Author: Brandon Jackson (Page 3 of 16)

The Transit Suit is Back!

September 9, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

Aerostich is bringing back one of their most sought after products this October. The Transit waterproof and breathable two piece leather suit returns to the ‘Stitch lineup and with new products available for shipping this October!
( Images in this article are from the Aerostich website )

The Transit suits were always quite the aspirational riding gear setup for me and many of my fellow riders. I always loved the idea of the durability and protection of a special leather combined with waterproof and breathable qualities. Of course this special blend of features (and awesome looks IMO)came at a significant price at over $2,000.00 (USD) for both the jacket and pants together.

The new Transit 3 jacket and pants come in just under the price of the last iteration of Transit gear with the Transit 3 jacket running $987.00 and the Transit 3 pants commanding $897.00. These prices are still quite the premium over textile suits but for what one is getting, I’d say it’s not “crazy expensive” but perhaps more like “pretty pricey”.

The Transit 2 apparel was discontinued due to what Aerostich called “materials (supply-chain) complications”. The Transit 2 was made from GORE-TEX Pro Shell leather and this must have become hard to acquire. The Transit 3 gear is made from a laminated leather material called CORIUM+. This material is a new one on me and I’ll be doing my best to find out more about in the coming days and weeks.

I have to say I’m blown away by this return of what many considered the ultimate multi-season street riding suit. I have been eyeing my closet full of gear today see how much I can get if I sold all of it to put towards the new Transit 3. I’ll post more info on the return of the Transit as I find it.

-Brandon

TCX Vibe Air Boots Review

August 11, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

Summer is in full swing here in Tennessee and it’s hot and humid. It may not be the most pleasant weather for motorcycle riding in full protective gear but as the saying goes, I’d rather sweat than risk injury from a crash (or something like that).

On the other hand, the heat does provide the opportunity for some evaluation of hot weather riding gear. My current summer riding gear includes mesh riding pants from Olympia, the Knox Zephyr riding jacket, and the well ventilated Scorpion EXO ST 1400.

Of course, something has been missing from my summer gear kit for a few years now and that’s vented riding boots. Somehow I’ve neglected to replace my Alpinestars Recon boots from years ago (I miss those) so I was overdue for some hot weather friendly kicks.

I spent some time back at the start of the Summer pouring over various summer riding boot options and finally landed on a pair that ticked all the right boxes. Among the many boxes were;

Airflow (mesh or vents)
Mid-height
CE protection
Under $250.00 (USD)

So as one would guess at this point, the TCX Vibe Air boots were where I landed. Head over to webBikeWorld.com for the review.

Cousin Jeremy 2 Piece Suit | Part 2

July 22, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

It’s not often that I write a multi-part review but I felt it was necessary in the case of the Cousin Jeremy suit. I wanted to be able to not only describe the details of the suit but also be able to report on how the suit it breaks in and how this impacts comfort and fit.

This installment over at webBikeWorld will also take a look at the protective features of the Cousin Jeremy as well as details on how Aerostich worked with me to adjust the fit of the suit I was sent.

Check out the complete review here: https://www.webbikeworld.com/aerostich-cousin-jeremy-suit-review-part-two/

In that initial review, I offered a detailed look at the suit and took a deep dive into the construction details of the pants and jacket. If you missed the initial installment of our Cousin Jeremy two-piece suit review you can check it out here.

Knox Nexos Glove Review | WBW

July 4, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

The Nexos gloves to me are the next logical step up in protection from the Orsa Leather MKII gloves which I reviewed previously. Not that the armor and protective features are a huge step above but rather the Nexos gloves have a substantial gauntlet offering protection over a larger area than the short-cuff Orsa gloves.

A black or white and black color scheme is available, with the gloves shown in this review being the latter color scheme. I chose the white as it should be a little cooler on sunny days and, of course, the bright white offers more visibility over the more stealthy all-black version.

Knox offers up the Nexos gloves as either a “Sport” or “Touring” glove depending on how one interprets their website. The description on the Nexos product page refers to them as “The Nexos Sport Glove” but they are listed under the “Touring” category in the product listings. Let’s just call them sport-touring and leave it there.

There are several hard armor pieces on the gloves but they are not as plentiful or large as on a full racing glove. They are also relatively lightweight and flexible which leads them to have easier storage in small spaces over some full-on sport or racing gloves like Knox’s own Handroid gloves.

For the full details head over to WebBikeWorld.com for my complete review.

Arai Defiant-X Helmet Review

June 2, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

I have the new Defiant-X helmet from Arai in the house for evaluation and this one is quite the roller coaster ride. There are ups and downs across the board here which isn’t what I expected from a premium helmet maker like Arai.

Make no mistake the paint, graphics, and finish are superb and this Snell rated helmet is certainly tough and protective but close inspection reveals some minor issues. These would be more easily overlooked on a helmet at half the price, but at over $800.00 (USD) in this particular graphic version, I find these disappointing.

Hit the link here for the full review with all the details and photos.

Sena Prism Wifi Camera Review

May 22, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

This review took a while to get published over at wBW as it fell off of our radar for a bit but better late than never. I have mixed feelings about the Sena Wifi Prism camera.

On the one hand, the camera is very simple to use and the footage can be uploaded to YouTube and edited using the tools on YouTube. On the other hand, serious amateurs and pros looking for edit friendly footage and manual adjustments will find this camera lacking.

The build quality is excellent and everything that is required to start capturing video is included save for a memory card. For a no fuss, no muss solution, this is a good one. For the more fussy of us out there, we might look elsewhere.

Check out the complete review over at WebBikeWorld.com.

The Scorpion EXO ST1400 Review

April 30, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

Scorpion’s latest entry in the full face sport touring helmet space is a carbon fiber, feature-filled orb of protective goodness. This lightweight lid has every option I can think of that would be useful for sport touring riders and does this in a stylish and sporty looking fashion. All of the features do of course add a cost in weight so while the ST1400 is relatively light, it is not quite the lightest in class.

This helmet has a lot to offer with only some minor areas that I feel could be improved / changed. One being the optical quality of the visors. Both visors are OK with the main visor being a bit better than the drop down sun visor but I would like to see less distortion here. Also I would like see some other color/graphic options other than the mostly black options available now.

Check out the full review over at WebBikeWorld.com for all the details and photos of the Scorpion EXO ST1400.

Trilobite Comfee Gloves Review

April 17, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

My review of the Trilobite Comfee gloves is now posted up to webBikeworld.com today. These short cuff adventure/offload gloves offer a lot of protection for the price including a TPU knuckle guard and an aramid lining. Check out the full review here:
https://www.webbikeworld.com/trilobite-comfee-gloves-hands-on-review/

Trilobite Ace Jacket Review

April 9, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

Overview
The Ace Jacket from Trilobite is a lot more than meets the eye. This textile jacket looks like a denim jacket at first but it is cut much more like a sport riding jacket than a cruiser one. The real surprise is what lies under that denim shell and the protection it offers. Definitely an interesting and sharp looking piece of gear.

Back in Summer, 2018, I was introduced to Czech riding apparel maker, Trilobite. They were a new name to me when I was reviewing their 1860 Ton Up jeans last year despite the fact they have been around since 2012.

Having made their mark in Europe over the past few years I’m glad to see they are making strides to get their products into the US market. While their full lineup is not yet available here in the States, there are several pieces available through MotoNation which is currently the sole reseller here on this side of the pond.

Since that first jeans review (and second), I’ve become much more familiar with the company and recently received some new gear to review. Among the gear that landed at my door was a new addition to their jacket lineup. This jacket has the outer appearance of denim but the cut and style more suited towards sport / touring riders.

Frankly, I’m not a big fan of denim jackets for motorcycle riding but once I had a look at the tags and felt the material of the jacket, I understood there was much more here than meets the eye. With that said , click here for the full review over at webBikeWorld.com.

Trilobite Go-Up Jeans Review

April 8, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

The Trilobite Go-Up jeans take a minimalist approach to motorcycle riding jeans. The emphasis is on simplicity and durability with a Dyneema ® / cotton denim fabric and straight cut that can accommodate standalone knee protection. Price is closer in line with other riding jeans in comparison to the Ton-Up jeans which we reviewed last year.

I really appreciate when a manufacturer engages with me in regards to a product that I reviewed. I’ll take the negative with the positive because the important thing is it shows they’re paying attention to independent and unbiased reviews like those we publish here at Web Bike World.

The story of this review you are about to read started with a phone call I received from Jason at Motonation. He informed me that Trilobite had seen my review of their Ton-Up jeans and that they wanted to send me a pair of new jeans designed around the comments in my review of the Ton-Up’s.

Read the full review and see all the photos over at webbikeworld.com.