Universal : Riding Gear Thread

[julyone_modi]

re: Universal : Riding Gear Thread

Guys any review about Cramster Touring Gloves?? I was planning to get one of those!!

[pratik.pat]

re: Universal : Riding Gear Thread

finally bought the spartan ICARUS today. well i actually was planning on to buy helios but Meandering India didn't have them, they had stocked hyperion and icarus. my budget didn't allow me hyperion so went with icarus. Also the hyperion is a tad heavier than icarus.i also tried DSG rage. icarus proved to be a better fit. special thanks to sunny sir, your inputs, even if they weren't directly directed towards my previous queries, were invaluable. the comparisons were of utmost help, specially where you mentioned that i can later on upgrade my back Armour to KNOX. this stole the thunder from all my other options.

since i'm a noob to riding gears so giving a verdict or even a review would be unfair and unethical on my part. and it anyway has been discussed numerous times in the thread itself.
but yes i'm an undergrad in apparel technology from NIFT, so i know the nitty gritty of garments and sure can give my two cents on the construction quality of the jacket. there are some basic points that one would check for as acceptable quality in a garment. the icarus being a jacket with a lining has even more mandates to cover.

Starting from the overall look of the garment , it has a very good , no non sense appearance. the formation is right with a very good and snug fit.
coming to the stitch quality, it is at par with the export standard that we follow, at least the ones we follow for buyers like Target. though there are some points that could have been taken care of, like the area where a loop is fixed between the seams for attaching the rain liner should have been double stitched or bar-tacked. Also there are places where you can see weak stitch. But being done construction of a few formal jackets with interlining my self i know the kind of efforts it takes to make even a singe jacket. i for one will definitely give a thumbs up to the construction quality of spartans for the kind of price they are offered at. the overall finish of the garment is also very good, no loose thread, or trims or uneven cuts or raw edges except one in the rain liner. this being an all black jacket there was no shade variation, though i can tell you black is one of the most shade variation prone color

sizing was perfect for me, i bought a M, it was snug and the armors were where they were suppose to be.the length was also very apt along with the sleeve length being just right. the zippers and the Velcros are there where needed and ergonomically the jacket is perfect.

I had worn it from vasant kunj to CP to Mayur vihar to Gurgaon w/o the rain liner @ 3 in the afternoon with temp easily soaring up-to 30' C and didn't feel like a boiled egg even once, the mesh works like magic and seems to be good for the Delhi heat, at least when in motion. At traffic lights it did become a bit warm inside, but it was very much bearable.

All in All the jackets is a total VFM, and if under 5K is one's budget he can go for it with eyes closed.

AS far as the protections is concerned, it has been discussed various times in this thread itself. sunny sir has given very elaborate details about it and it seems to be a pretty good bargain with this kind of protection.

Regards
Pratik

p.s.- if i have offended any brand in any way i'm really sorry, i have no intention to insult to insult any brand or person.Also i have tried to write it in the most positive way and with intention of positive criticism. Hope it helps prospective buyers in deciding.

[sandy.avy220]

re: Universal : Riding Gear Thread

Happy to hear that bro eagerly waiting for your review after using

[krish2778]

re: Universal : Riding Gear Thread

Review of the Rynox Rampage.

Rynox Rampage | Wheels'n'Shields

Cheers
Ride Safe
Krishna

[Sunnyside_up!]

re: Universal : Riding Gear Thread

Sorry for the late reply - I was on a ride out of town!

Bachoo motors don't list it on their website. but they have 'highway boots' with waterproof aquashield liner. any idea about this?


I am already using Cross Knox guards.... (hard knee guards ) and they slide around a bit..... not very confidence inspiring! and textile part used for sticking velcro sort of tucks itself into the top hard part of the guard when walking. needless to say, not very comfortable while walking. i am also eagerly waiting for a review of the spartan knee guards. Hope they dont have the same issue.


Guys, we talk about CE certified armours here but how are they actually tested? I would really like to know what abuse my helios jacket withstood in testing. More importantly i am wondering whether strap on knee guards will hold on or slide off on impact because my Knox guards are not very reassuring. Tagging @Sunnyside_up! sir to shed some light on this. Please share any non-proprietary information if possible.

I have mentioned before my concern about external knee guards moving out of place in a slide. It has actually happened to me too. They were designed primarily for motocross use but have found many followers because of their ease of use and low cost. As you are aware, many low cost options exist and generic models are available in the market, which are simply branded by some. The most popular brands sold in India are actually low end knockoffs originally from premium marquees.

If you visit the websites of these marquees you will be shocked to discover that most were originally designed for MTBicycle and not even MX. So you can imagine the level of protection it will offer in a high speed motorcycle slide. Then factor in that most of what we buy in India are knock offs from these and you have a rather unpleasant scenario to digest. On the flip side, traffic conditions being what they are, our speeds in India are very low comparatively and therefore in most cases, these cheap armours will offer some modicum of protection. Worst case scenario as often quoted here "something is better than nothing". I don't entirely agree but that is public opinion apparently.

In your particular case, the Knox Cross is meant to be worn underneath your pants, so you should not have any issues. The same goes for the Thor Quadrant and AStars Vapour which are similar products. The high end bionics too can be worn under MX pants which are loose and baggy.

Without getting into too many details, KNOX being one of the leading OE armour suppliers in the world, does not simply hand out OE supply contracts, so rest assured that your Helios has been field tested for upwards of two years before launch. Many senior members here in XBhp and other riding communities themselves participated in the exercise. SPG has also received numerous real world survivor appreciation for the product having protected its rider in a crash - check out their FB page to read the comments. Remember that no single product can guarantee survivability. It can merely mitigate or lessen the risk to an extent.

yeah I agree to that.My oldest jacket is 6 yrs old and still going strong.However Iam more concerned about the armors. of late I have seen a lot of manufacturers shifting to soft PU armors , although they have better shock absorbing properties but they dont last long. They disintegrate over time, I have seen this happen with my Joe Rocket and SS jackets.In both, the armors lasted roughly around 2 yrs from the date of purchase.the SS armor disintegrated within a year and I was using the Joe Rocket ones in my SS jacket since then but that too disintegrated. Abroad we can purchase replacement armors for the jackets and these costs as low as $18 -$25 for a pair. However in India no company is providing replacement armors for their jackets. What happens when the armor gets damaged or disintegrated? Denying the very fact that it would happen, would be a huge oversight. I hope you will take this up with the concerned people so that they keep enough inventories of replacement armors, so that bikers are not made to suffer on this account.

"However in India no company is providing replacement armors for their jackets."

That is NOT true my friend. SPG will provide replacement armours to its customers. You can purchase either the PU armour used in the ICARUS or KNOX armour used in its jackets, provided the product (the jacket) and the damaged armours is presented accompanied by the valid tax invoice. Claims without both the product and the invoice are not entertained. This is because SPG does not retail the armour but does provide after sales service to its customers. The requirement of producing the damaged product with invoice, is to safeguard against claims from non-customers who would merely like to get the armours. This is not allowed as per OE supply conditions.

SPG apparel with PU armour has been in use for two years but I am yet to hear such a complaint yet. Maybe it will happen soon and I have advised the company about the possibility, so SPG has already made this arrangement to cater to its customers.

Mr. Sunnyside_Up.. any inputs on these.

Even I have seen the Sas-Tec armours on the arms of my friends jacket developing cracks after around 5 years of use.

PU and visco-elastomeric materials use certain chemical components in their compound construction to maintain their impact absorbent properties and regain their shape. These compounds sometimes loose their properties with age and harden, therefore becoming brittle and result in crumbling. The rapidity of this degradation depends on climatic conditions and whether the original formulation considered a tropical climate during production. "Tropicalisation" as it is called results in some products working well in the tropics, while others fail because they were originally designed to operate in colder climates. Perhaps the reason why some foreign brands have crumbled so quickly. You may also have noticed this happen in shoes which use PU soles sometimes.

On another note, no product is designed to last indefinitely and technical garments even less so. If your friends jacket has lasted him five years, advise him to give thanks to the product and invest in a new one!

I second this. I hope no one has actually had to buy a new jacket just for the armour, when the jacket itself has been maintained very well.

And another question which I had asked twice some pages ago ... what is the effect of rain/washing on armour, especially foam back pads?

I cannot speak for every brand, but repeated washing or soaking should have absolutely no effect on the armours. Avoid drying your apparel and armour in harsh sunlight though.

One should never wash the jacket with the armours.. the armours &b pads should always be removed and then the jacket washed and dried in the shade.

^^^ absolutely correct. Helps if you let the apparel drip dry on a hangar in the shade too.

What about rain? Does the armour eventually crumble because of the wet-dry cycle? I can imagine the foam pad doing that.

Again, it should not happen. Definitely not with the SPG armours.

finally bought the spartan ICARUS today. well i actually was planning on to buy helios but Meandering India didn't have them, they had stocked hyperion and icarus. my budget didn't allow me hyperion so went with icarus. Also the hyperion is a tad heavier than icarus.i also tried DSG rage. icarus proved to be a better fit. special thanks to sunny sir, your inputs, even if they weren't directly directed towards my previous queries, were invaluable. the comparisons were of utmost help, specially where you mentioned that i can later on upgrade my back Armour to KNOX. this stole the thunder from all my other options.

since i'm a noob to riding gears so giving a verdict or even a review would be unfair and unethical on my part. and it anyway has been discussed numerous times in the thread itself.
but yes i'm an undergrad in apparel technology from NIFT, so i know the nitty gritty of garments and sure can give my two cents on the construction quality of the jacket. there are some basic points that one would check for as acceptable quality in a garment. the icarus being a jacket with a lining has even more mandates to cover.

Starting from the overall look of the garment , it has a very good , no non sense appearance. the formation is right with a very good and snug fit.
coming to the stitch quality, it is at par with the export standard that we follow, at least the ones we follow for buyers like Target. though there are some points that could have been taken care of, like the area where a loop is fixed between the seams for attaching the rain liner should have been double stitched or bar-tacked. Also there are places where you can see weak stitch. But being done construction of a few formal jackets with interlining my self i know the kind of efforts it takes to make even a singe jacket. i for one will definitely give a thumbs up to the construction quality of spartans for the kind of price they are offered at. the overall finish of the garment is also very good, no loose thread, or trims or uneven cuts or raw edges except one in the rain liner. this being an all black jacket there was no shade variation, though i can tell you black is one of the most shade variation prone color

sizing was perfect for me, i bought a M, it was snug and the armors were where they were suppose to be.the length was also very apt along with the sleeve length being just right. the zippers and the Velcros are there where needed and ergonomically the jacket is perfect.

~

Thank you for the input. Much appreciated. Will also like to chat with you sometime regarding the areas of improvement that you think could be done. My expertise is in design and materials, and not so in fabric construction, so I am dependent on external input and the production house standards. You will be happy to know that SPG have extensively used the help and guidance of faculty and students from NIFT Chennai in the design of many if their apparel products. The ladies jackets in particular were exclusively done by faculty and NIFT-ians who happily pitched in when they heard about the project!

[bondarun]

Re: DSG Primal Gloves

as said earlier, on my Plan to get the Spartan ICARUS jacket.
i kept in hold right now...
was going through Ebay for some jacket and stuffs..
found a guy from Pakistan, who is making replica of high end jacket with cow hide leather than the real one.
with a price of 99$ and 50$ for shipping...

Had a talk with him about materials used etc, he said the inner liner be water proof and can be removed and armor for arms shoulders and back will be default.
cow hide leather will be used etc...

He gave me a Quote of 85$ shipped to my place ( stitched for my size )

The jacket that i asked him to make is Dainese Cage jacket...
original one cost around 450$

is it worth it or should i go for ICARUS...

He has good feedbacks on Ebay for 99% of them are satisfied with his product...

[rkakkar]

Re: DSG Primal Gloves

as said earlier, on my Plan to get the Spartan ICARUS jacket.
i kept in hold right now...
was going through Ebay for some jacket and stuffs..
found a guy from Pakistan, who is making replica of high end jacket with cow hide leather than the real one.
with a price of 99$ and 50$ for shipping...

Had a talk with him about materials used etc, he said the inner liner be water proof and can be removed and armor for arms shoulders and back will be default.
cow hide leather will be used etc...

He gave me a Quote of 85$ shipped to my place ( stitched for my size )

The jacket that i asked him to make is Dainese Cage jacket...
original one cost around 450$

is it worth it or should i go for ICARUS...

He has good feedbacks on Ebay for 99% of them are satisfied with his product...

From another country? Unbranded? Take the risk and let us know.

[bondarun]

Re: DSG Primal Gloves

From another country? Unbranded? Take the risk and let us know.

lol y should i take the risk on it :P

am asking you guys an advice on it... not to make me take the risk and sit & watch the fun :P

[rkakkar]

Re: DSG Primal Gloves

lol y should i take the risk on it :P

am asking you guys an advice on it... not to make me take the risk and sit & watch the fun :P

I thought the sarcasm in my post would make it evident as to what you should do

[bondarun]

Re: DSG Primal Gloves

I thought the sarcasm in my post would make it evident as to what you should do

i would better on the safer side :P
will be going for Spartan ICARUS in few days..

[thegeneboy]

Review - Spartan PERSEUS Knee Protectors

I bought the Spartan PERSEUS knee protectors and based on the last trip to Kodiakanal from B'lore and back over the last weekend here is a small review

1. Even after using it for the entire day (11 hrs) it didn't feel uncomfortable .. Only feeling was that there is something around your knee and I'll probably get over that over a period of usage.

2. While walking (say a continuous 10 min walk with the protectors on) they do tend to slid down and needs to be adjusted back..

3. When I tried adjusting them by pulling the top strap from outside the jean I ended up pulling the strap a bit outside the cloth material which then got a bit uncomfy while riding further.. I would suggest to have one loop for the top strap , something like the belt loop, through which the strap can pass and that would probably ensure that the top strap stays in place even after it gets pulled from outside.

4. The protectors settles well on the knee no doubt but initially my right knee did feel a bit strained; may be cause of the sitting position of the 200NS.. Only right knee cause the right foot is always on the brake pedal in one position for a long time whereas left foot always moves up and down the gear level... Moving the legs a bit while riding and relaxing it did help.. Later on the course of the ride I kind of got used to it..

5. The knee protectors are kind of invisible over the jean and hence the the stares from folks who look at you as you are an alien is no more

[pratik.pat]

Re: DSG Primal Gloves

"However in India no company is providing replacement armors for their jackets."

That is NOT true my friend. SPG will provide replacement armours to its customers. You can purchase either the PU armour used in the ICARUS or KNOX armour used in its jackets, provided the product (the jacket) and the damaged armours is presented accompanied by the valid tax invoice. Claims without both the product and the invoice are not entertained. This is because SPG does not retail the armour but does provide after sales service to its customers. The requirement of producing the damaged product with invoice, is to safeguard against claims from non-customers who would merely like to get the armours. This is not allowed as per OE supply conditions.



Thank you for the input. Much appreciated. Will also like to chat with you sometime regarding the areas of improvement that you think could be done. My expertise is in design and materials, and not so in fabric construction, so I am dependent on external input and the production house standards. You will be happy to know that SPG have extensively used the help and guidance of faculty and students from NIFT Chennai in the design of many if their apparel products. The ladies jackets in particular were exclusively done by faculty and NIFT-ians who happily pitched in when they heard about the project!

This just reinforces the fact that buying a Spartan was a smart decision. Love the after sales service option.

And hope the input from them (faculty and students) would have been useful, would happily discuss the areas possible for improvement.

i would better on the safer side :P
will be going for Spartan ICARUS in few days..

Its a great buy, total VFM , but do consider Helios as an option too. It has Knox armour.

I bought the Spartan PERSEUS knee protectors and based on the last trip to Kodiakanal from B'lore and back over the last weekend here is a small review

1. Even after using it for the entire day (11 hrs) it didn't feel uncomfortable .. Only feeling was that there is something around your knee and I'll probably get over that over a period of usage.

2. While walking (say a continuous 10 min walk with the protectors on) they do tend to slid down and needs to be adjusted back..

3. When I tried adjusting them by pulling the top strap from outside the jean I ended up pulling the strap a bit outside the cloth material which then got a bit uncomfy while riding further.. I would suggest to have one loop for the top strap , something like the belt loop, through which the strap can pass and that would probably ensure that the top strap stays in place even after it gets pulled from outside.

4. The protectors settles well on the knee no doubt but initially my right knee did feel a bit strained; may be cause of the sitting position of the 200NS.. Only right knee cause the right foot is always on the brake pedal in one position for a long time whereas left foot always moves up and down the gear level... Moving the legs a bit while riding and relaxing it did help.. Later on the course of the ride I kind of got used to it..

5. The knee protectors are kind of invisible over the jean and hence the the stares from folks who look at you as you are an alien is no more

Thanks for the review, I too am planning to buy one.
Hope it turns out to be a good purchase just like the Icarus.


Sent from my A9+ using xBhp Connect mobile app

[bhargavrama]

re: Universal : Riding Gear Thread

I just got Helios last week. I feel a lot more happy now after reading this

Sent from my LG-P500 using xBhp Connect mobile app

[thegeneboy]

I just got Helios last week. I feel a lot more happy now after reading this

Sent from my LG-P500 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Why the sad smiley buddy?

[SriramEfunds]

Re: DSG Primal Gloves

2. While walking (say a continuous 10 min walk with the protectors on) they do tend to slid down and needs to be adjusted back..

I can offer a tip that I'm effectively following for a while. Always, stand straight while you fasten the strap. It should be tighter while you are at seated position. This is the same position while you ride and secure the lower strap just above calf muscle. I was able to find this sweet spot over a period of time and it worked like a charm. And, this prevented the armour sliding down over some time. Experience, no bakwaas.