With 2020 in the rearview mirror, it’s time for a follow-up review to my initial look at the Aerostich Transit 3.0 suit. Part of the reason it has taken so long was due to COVID-19 putting the brakes on a lot of business and trade.
When I first received the Transit suit about a year ago, I found the pants ran a bit large. The size 36 I received was more like 37, plus they could stretch a couple of inches from there. They were basically unable to stay “up” without a belt or zipping them to the jacket. I also didn’t care for the position of the knee armor as a result of the large sizing.
After discussing this with the good folks at Aerostich they said they would send a smaller size and felt confident that this would address my concerns. This conversation happened in February 2020 and due to the effects of the pandemic, Aerostich wasn’t able to get a pair of 34’s sent to me until August 2020.
Here we are in January 2021 and I’ve had the past months to get some seat time with pants that fit properly. There are some other updates to the original “first look” included here so read on for all the details.
The Transit 3.0 Suit
For those of you who haven’t read the previous review or are coming into this review without little familiarity with the Transit Suit, here’s a quick summary.
The Aerostich Transit 3.0 is a two-piece motorcycle riding suit that employs a special waterproof and breathable leather material for the majority of the suit construction. The goal of this suit is to provide protection from both crashes and the elements and that it can be worn in a variety of climates.
To achieve this, Aerostich uses leather that is bonded with a waterproof and breathable membrane that together is called Corium+®. This material replaces the Gore-Tex® based Pro Shell leather used in the previous iterations of the Transit suit which became unavailable years ago.
Corium+®
So what is this new material making up most of the shell of this third iteration of the Transit suit? Corium+® is not really a specific product but rather a technology that can be applied to leather. Basically, it involves bonding multiple layers of materials, as well as treating micro-perforated leather to which they are bonded in order to create a waterproof and breathable final product. In the case of the Corium+ ® used in the Transit 3.0 suit, the leather is cowhide but other types of leathers can be used.
The above diagram shows how the various layers are stacked. You can go to the page here for an interactive version of the above graphic if you like. The quick rundown is:
Top Layer: Perforated layer
Mid: Waterproof membrane
Lower layer(s): Reinforcing layers to protect the membrane
You can get all the details on Corium+® at the Mat Group website.
The idea is to take the protective characteristic of leather and make it more comfortable for a wider range of weather conditions. By allowing water vapor to exit through the shell of the suit, it makes it more comfortable in warmer conditions as sweat doesn’t build up as fast as it might in typical waterproof gear.
Check out the full review over at webbikeworld for the full details and more photos.
