Racer’s new for 2021 Hi-Per glove is a culmination of the best features from their current and past gloves. Safety and fit are what Racer’s gloves are known for and the Hi-Per gloves are an excellent example of their efforts. The gloves feel broken-in right out of the package and include all the safety and protective features one expects in a race level glove.
It has been a while since I last reviewed a pair of gloves from Racer with those being the Grip gloves back in 2015. At that time I found myself “luke-warm” about those gloves. They offered good protection for street riding but the fit and comfort wasn’t convincing to me. If not for the company’s trademarked tagline “THE BEST FITTING GLOVES YOU CAN BUY”, I wouldn’t have felt as let down by those gloves.
Of course that was six years ago and I was only sampling one of the many models of gloves that Racer offered at the time. Recently webBikeworld received some of Racer’s latest for review including the new Pitlane and Multitop 2 gloves reviewed by my colleague Alan Buller. He found both gloves offered good protective features, but the star of the show was the comfort.
Recently, I was sent a pair of Racer’s Hi-Per race-level gloves for review. Considering my previous experience with their gloves, I went into this review being a bit dubious of the fit. Sure, they had all the protection one expects in a glove designed for the track, but how was the comfort going to be?
My review of the Knox Urbane Pro MKII Armoured shirt is now published up to webbikeworld.com. This armoured shirt (yes, I’m using the British spelling) steps up the abrasion resistance from the previous iteration to level AA from single “A” making this garment tough enough for use on the street without the need for an outer layer. This brings it in line with the Zephyr Pro jacket for durability in a crash.
This also blurs the line a bit between jacket and shirt as both feel very similar in weight and fit in a very like fashion. Whatever one calls it, they both can be worn as standalone protection. I loved my original Zephyr jacket and only replaced it after needing a larger jacket (or shirt) to accommodate my Klim Ai-1 airbag vest. Since I wanted to try something different I decided to give the Urbane a shot as it has a different look and a lighter color scheme available which I prefer for hot weather riding.
The protection doesn’t stop with abrasion resistance as Knox provides CE Level 1 MICROLOCK protectors at the elbows and shoulders. The back receives their very large and very soft CE Level 2 MICROLOCK back protector which is one of the largest “in-garment” protectors I’ve seen. It is also very well vented and very soft making it a great, albeit heavy, piece of protective kit to have watching one’s back. Knox offers CE Level 2 armor for the shoulders an elbows and I did this upgrade on mine right before the review was published. One can see the CE 1 vs CE 2 shoulder pieces in the photo above.
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
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.
Just in time for Christmas, I have the new Transit 3 suit from Aerostich in the house (literally) for review. My plan was to do an initial write up covering the details and construction since we are in Winter and I didn’t expect to get on the road with the suit.
I am actually pretty excited to get this suit, despite the look on my face 🙂
As it turns out, the unseasonably warm weather provided the opportunity to get out and give the Transit a proper shakedown today. There’s a lot to cover on this suit so you can expect a multi-part review much like my review of the Cousin Jeremy suit.
Keep an eye here ( and on WebBikeWorld.com ) for the first part of the Transit Suit 3 review to come in the next few weeks.
Summary: The AR Knee Protectors from Forcefield offers an alternative to integrated knee protectors in motorcycle riding pants. Fitting snugly against the knee (under or over riding pants) they will stay in place better in the event of a crash than armor installed in most protective riding pants. Unlike many standalone knee protectors, these can be used for street riding as well as off-road.
For many years now I have employed “ATGATT” when I ride. In my case, especially when commuting, this means I am wearing over-pants or other riding pants that will fit over work clothes. Being roomy enough to handle this situation means that the armor in these pants might not be held securely enough to remain in place in the event of a crash.
To mitigate this situation, for the past several years I have been removing the installed armor in my riding pants and have instead used MX style knee protectors in their stead. I’ve had protectors from Alpinestars, Thor, and Shift Racing over the years and they’ve served me well.
The problem with the aforementioned protectors is that they are not designed for street riding. I have used them with the idea I would rather have protectors I know will stay in place offering some protection, rather than the risk of suitable protectors not remaining in place when I need them.
So is there a better way?
WebBikeWorld was recently offered a chance to review the AR Knee Protectors from Forcefield and I jumped at the chance to try out some armor that might be the best of both worlds. Hit the link here to check out the full review.
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;
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.
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.
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.
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/
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