Leathers Vs Mesh--What pants?

[slickwill]

It never ceases to amaze me how so many riders will spend large amounts of cash on the latest bit of bling for their bike, but when it comes to safety gear its the cheapest possable or in some cases none at all ! A rule I always go by is " dress for the crash not the ride ".

Ditto. If you only have $5K to spend "on a bike" then you should spend $3500 max on the bike and leave the other $1500 for gear.

Originally Posted by RiotSauce

Well, I'm kind of rumaging through these forums looking for some answers so i figured ill just post and see what I get. I have a Joe Rocket Honda CBR mesh jacket-- it has the ballistics in the elbows, shoulders, spinal support all that cool jazz. My friends father who rides triumphs said that I would be better off with leathers to which i replied "Yea but a good leather costs around 200 more than this 175$ mesh!" and he said to me "Well, 200 dollars or 4 inches of skin-- your choice"

Is mesh really that ineffective? I know that Ive seen a bunch of "any gear over no gear" but still. Another thing is, I confess, I wear jeans when I ride and sometimes I even wear shorts although I have since kicked the habit and ride with jeans or i don't ride at all. I want to get some good pants tho for riding days or maybe if I decide to hit the track... Any suggestions on good, fairly cheap, yet no compromise in safety pants? Boots as well, I just wears these weird rubber shoes that wont do **** if i crash. And also, your opinions on the mesh v leather. Thanks guys. Sorry if this is an old topic.

A mate of mine wears Moto-X body armour & a long sleeve T-shirt in summer to keep cooler. He has'nt crash tested it yet but he

I will wear leather no matter how hot it gets...sweat washes off, road rash doesnt. Although mesh will give you protection leather is just superior in every way as far as protection goes.

If its any help I have one of each (leather and mesh) . that way I can"t say its to hot. I like leather better

Originally Posted by THE JESTER

I looked into these mesh jackets a while ago and decided that yes they do offer great protection as far as the body armour goes but there is still a lot of flesh with little or no protection at all. In my opinion they should only be worn under a jacket or leathers and at no time should they be used as stand alone safety gear.It never ceases to amaze me how so many riders will spend large amounts of cash on the latest bit of bling for their bike, but when it comes to safety gear its the cheapest possable or in some cases none at all ! A rule I always go by is " dress for the crash not the ride ". There are two very distinct types of motor cyclist those that have crashed and those about to crash, you can normally tell who's who from the safety gear they wear. But hey it's your skin and you only have the one so look after it and get the right gear and proctect it the best you can.

Why would you wear a mesh up under your leather? I may be misunderstanding that one... the mesh is for hot days and are engineered for protection and an amount of comfort, it still gets hot in the mesh. But they arent made to be worn under another jacket, especially leather. That would probably be more dangerous right there as far as restricted movement goes.

Originally Posted by rokitt51

Why would you wear a mesh up under your leather? I may be misunderstanding that one... the mesh is for hot days and are engineered for protection and an amount of comfort, it still gets hot in the mesh. But they arent made to be worn under another jacket, especially leather. That would probably be more dangerous right there as far as restricted movement goes.

Thats how they are sold and advertised by the local dealer over here and I've yet to see anyone here who's brought one use it by itself.I've also asked other supliers off the island and been told the same story.

Originally Posted by THE JESTER

Thats how they are sold and advertised by the local dealer over here and I've yet to see anyone here who's brought one use it by itself.I've also asked other supliers off the island and been told the same story.

I'm pretty sure that you're thinking of a different jacket type. The way I'm reading this thread the guys talking about the mesh jackets are talking about lighter textile jackets (like an icon Ti-max 2 comes in leather textile and mesh, the mesh is a more breathable textile). I'll bet the stuff you're talking about is the CE armor attached to the fishnet looking shirt. thats definately meant to be worn under something...........I may be wrong, but thats what i'm reading.

Originally Posted by THE JESTER

Thats how they are sold and advertised by the local dealer over here and I've yet to see anyone here who's brought one use it by itself.I've also asked other supliers off the island and been told the same story.

I believe that you are speaking of something similar to this right?
Cycle Gear - ALPINESTARS Bionic 2 Protection Jacket BLACK/RED: Bionic 2 Protection Jacket, BLACK/RED Maybe not the same thing but close.

Originally Posted by TattooedGQ

I'm pretty sure that you're thinking of a different jacket type. The way I'm reading this thread the guys talking about the mesh jackets are talking about lighter textile jackets (like an icon Ti-max 2 comes in leather textile and mesh, the mesh is a more breathable textile). I'll bet the stuff you're talking about is the CE armor attached to the fishnet looking shirt. thats definately meant to be worn under something...........I may be wrong, but thats what i'm reading.

yeah thats the stuff , but over here it's called mesh thats it was a bit confusing as to why you would wear it by itself.

[CBR929RE]

I have the first version of this jacket and its one of the very few mesh jackets that I've seen that I even considered. I think the only other one might have been made by first gear but I'm not sure. every other mesh jacket I'd seen just felt really flimsy. I used to wear it all the time when it was hot before I got my leather jacket/pants. Last summer I wore it exactly once. I think it was close to 100° out and I really wanted to go for a ride. but this past summer it was pretty rare for it to get over 90°. otherwise over 90° I usually just don't take the bike out. at that point its just not fun to ride so why bother. usually I'm the "power ranger" with full protection head to toe. if it works on the track, it works on the street.

I know everyone is always saying "get leather instead of textile", and as many of you may or may not know i'm a fairly new rider and I've only had a textile jacket, up until yesterday....and Holy Jeeze, the difference is worlds beyond. I ended up getting a discontinued icon leather with full armor (elbow, shoulder, spine) for 130. I put the leather on, then the textile to compare....Jeeze, im sold. granted this isn't about pants, but im sure the same carries over

[slickwill]

Originally Posted by TattooedGQ

I know everyone is always saying "get leather instead of textile", and as many of you may or may not know i'm a fairly new rider and I've only had a textile jacket, up until yesterday....and Holy Jeeze, the difference is worlds beyond. I ended up getting a discontinued icon leather with full armor (elbow, shoulder, spine) for 130. I put the leather on, then the textile to compare....Jeeze, im sold. granted this isn't about pants, but im sure the same carries over

I have three textile jackets that came with my bike I bought my leather and have never been tempted to put on textile again. Hot or cold.

I can see why, I just had it on for my first ride tonight, you can tell it needs to break in a little, but I felt much more protected out there. My textile felt good, but theres no comparison. Now my buddies are getting them. lol