northwind
18-03-06, 10:55 PM
No attempt at integrity here, I love my new Celsius jacket ;) So toasty! My old Lookwell was fantastic- warm, comfy, the armour stayed in place, good pockets, no annoying design failures... Not very waterproof any more but it's 3 and a half years old. But the knox foam armour was getting a bit squashed, so I went to the bike show to look for some more...
And found that Busters was selling these Celsius jackets for £100 with full knox armour, including a proper back protector- not just the usual foam junk. So i snapped one up- it'd be more expensive just to buy the armour! They used to be £300 but Belstaff have pulled out of the bike market, having been bought out.
And what a piece of kit... I'm still finding pockets, not one of which is in a really stupid place, or hard to use, or too small. The zips are all well protected to stop them from scratching the tank. Unlike most winter jackets it's not got a removable liner- so it'll probably be too hot for summer, but it does have good vents (usually vents in winter jackets with removable liners are a waste of time, since hte liner blocks them).
It seems tough, the cuffs work... It comes with a massive neck gaiter thing that I've taken off, but which looks like it would be brilliant for long distance stuff (it's just a nuisance on a commute, but it's removable). The neck's high enough to keep my neck warm without interfering with my helmet too. It's a little bit over-long... But that helps keep things warm and dry of course, and it has unzippable splits at the side to prevent it from being restrictive. There's even an inner seal which you cn use to prevent any drafts around the waist.
I've got the small, but it's not all that small ;) And frankly, at 5'10 I shouldn't be a small, but Belstaff's sizes are ridiculous. I also have Belstaff fabric trousers which I wear over jeans or work trousers, and my 32/32 legs are apparently small also.
There's 2 retractable straps on teh arm to help secure all that top-notch armour, and there's several layers of material on the abrasion areas for maximum protection. Lastly, it's got 3M reflective pieces all over.
And it's so warm! But not hot. What I mean by this is, it's comfortable on a 50 minute motorway bash in the rain, in march, in scotland. It's also comfortable walking around the shops in. No, i don't know how this works either, but it does. It's warmer than my lookwell but doesn't cause me to boil over like it did.
All in all, an utterly fantastic bit of kit. And only £100. Like I say, that wouldn't even buy the armour usually. If you're looking for a winter jacket, Busters may have these on the website. And you're really not going to beat these at £100. Unless you're less than 5.10, in which case you're beneath Belstaff's attention ;)
And found that Busters was selling these Celsius jackets for £100 with full knox armour, including a proper back protector- not just the usual foam junk. So i snapped one up- it'd be more expensive just to buy the armour! They used to be £300 but Belstaff have pulled out of the bike market, having been bought out.
And what a piece of kit... I'm still finding pockets, not one of which is in a really stupid place, or hard to use, or too small. The zips are all well protected to stop them from scratching the tank. Unlike most winter jackets it's not got a removable liner- so it'll probably be too hot for summer, but it does have good vents (usually vents in winter jackets with removable liners are a waste of time, since hte liner blocks them).
It seems tough, the cuffs work... It comes with a massive neck gaiter thing that I've taken off, but which looks like it would be brilliant for long distance stuff (it's just a nuisance on a commute, but it's removable). The neck's high enough to keep my neck warm without interfering with my helmet too. It's a little bit over-long... But that helps keep things warm and dry of course, and it has unzippable splits at the side to prevent it from being restrictive. There's even an inner seal which you cn use to prevent any drafts around the waist.
I've got the small, but it's not all that small ;) And frankly, at 5'10 I shouldn't be a small, but Belstaff's sizes are ridiculous. I also have Belstaff fabric trousers which I wear over jeans or work trousers, and my 32/32 legs are apparently small also.
There's 2 retractable straps on teh arm to help secure all that top-notch armour, and there's several layers of material on the abrasion areas for maximum protection. Lastly, it's got 3M reflective pieces all over.
And it's so warm! But not hot. What I mean by this is, it's comfortable on a 50 minute motorway bash in the rain, in march, in scotland. It's also comfortable walking around the shops in. No, i don't know how this works either, but it does. It's warmer than my lookwell but doesn't cause me to boil over like it did.
All in all, an utterly fantastic bit of kit. And only £100. Like I say, that wouldn't even buy the armour usually. If you're looking for a winter jacket, Busters may have these on the website. And you're really not going to beat these at £100. Unless you're less than 5.10, in which case you're beneath Belstaff's attention ;)