Bike leathers

Ok, there have been a few post recently about 'what leathers?' and it got me think a bit.

A few members have been quick to slate the well known brands as being expensive and rubbish. Maybe this is true - I don't really know, but I was thinking about what the club/national/world racers use. I'd imagine that the world class racers have leathers made-to-measure by the major manufacturers (and those from their country of origin for sponsorship purposes), but surely manufacturing techniques can't differ that much? Or can they?

I'm pretty certain that if you bought an X model helmet as worn by X racer, then the model that you are buying would be manufactured to the same standard as the one you see in motoGP albeit with a custom paint job. Same with boots, gloves etc. Are leathers really that different? Apart from the obvious made-to-measure difference, how much would a Dainese suit worn by Rossi vary from a top-of-the-range of the peg Dainese suit? We see these products sliding down the track at 100mph+ and racers getting up without burst seams etc.

Abrasion tests (like crash bungs) seems a little subjective as every crash is different and replicating a crash with a living human in a suit (as opposed to a crash test dummy) is tricky as I doubt there are many volunteers!

Just something I've been wondering.

Originally Posted by lukemillar

Ok, there have been a few post recently about 'what leathers?' and it got me think a bit.

A few members have been quick to slate the well known brands as being expensive and rubbish. Maybe this is true - I don't really know, but I was thinking about what the club/national/world racers use. I'd imagine that the world class racers have leathers made-to-measure by the major manufacturers (and those from their country of origin for sponsorship purposes), but surely manufacturing techniques can't differ that much? Or can they?

They vary hugely. Club racers will only ever get off the peg stuff through sponsorship, and quite often they'll have to pay for it at trade or wholesale price. National racers will get off the peg stuff given to them by the importer or manufacturers, but again usually off the peg again. When it comes to WSB and MotoGP riders it's a different story, there's big bucks involved here, and it's the racer not the makers who are coining it in. The suits Dainese pay Rossi a hell of a lot of money to wear cannot be bought by the general public unless he has an awful lot of money. It's not the same grade of leather or the same quality of manufacture as the mass produced stuff you find off the peg. For a kick off all the sponsored racer's suits are made to measure in the Dainese factory and development facility in Italy, they are made to the exact requirements of the end user. Some racers like thick leather, some like tight fitting kangaroo hide which is thinner. I know two or three racers who prefer very baggy knees because tight ones pull on previously injured joints. M2M sponsored leathers are made with much stronger thread which is very expensive, it's stuff they wouldn;t dream of using in Off The Peg stuff. All the OTP stuff from the big money brands is made alongside Akito, Frank Thomas and RST in factories in Romania, Pakistan and China. There are only so many factories capable of producing leathers, and these same factories compete for the big manufacturers business. One month they'll be making some Akito stuff, the next they'll be making Dainese and then FT. Same grades of leather, thread and machining done by the same semi-skilled labour.

Originally Posted by lukemillar

I'm pretty certain that if you bought an X model helmet as worn by X racer, then the model that you are buying would be manufactured to the same standard as the one you see in motoGP albeit with a custom paint job. Same with boots, gloves etc. Are leathers really that different? Apart from the obvious made-to-measure difference, how much would a Dainese suit worn by Rossi vary from a top-of-the-range of the peg Dainese suit? We see these products sliding down the track at 100mph+ and racers getting up without burst seams etc.

Helmets used by top class sponsored racers are generally the same shells with internals made or modified to suit the wearer's head. In Rossi's case he wears an off the shelf AGV with no modifications except paint differences because they seem to fit him spot on. All helmets have to be made to a given tested international or European standard, leathers, boots and gloves don't, they only have to meet the requirements of the sport's governing body. Gloves are often made to measure for each sponsored racer, and of course this also means top quality materials that the shop bought ones won't ever be made in. I'm not all that clear on boots, but close examination of photos suggests they aren't exactly the same as you or I could buy. I certainly wouldn't want to be out on track in Lorica boots because the abrasion resistance offered by that material is pretty poor. I wear a set of CE approved Oxtar leather boots, and before that I had leather Hein Gericke CE approved ones.

Originally Posted by lukemillar

Abrasion tests (like crash bungs) seems a little subjective as every crash is different and replicating a crash with a living human in a suit (as opposed to a crash test dummy) is tricky as I doubt there are many volunteers!

Just something I've been wondering.

But testing every grade of leather to a set given standard in identical tests will show weakness in some and strength in others. Same goes for seam burst tests etc. Obviously there are variables, such as speed, abrasive quality of the tarmac, weight of rider. If we set the standard high then everyone benefits. Unfortunately only a handful of leathers manufacturers work to a high standard, and surprisingly they are often cheaper than the high value A/Stars and Dainese top of the range stuff that won't pass CE approval.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

But testing every grade of leather to a set given standard in identical tests will show weakness in some and strength in others. Same goes for seam burst tests etc. Obviously there are variables, such as speed, abrasive quality of the tarmac, weight of rider. If we set the standard high then everyone benefits. Unfortunately only a handful of leathers manufacturers work to a high standard, and surprisingly they are often cheaper than the high value A/Stars and Dainese top of the range stuff that won't pass CE approval.

So your recommended route/manufacturer would be?

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

So your recommended route/manufacturer would be?

In order of preference, MJK, Hideout, Crowtree (if they are still making suits to order), Scott. All of them make off the peg stuff as well. I wouldn't buy BKS now because FT own them.