacturers using the Gore Lockout Closure on its top of the line jackets; the world’s most waterproof zip. Inclusion of Outlast, D3O armour in the elbows and shoulders at a minimum, a Cordura-Kevlar weave and venting in their jackets make them serious bits of kit, with their trousers containing the same advanced design and features.
This same devotion to making the best of the best can be found in their range of gloves too, with the implementation of the Goretex Xtra-Fit membrane giving their summer gloves the waterproofing of a winter glove, touchscreen compatible fingertips, hard knuckle armour and scaphoid protection in some gloves giving protection in a road glove rivalling a race glove in some cases, but offering the weather protection of a decent gauntlet…or the dreaded bar muff! The R-Star even includes dual chamber technology, allowing you to swap between a winter-bias glove or a summer vented glove at will.
Obviously it’s all very good taking our word for this, but if you can find a Rukka owner they almost universally have good things to say about their gear, and probably find it hard to go back to anything else. A great indicator of quality and design is simply picking up the garment off the peg and just getting the intimation of quality from simply holding the thing. You might be a little taken aback by the price of some of their garments, some exceed £1000, but you have to treat it as an investment. The 6 year warranty (for jackets and trousers) is known to be one of the best ones you’ll find from a manufacturer, with Rukka even offering loan pieces of kit while yours is being fixed on occasion. If you decide to fall off your bike and damage the kit then obviously that isn’t covered by the warranty, but if something goes wrong that’s down to its manufacturing they’ll fix it free of charge, and the fact it’s 6 years shows just how much faith they have in their gear lasting that long when it’s designed to be used in all weathers. Gloves and other accessories are covered by a 2 year warranty, not too shabby either.
The proof is in the pudding of course, so make a point of coming down and checking our Rukka gear range at our shop in Stevenage; get a feel for the quality that oozes from these garments and rest assured in that lengthy 6 year warranty. If the initial price is a bit too much to swallow, and you’re fed up of other gear getting you cold and wet sometimes, then Bike Stop does also offer finance options.
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