personal protective equipment

what are the best brands or styles for everything from helmets to jackets to gloves to boots?
also anything else you can think of or what you think is the shitty gear. Or what websites are good for discounts.

Specifically I am looking at whether I want a full faced or modular helmet. Was looking at ICON primarily but also some Bells too.
Debating on the jacket for now. I have a guy whose got a used one and just not sure if its a big deal to get an ICON jacket with the pads if its used.
I ride a cruiser so I dont need intel on sport bike gear.

8/30/2011 1:40:27 PM

seven zero seven helmets from cyclegear (the clearance ones) are rebranded bell $500 helmets, highly recommend.

I'm in love with my arlon ness kangaroo leather race suit. stay away from frank thomas unless you just want something super cheap to play in. they don't breathe or move well but they hold up to crashing well.

I've got icon star something gauntlets that have held up very well and were a very good value. gloves are the most important thing not to cheap out on as your nature is to stop a fall with your hands and you need good dexterity for controls.

sidi and alpinestars make the best boots imo. lots of other boots will do the job, but few other brands have replaceable wear parts like toe sliders or sole guards

my icon textile jacket was quite solid and stood up to the 1 low side I had in it. you couldn't even see the damage.

8/30/2011 2:29:28 PM

I need either a modular or full face helmet and was leaning towards ICON or BELL

9/2/2011 4:27:52 PM

I have 3 jackets,

1 leather preferated frank thomas thats okay -fall and spring ~$120
1 Technic that is mesh that is nice -summer ~100
1 frank Thomas waterproof one - Winter/rain ~130

Honestly I'm glad i have 3 separate jackets instead of spending $300 on an alpinestars that will only be good for about 4 months of the year.

Helmet I have is a GMAX GM68S ~$100 which isn't snell, but is dot, has lots of ventilation and good features, really I think the most import thing here is that it fits well. Spend at least 30 minutes solid wearing it, you want it tight, but you don't want a headache. Past ones were mid line helmets, I had an Arai but returned it because it crushed my head, and frankly didn't feel a massive difference for the $400 in price.

Gloves - My old ones were kangaroo palms, I loved them, gave me much more throttle feel. Again, try a bunch on, i would spend good money on gloves, Kangaroo seems to hold up well, also look for ones with Palm sliders (hard plastic sliders at the base of your palm), they really help in a crash.

You'll also want a cheaper pair of insulated waterproof gloves. I bought whatever was on sale a cyclegear, they have held up well, but you can't feel the throttle though them (on the other hand you cant feel it if your hands are numb either).

Boots-I went with race boots for when i want to ride excitedly, the features i looked for is sliders on the toe and a steel shank in the base.

I usually ride with standard motorcycle or cowboy style boots with fairly heavy leather, the cowboy boots have a composite shank (ariats) and held up well in a crash, choose ones with rubber soles not leather, you'll wear though leather pretty quick and it can get screwed by oil or too much water.

Whatever boots you get make sure they cover your ankle.

Pants- I usually wear heavier jeans (not light fasion jeans). I also have a pair of Joe Rocket overpants that are waterproof. These help in the rain or the cold.

In addition I have the bottom half of the preferably frank Thomas suit for fun riding.

I really prefer Shock Doctor cups, they seem to provide the best breathability and low weight. in addition to the carbon fiber structure.

9/6/2011 1:59:32 PM

Quote :

"I need either a modular or full face helmet and was leaning towards ICON or BELL "

I was looking at the modular helmets at one time, and found that the latching mechanism does not feel very sturdy. Not sure how much more of a protection they would provide as compared to an open face helmet with a full face shield.

I highly recomment buying a helmet from a local store, where you have a chance to try several ones and and make sure you get the model with the best fit.

Buying a used jacket is OK, but buying a used helmet is not so much as you never know if it was previously subjected to any impacts.

The only gear that I will outright consider "shitty" is the stuff that has the looks of a motorcycle gear, but lacks the features of being such. Wilson Leather "cafe racer" jackets, "budweiser and such "racing" jackets, most of the cruiser-related leather apparel you will find at the state fairgrounds and in some motorycle stores, etc.

Even in the most budget-oriented brands make purpose-built riding apparel that costs about the same as the poser stuff above, but actually have some protection built in.

Motorcycle gear stores have almost as many sales these days as a JC Penny store, so you can often get a deal if you are not looking for a specific item or need it NOW

9/6/2011 2:21:28 PM

Ohh yea most of the gear should have pads in the joint areas with ratings ece-something standard. if it doesn't have at least level 1 (pref lvl2) dont buy it.

9/6/2011 2:51:22 PM

i've only ever worn Scorpion EXO helmets and like them quite a bit, can't complain about the price either

9/6/2011 6:56:43 PM

Must you use the term PPE?

9/6/2011 10:13:15 PM

I would not recommend getting a modular helmet. You think its going to afford you more openness, but in practice, its really only marginally different from putting up just the visor. Also, the flipped up chin looks silly.

A modular helmet will typically be heavier, bulkier, noisier, more expensive and structurally weaker than a comparable solid full face.

http://www.webbikeworld.com is definitely the best resource for gear reviews. They do exhaustive reviews on helmets.

Tips for buying a helmet:
-Try to find a retail store so you can try on different brands of helmets. See which size in each brand fits and how you like the feel of their liners.
-Helmets will feel more comfortable once they break-in
-Some places don't allow you to return helmets, due to the possibility that the helmet was dropped. Also, don't buy a used helmet unless you really trust the person's word that the helmet was not dropped.
-A more expensive, sturdier helmet does not necesssarily mean more protection. Sometimes, cheaper helmets that deform and crumple can cause less injury. Cycle world did their own crash-test study on dozens of helmets, and the best one was just $89
-More expensive brands will use muiltiple helmet shell sizes (the exterior dimensions of the helmet). Cheaper brands will have fewer shell sizes, (or even just one shell size), so that SMALL may be the same shape and weight of the EXTRA-LARGE, just with a thicker liner.
-A helmet just needs to have one safety rating (snell or DOT). It doesn't need BOTH, and it doesn't really matter which one it has.

Tips for buying gloves:
-If it doesn't have hard reinforcement in the knuckles and side of the wrist, its probably going to get shredded if it hits the pavement at more than 20mph.
-Gloves will feel more comfortable as they break-in

Tips for buying boots:
-Ankle protection, and sideways rigidity are important. Most foot injuries come from scraped ankles, or bikes falling over on the side of the foot (while the rider is on the bike).

Tips for buying jackets:
-You don't need a super insulated jacket for cold riding. You can always put on layers.
-A lot of jackets are sized for fat guts
-Don't feel weird about wearing a bright-colored jacket. You WANT to stand out.
-Make sure there are plenty of reflective areas, or buy adhesive reflector patches.

Also:
-Wearing bike shorts instead of cotton underwear will reduce butt chaffing, and sometimes offer additional padding at the hip bones and tailbone.

[Edited on September 7, 2011 at 10:50 AM. Reason : .]

9/7/2011 10:47:59 AM

Quote :

"-Helmets will feel more comfortable once they break-in"

9/7/2011 12:58:26 PM

Quote :

"i've only ever worn Scorpion EXO helmets and like them quite a bit, can't complain about the price either"

yeah i got a cheaper one of the EXO series and i like the liner and fit a lot better than other cheap helmets i looked at (150ish range). ended up getting it on sale for about 100.

i have one of their jackets too and have few complaints.

9/7/2011 10:56:10 PM

I am in the marine corps so we have different rules depending on which base and commands are over us. for the most part

i wear my combat boots, jeans, some cheap gloves, long sleeves...dont have a jacket yet, and a reflective vest.
for a helmet, i just bought a shoei qwest. came today actually and i definitely like it.

still need to find appropriate jackets and gloves.


lot of good info yall. thanks, keep it up

9/9/2011 2:52:41 AM