A salutary warning for the hot weather...

[Rusty]

My theory is, if its too hot to feel comfy , then dont ride...

I'm not keen on that theory Pitternator, those are exactly the sort of days I feel like going for a ride!   

[Slaninar]

Yup, and unfortunately the last couple of days I have lost count of the amount of idiots riding without even basic protection or GLOVES! It may be hot when I'm getting ready to go out but as soon as I start moving all is well. Have found the best base layer stuff for me is some cheap Hi Gear stuff from go outdoors.

Real men don't need petty protection! ARRRR!




When it's 39 degrees centigrade IN THE SHADE, with high humidity, I wear short pants and shirt. Gloves and helmet yes... most of the time.

[SteveH41]

I suppose it comes down to this.... Its your life so if you choose to ride without correct gear then don't start crying if you get hurt following an off. My personal choice is to wear the best i can afford and feel safe in, if its too hot then go later in the day or not at all.

[sadlonelygit]

two points to be made here.
just got back from abroad where it was 40+. nipping 2 miles into town didn't warrant getting togged up. it was a risk i was prepared to take, and with SWMBO on the back as well it meant i made mother theresa look like a hells angel with my standard of driving. it's all about mitigating the risk, the more gear we have on the safer we feel (didn't stop me showing off when solo though!).
re the video, you can see that he's
a) riding for the camera
b) carrying too much entry and getting his apexes wrong
c) not hanging off enough, it seems that he felt he wasn't going to make it and didn't have any more lean left!
d) used the front instead of the rear brake

and the camera man target fixated at the crash, and the guy at the back had his front wheel on the road and back on the gravel, hence why the back came round on him.

[Phil TK]

if its too hot then go later in the day or not at all.

Not useful advice if you live in Thailand where it's 35C most of the time with mental humidity.
 Wearing too much clothing in those conditions will affect your skills and judgement when you (very quickly) start to overheat and moreover, you won't notice your riding is getting worse.

[Lawrence]

or a draggin type jean.

How good are they vs armoured textile trousers?  Also are they all much the same or do you get what you pay for?  Prices seem to vary from about £60 up to well over £200.

[Rusty]

When Ride magazine did a product test on bike jeans Draggin came out top with a full 5 seconds of abrasion resistance.


Others fared poorly considering they were sold as specifically for use on bikes, with the worst (I forget who) lasting less than a second before failing. From that test I drew the conclusion that Draggin's did what they are supposed to do although others costing a similar amount didn't,. So not really a case of 'get what you pay for' but that it's possible to pay a Draggins type money but not get the same level of protection.

[VNA - BMW Wank]

When it gets hot and humid, I just wear ordinary jeans and try and keep the speed down.  Just on my short commute to work that is (7 miles mostly open road)

Jeans and T-Shirt if I just wanna pop down town and just take my time.  Having to wear a helmet at times is a pain, but I suppose you got to cos it's the darn law.

When I was cycling I used to hit over 50mph at times going down hill, wearing lycra shorts and a T-shirt, with  a wee bit o polystyrene on ma heid, used to overtake the cars. 

Guys in that video are getting right down to peg scraping, no room for error.  If you wanna use knee sliders, try a race track.    Also they don't seem to backing off to take into account of cars coming the other way, and the barrier on the right which does have the potential to tear a limb off.  Second guy too close too quick to react.  The guy at the back drops for no good reason, other than he's shit his pants at all the carnage suddenly in front of him.  Of course it's also easy to sit back and criticize.  I sure don't claim to be an angle or riding god!



Perhaps more a good example of how wearing fancy gear gives you a false sense of security?  I'll bet that hurt.

Hope they were all OK.

[fireblake]

I can't imagine not wearing a helmet. I used an openface one day and got a wasp down the side eventually stinging my ear and another one splat me between the eyes. the bike was dropped as i got off double quick trying to take lid off before the sting. My ear then swelled up and i couldn't put(or wanted to) my lid back on. Full face all the time now?

[Phil TK]

I can't imagine not wearing a helmet. I used an openface one day and got a wasp down the side eventually stinging my ear and another one splat me between the eyes. the bike was dropped as i got off double quick trying to take lid off before the sting. My ear then swelled up and i couldn't put(or wanted to) my lid back on. Full face all the time now?

Sorry, but I laughed out loud at this...

[fireblake]

That's ok Phil, i still chuckle when thinking about it, i'm a big jessy when it comes to Bee stings and my mate Pee'd in his leathers laughing at my predicament.

[Lawrence]

When Ride magazine did a product test on bike jeans Draggin came out top with a full 5 seconds of abrasion resistance.

Nicked from another forum:

From RiDE mag, November 2011. Purely abrasion resistance tests performed by SATRA, with no armour inserts fitted. They don't specify a simulated road speed, just the relative times to wear through the trousers. Average times are shown, the article has details for knee / thigh / arse times:

Hein Gericke Reno leather jeans: 4.74 seconds
Draggin' Biker kevlar jeans: 3.07 seconds
Hornee kevlar jeans: 1.39 seconds
Rev'it Sand textile trousers: 0.71 seconds
Levi stonewash 501s: 0.56 seconds
Tesco Cherokee jeans: 0.16 seconds

So even a budget pair of fairly fashiony leather trousers (£100) offers better protection than premium kevlar jeans (£150), or the fancy Rev'it pants (£190). Those Rev'it BMW-bait "Adventure" trousers are shockingly poor for the price, although the adverts for them don't make much mention of what they're made of - I'd have preferred to see some more testing of budget cordura trousers.

And no surprises, denim-only jeans are the chocolate teapot of protection. Yes, a £40 pair of Levis does offer better protection than Tesco budget tat, but either way you'll be surfing on your skin within a few yards when you come off. Enjoy having the gravel scraped out of your arse with a wire brush and Dettol at A&E.

Surprised at how bad the textiles came out 

[Rusty]

Interesting. I don't know what month the mag I had was, in fact I've only just binned it, but there were no leather jeans on test just textile.


Hein Gericke (despite their current uk difficulties) have from my experience always produced a quality bit of kit though, as do Triumph. My riding gear is a combination of bits from Hein Gericke, Triumph, Shoei, Alt-Berg and draggin jeans. I note what you say about cheap leather being more protective than expensive expensive textile, but if wearing leather at all the benefits of cooler temps are lost so you might as well just wear decent leather in the first place?


Thinking out loud - I wonder how long you actually bounce down the road from say a 40mph get off? i.e. what degree of exposure does each body part get to abrasion? In those circumstances 5 seconds is a long time so I'd guess you would have come to a halt within that time. What they don't tell you is that textile material often rides up thus exposing flesh anyway, whereas leather fits closely and stays put.

[Lawrence]

Came off today after some dozy woman decided to drive straight into the side of me (she was coming the other way, turning off to her right) and my textile trousers have holes in them after going down at around 20mph :s  Hate to think what would've happened if I'd been going faster.  Maybe time to invest in some leathers.

[Andy FZS]

Oh dear I hope you are ok and not too much damage done. I wear textiles and keep looking at leathers but don't want to get robbed but equally don't want to waste money on rubbish. It's a bit of a dilemma
Andy

[Grahamm]

my textile trousers have holes in them after going down at around 20mph

Have they actually gone right through? AIUI the upper layers of textile gear are designed to shred in those situations to absorb the damage and increase friction to stop you sliding whilst the underlayer keeps your skin away from the tarmac.

[Lawrence]

my textile trousers have holes in them after going down at around 20mph

Have they actually gone right through? AIUI the upper layers of textile gear are designed to shred in those situations to absorb the damage and increase friction to stop you sliding whilst the underlayer keeps your skin away from the tarmac.

It's not gone right through, if what you say is true then that makes sense   They'll be replaced either way courtesy of car drivers insurance
As for damage, 6 stitches in my leg from where the bike landed on it, snapped brake lever and a bent footpeg.  It also snapped a bit off the faring.  Nothing particularly major but I should get a loan bike in a couple of days.

[Rusty]

From what I understand the benefits of leather are firstly greater abrasion resistance, and secondly should you break a bone then leather tends to hold the broken bit in place until you receive treatment. The downside of leather is of course that it is uncomfortably hot in hot climates, and soaks up water in cool ones.

I try to avoid riding in bad weather these days (yeh right ) so I alternate between leather or draggin jeans for dry use, textile for wet. So in that respect the weather influences what I wear more than any safety consideration.

[Lazarus]

Interesting. I don't know what month the mag I had was, in fact I've only just binned it, but there were no leather jeans on test just textile.


Hein Gericke (despite their current uk difficulties) have from my experience always produced a quality bit of kit though, as do Triumph. My riding gear is a combination of bits from Hein Gericke, Triumph, Shoei, Alt-Berg and draggin jeans. I note what you say about cheap leather being more protective than expensive expensive textile, but if wearing leather at all the benefits of cooler temps are lost so you might as well just wear decent leather in the first place?


Thinking out loud - I wonder how long you actually bounce down the road from say a 40mph get off? i.e. what degree of exposure does each body part get to abrasion? In those circumstances 5 seconds is a long time so I'd guess you would have come to a halt within that time. What they don't tell you is that textile material often rides up thus exposing flesh anyway, whereas leather fits closely and stays put.

I came off at 50mph.
 
Helmet - scratched visor
jacket - right hand side damaged
leather jeans - unmarked.
boots - toes scuffed out.
gloves - holed through (no damage to hands)
 
not sure how long I was planked for - seemed a long time but should only have been about 4 - 5 seconds.

[Lawrence]

That's still a long time to be sliding along on your arse!