Biking gear performance testing?

Originally Posted by Berlin

Thanks Lozzo.

So the padding in the clothing is certified (shoulders, back, knees, forearms etc.) but the ability of the clothing to keep the padding useful, is not?

Correct. You can use any old crap outer material as long as the garment isn't sold as protective clothing. It's only the armour inside that is CE approved. One good crash and you can see your CE approved armour tumbling up the street as the garment holding it in shreds to bits.

Originally Posted by Berlin

It's only the padding thats covered. I'm amazed the leather itself isn't covered. Otherwise, why use leather?

Poor quality leather is actaully very cheap to buy in as a raw material and the makers of cheap leathers will use parts of these poor quality hides that shouldn't ever be used in impact areas. Also, they use leather because it gives the impression that the buyer is getting something safe, even if it's the worst leather imaginable for the job. Like anything else, leather comes in different grades. Many people believe that the thicker the leather the better it is, that isn't always the case. Thick poor quality leather can abrade away faster than good quality leather of less than half the thickness. In some cases Tesco value jeans will abrade away slower than some very expensive non-CE approved leathers.

To make PPE quality leathers costs more, for the material and the tougher thread used for stitching, as well as time taken to ensure the garment is correctly assembled. Just look around any forum you care to choose and the main criteria for 90% of those looking for leathers is price. Very few will go out and choose leathers on certified safety grounds - if they do have a real interest in th safety aspect and choose accordingly it's normally based on anecdotal evidence (a mate crashed in XXX leathers and they were barely scuffed).

I decided on MJK Leathers after watching endurance racers pushing crashed bikes into the pits with leathers scuffed but uncompromised. That and the fact that the MJK importer was a stone's throw from my house. At the time I bought my first pair, I was working for a company who made their own mass produced cheaper leathers and I could have had a set for free. I chose to spend a large sum of my own money on something I knew was CE approved and up to the job. 7 years later I'm still pleased with them.