Thread: Textile or Leather Riding Gear?

Thought i'd again open up a question to the experienced 2 wheel riders on the forum.

For a daily commute and taking off road, which is advisable/preferable, Textile or Leather riding gear? With or without protective armor? - (though off road i'd just be helmet/gloves minus the pants and jacket)

So what would be the pro's and con's in your opinions? And which is better suited to different riding styles, terrain, weather etc...?

Regards,

D

I personally am a leather fan for a sports road bike , I generally wore my race suit most of the time except long trips where I had seperate pant/jacket but still fully armoured .

If you are looking for all year round clothing though textile is really the way to go . Most nowadays are designed to be essentially all year riding gear and have zip out thermal layers etc for summer riding and will often have zip open venting to let air flow through the jacket and some adventure style pant have the same zip open venting . They generally are pretty good when out in the rain - unlike leather - and will handle most wet weather unless absolutely pissing down then proper wet weather gear is all that will keep you dry .
And textile gear is usually considerably cheaper than leather (depending on how flash you want to go ....)
I am also a fan of armour in my road gear .... but don't do any off road riding anymore - to many bloody trees kept leaping out in front of me ..... so others will be a better judge of what is best in that regard , but I don't think I have ever seen a leather jacket out on the trails .....

But far more usable gear ,for what I think you are doing , textile would be the best option in my opinion .

Leather wins hands down when you arse off on road. Its nice to wear, and in most riding conditions is spot on. It is not as good when riding in the pissing rain or freezing cold. Textiles win out there. Or even as a waterproof covering over your leathers

Off road, you don't see leather being worn. Off road riding (trail, not adventure) You are being too physical and sweating buckets. leather does not perform well there. Adventure riders seem to be 50/50 between leathers and textiles.

Protection: body armour has got lots of advantages and only a few disadvantages. On road it can often be built into the clothing. Off road you use far more body armour: helmet and boots to start with, then knee braces are a biggie, chest and spine protection (as opposed to simple roost protection) sometimes elbow guards. Oh and sometimes neck braces, though the jury is out regarding what they may do in a big off.i.e. transfer the pressure to another part of the spine.

For gnarly riding off road to a hunting spot I'll wear knee braces and sometimes a helmet. 45 years of arsing off bikes lets me know just what parts of the body I injure, and protect accordingly.

Textile for commuting, waterproof, have breather panels you can open in summer for airflow
That said, I prefer my leathers. Not so practical, but fit better.
Go the textile route. ��

Textile with armour.
Have crash tested when we ran into a mob of heifers.
Amazing how bruised we got though.
Have gear with leather in places and still waterproof.

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