1 Piece leathers - what should I look for?

[Nick_69]

Im looking at getting a one peice set of leathers tomorrow and i was just wonder what i should be looking for in the fitting, especially around the crotch area and the knees

Take your boots to try on with the leathers to make sure the leather fit in them, also appreciate that leathers stretch about 10% once you start wearing them so they might feel tight when you first get them but will stretch after a few rides.

Leather will shrink as well as stretch, but only usually when they get extremely hot (I am a car trimmer by trade, we used to shrink leather all the time), a good hot day will see them shrink to fit as your sweat on the inside will aid this, so don't worry too much about a little extra here or there because it will mould itself to your shape eventually. Just don't buy anything that flaps around. Make sure you get into the race crouch position and ensure they aren't too short from shoulder to crutch, because there's nothing worse than the family jewels being squashed for a few hundred miles.

Don't buy an unknown unbranded name, and seek advice about some of the more well known expensive ones too, because some of them are worse than the cheapies - they just look well styled but are actually rubbish when you're sliding down the road.

[Balky001]

Apart from the obvious details make sure you can stick your knee out. I got a 1 pice when I first started riding and it did not have the kevlar crotch, very warm and restricted movement even though they felt OK when trying on. Also, a pocket is nice. My 1 piece has not pockets/storage at all.

[Red Herring]

Feel the weight of them, unless you are a 125 racer then generally the heavier the better, it means the leather is thicker and there is more of it! Also try and get a set that are made up of as few bits as possible, ie: there aren't joints everywhere. Patterns should be extra bits of leather on top of the main suit, not actually part of it. Obviously you will want CE armor in the knees, elbows, shoulders and thighs but look at the back as well. If you don't wear a back protector make sure there is some there as well, and watch out for humps, if you don't wear a separate back protector then they tend to be very uncomfortable, not to mention awkward to put a jacket over.

[punyXpress]

Just be careful what you put in Balky's pocket.
Keys or the like can puncture inwards or out & the blood'll make a helluva mess.

[Nick_69]

Cheers for everyones advice got a lovly one piece today will post pics later