Does Mesh Gear With Good Protection Exist?

[bmart]

I usually wear fully armored leathers, but once in a while for a local ride, I wear mesh top and bottom. I have some Joe Rocket mesh gear from years back and remember reading how they wove metal fibers into the mix and that abrasion tests were quite good. But, it has only soft armor. A few years ago I upgraded to a vented Cordura jacket and mesh pants that came with a wind block and a liner. They are both made by TourMaster. Top and bottom both also have hard and soft armor.

Yesterday on a local ride, my right knee lightly grazed the tarmac for a fraction of a second. The pants disintegrated in that section. Needless to say, I am very disappointed. How could they ever hold up in a crash? I covered the area with duct tape, which it appears would do a better job with abrasion.

So my question is, does anyone make quality mesh gear that stays together for the most part (I know that is isn't leather), has hard/soft armor that stays in place, zips together, and perhaps even has velcro for pucks?

Thanks!

P.S. And not black, but something light like silver, white, grey, etc.

[RollinAgain]

That's the big tradeoff of having super air flow around your entire body while you ride. Mesh gear is certainly better than not wearing any gear at all but I certainly wouldn't feel safe going down in them at anything above 25 - 30 mph. If you want to wear mesh I think you're best bet in terms of safety would be to wear some additional armored protection underneath. You can buy armored shirts / pants that are designed to be worn under your clothes and they are available from numerous places but they can also be costly depending on the brand / quality.

I have never seen any mesh or textile pants that are designed to work with slider pucks. This is due to the fact that the sliders are designed to be attached to pants that are fairly tight fitting such as leather. Textile and mesh pants are more loose fitting by design which could cause the puck position to change which could lead to injury.

Rollin

[Higgin]

I used to wear only fully armored leather jackets, but for me there were 2 big drawbacks....1. The heat - with the Humidity and heat in summer, they would just get nasty to wear and limited the time I wanted to ride. This was partially solved with a Joerocket Leather jacket that had panels you could zip off under the arms all the way down to the waist revealing mesh underneith, but the jacket was usually on the small size for me and I couldnt find anything similar new when it was time to replace, which leads me to the seconds reason I got away from leathers.....2. I have Crohns disease (an issue with my stomach/intestenes, etc) and my weight can vary by as much as 40-45 lbs over the course of a riding season. That led me to have 2 leather jackets, but it seemed like most of the time one was either too big or the other too small and it was rare that either actually fit correctly and there just isnt that much adjustability in leather (fat guy in a little coat comes to mind lol). So I started looking for alternatives when my 2 leather jackets were starting to get to the end of their usable lives. I wanted something more comfortable in the heat, that had the ability to be adjusted to fit me through most of my weight changes, and I wanted something that seemed decently safe in a crash. What I ended up with was the Cortech GX Air Series 2 jacket. It is a mesh jacket but it has leather panels in the main "crash zones" - elbows, shoulders, and down the back. It also has a wide range of adjustability through the waist, chest and arms which was important for me, but proably not so much to everyone else :) I've been using the jacket for about a year now and I really like it. It is much much cooler in the summer heat and humidity, and seems like it would be relatively safe in a crash, but thankfully I haven't had to test that yet (knock on wood). You can check the jacket out here on newenoughs old page for it... http://www.motorcyclegear.com/street/closeouts/last_chance_bargains/cortech_by_tour_master/gx_air_series_2_motorcycle_jacket.html Unfortunatly, I bought one of the last remaining jackets when it went of closeout a year ago, and the new GX AIR Series 3 jacket has done away with the leather panels and is now just a straight mesh jacket with ballistic nylon. It does look like there are some left around the internet though, so you may be able to find one if thats what you are interested in. FYI - I think I paid $99 for mine on closeout, so that's what I look for pricewise. Hope that helps you out, or at least maybe points you in a better direction for mesh gear. The one thing that sucks though, is that they never made a matching pair of pants for this jacket as far as I know, so I ended up just having to get just some normal Textile pants to zip to the jacket.

[bmart]

Very interesting. The top that goes with my "fail" pants is a GX Sport Series 2, a cousin to the one you enjoy. Mine looks great. Features are superb. In actual riding, it is a terrible jacket. The venting is set up so that the you get strangled by the neck, even if the jacket is zipped to the pants. The Velcro clasp that is supposed to hold the zipper tab down is much too rigid and it does nothing but bounce around in the wind. The inner cell phone pockets aren't large enough for my phone. The list is endless. I've tried to contact TourMaster many times since I bought the pair in 2009 but they apparently don't care enough to help. One of my friends suggested that Fieldsheer quality is considerably higher than TourMaster, but from touching equipment from various manufactures in the stores, I don't see a lot of difference.

Ideally, at least to me, good all around gear could have mesh or heavy venting in the non impact/sliding zones, leather with hard replaceable external armor and soft internal armor in the impact/sliding zones, and velcro for pucks. All of this armor should stay in place, which it does not on any of my non-leather gear. The Cordura/mesh gear is so loose (comfortable?) that the real world safety aspect seems ignored. I guess that is what I'm looking for from other riders. Have you found that?

I have a older, but very high quality (same hard armor) two piece set of leathers. Sadly, they are black and very hot, even with their limited venting completely open. Maybe I should look fo ra very vented two piece for these street rides.

[Conedodger]

I like the Olympia Motorsports products. From what I've seen, they use a higher denier Cordura in the critical areas. Haven't tested them yet...thankfully!

[bmart]

Thanks guys. I'll have to try to find a place that stocks some things to try on. Those days seem to have gone the way of the dodo.

[luvtoleanit]

Mesh = chunk it. Your skin is more valuable than heat. I ride in 100 degree weather with high humidity in fully perfed leather and its a non issue. The newer jackets and suits with perf work extremely well. I'm cool all day unless there is a dead stop and that will be hot in anything. Harden up

[bmart]

Some of us are petite flowers, like me. lol

Thanks for the advice, but i'm looking for some mesh options, if there are any. Everything in life is a balance. I run plenty of 100F+ days on the track in full vented gear. It is nothing like wearing, well...nothing. Someone who is overheated and likely to crash (i've seen it multiple time on the street and track) is in much more danger than someone is slightly lesser gear but aware...and not likely to have an incident. One guy's $.02.

Given the choice, I'd be in the best gear available all of the time. I preach safety constantly. But that isn't going to happen due to budget and the variation in riding. For local jaunts with plenty of stopping in the heat/humidity, I'm going to compromise a bit and retain my cognitive skills, no matter the delicate vessel they inhabit. :)

[Grayv3]

I run Olympia textile/mesh 3 season jacket & pants that are a higher cordora rating than avg. I've used them at 16deg to 100 deg on the hwy in traffic. With all liners in they fit very nicely. With them out they do tend to grab some air but with all the adjustments set its brought down to a minimum.

[bmart]

Excellent. Two folks for Olympia. Thanks!

[ron_al]

If i were looking for high quality mesh gear (& ready to pay accordingly), i would probably start with Motoport's kevlar mesh gear.

http://www.motoport.com/index.php?option=com_redshop&view=category&layout=detail&cid=27&Itemid=15

No firsthand exp with their kevlar mesh, but mw wife & i like our Motoport kevlar (non-mesh) gloves. And a local friend loves his motoport kevlar suit.

Good luck

Ron

[Belfry]

Just tripped across this WebbikeWorld piece on motorcycle clothing safety standards. There's a short video of an "Anvil" test (anvil drops on material and lifts when it wears through)--and Cordura 500 lasts less than a second! Doesn't bode too well for mesh...

That said, I have two mesh jackets. A older Joe Rocket Santa Fe with leather on the elbows and shoulders and pretty substantial-feeling hard armour, and a Fly 8th Street Mesh jacket new this summer. The Fly feels heavier, but doesn't have any leather (just multiple layers of Cordura) in the impact areas along with the (softer) armour. I'm sure neither would provide as much protection as my Pilot perforated leather jacket, but the latter is warmer in all riding situations. So, it's a trade-off as we all know. Good luck!

[bmart]

Others on my local forum suggested motoport also. I like what they do, and it looks like it would last a lifetime. Not sure I'd want to work out sizing on my own. I wish they were east coast.

[Grayv3]

Here's the link for the jacket I bought. It says it's 2000 cordura. When I was at the store & looking at it I spoke to an employee who had the same one with him that was in an accident where he went over the hood of a car making a left doing 40 mph. http://www.revzilla.com/product/olympia-mens-viper-mesh-tech-jacket and here's the link for the pants http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/olympia-airglide-3-over-pants . I got the jacket on closeout with $100 too! Hope this helps

[2thdr]

If you are not going to pony up for the Motoport gear, which is probably the best in mesh protection available, try Rev'It. I have the Gear 2 pants paired with the Ignition 2 jacket. I had a relatively low speed, but hard down low side earlier this summer and was wearing the version 1 of both. The gear survived the crash well, with only some rashed areas. All the seams held and the mesh areas only look abraided, but otherwise intact. The leather areas of course show some abrasion, but held up well. The jacket and pants have mesh in non-impact areas and leather in the impact zones. IMO it is some of the most superior gear available. Not cheap however!

[MaxSwell]

After experiencing a high-speed landing on the shoulder of a freeway and seeing what it did to my leather Aerostich Transit Jacket/Pants, it's only leather for me. To address the heat issue, the Transit Suit has a proprietary solar-reflective pigment treatment that makes it wear up to 30F cooler, and some of the panels are made of perforated leather - lets air in. And the TF5 armor, which I've tested thoroughly, is magic; it has saved A LOT of my skin, muscle and bones. I wear it in 90F+ temps. I sweat sure; wringing wet tee shirts.

But I AM alive and RIDING less than four months later. And I'm 64 yrs old!

I'd have been skinned alive if I'd had mesh on.

[JETS]

I think it is best to look at mesh as cooler, and that is a real thought in hot parts of the country, but really it is a sacrificial holder of the armor underneath. Expect the mesh to abrade quickly on contact, shred, melt, disappear. The armor will likely hold out the next few seconds if it contains a layer of resistant material, such as ABS under the foam. If it all works well you get up uninjured, or maybe with a few hot spots, but nothing like if it weren't on. The gear will be toast, as it is meant to be a sacrificial layer, giving its one life to save your hide(pretty well).

Leather is far better if you can stand it in the heat, and as said, perfed helps.

I have been off in leathers several times on the track, and never an abrasion or suit failure. I low sided once in FirstGear mesh pants, and they did the job, but as I said, they only are likely to go around once. I feel best inside the laether cocoon. My experience.

[wera803]

For Motoport. I've had my Kevlar Mesh suit for about 5 or 6 years now. Just bought the Stretch Kevlar gloves this year too. My GF also has a Kevlar Mesh suit, although she wears her 2-piece leathers just about as much as the Motoport suit depending on weather.

[Hvrnaut]

I have the Motoport / Cycleport stretch Kevlar Riva Jacket and Street Jeans. Had them about 8 years. They are very good, and I feel very well protected in them. If I had to do it all over, I would likely chose the Mesh. I believe the mesh offers equal protection, but emphasizes different strengths, if you will.

I would also not have chosen all black! Still, the gear has lasted, is pretty comfy, and is, IMHO, among the best gear going. Ridiculously easy to take care of. I would really welcome a little more air coming through the gear.

Check out the site, and specifically read the "Save your Hide Guide". If you don't purchase from them, its still good info to know.