| Author | Message | ||
     Kenm123t |
The aero stich shrinkage problem may be spread by Jeremy. There is definately linkage! | ||
| Chadhargis |
I've had my 'stich for nearly 10 years. Yes, I paid nearly $800 for it. It is custom made for me. I sent in measurements, they made the suit. I've ridden in down pours, and stayed warm and dry. I've skidded across pavement, and never got a scratch. The only time I don't like it is when it's hot outside and I'm not moving. Other than that, it's perfect. Sadly, the last couple of years, it's been shrinking. Getting harder to zip up without sucking in my gut...er...I mean stomach. Looks like I might have to buy another one. | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm picking up a pattern here. It's definitely the older the suit, the more it shrunk. Hmmmm... | ||
| Court |
I've yet to be convinced that leather provides any greater protection than the Roadcrafter. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The AMA says leather is better. | ||
| Jaimec |
Even Andy Goldfine will say competition grade leather provides more outright abrasion protection... but it isn't anywhere NEAR as versatile. If you can only afford ONE riding outfit, there is nothing more versatile than a Roadcrafter suit. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Got my Aerostich for my 30th birthday. I'm 43 and still wear it on most rides. Crashed in it once, did the job. RaymondT calls it my cosmonaut suit and constantly reminds me I should probably be riding a BMW. When I lived in SoCal most of the magazine guys wore them on sportbikes, anytime they were not doing a photo shoot. | ||
| Court |
>>>>The AMA says leather is better. The AMA doesn't conduct one event on legal city streets or under any conditions that even remotely emulate the roads I ride on. When they do . . . call me. If I were racing . . I'd wear leather just like 100% of the racers do. My racing license expired in 1998. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The AMA doesn't conduct one event on legal city streets or under any conditions that even remotely emulate the roads I ride on. When they do . . . call me. If I were racing . . I'd wear leather just like 100% of the racers do. My racing license expired in 1998. When you see racers completing the course in a Roadcrafter, call me. There is no argument that a Roadcrafter is more versatile and provides the degree of protection 99% of the population require. For me, I'll take the added abrasion resistance that leather offers. I also wear a race back protector. Do I need to? Probably not, but why not add the extra protection if it can be done without inconvenience? My take is that if it's good enough for the track it should be more than sufficient for the street. Isn't that the argument most here make for their Arai helmet? | ||
| Luftkoph |
Isn't that the argument most here make for their Arai helmet? Oh no you didn't son, what a can 'o' worms you just opened. | ||
| Jaimec |
Haven't worn an Arai in over ten years. Ever since my first BMW System II helmet, I've been a believer in modular helmets. I've unfortunately crash tested them on a couple of different occasions and they protected me just fine. As for their protective quality, there already have been SEVERAL posts here on DOT vs. pre Snell 2010 helmets so I won't go over that ground again. As far as the track is concerned, every track day organization, Reg Pridmore's C.L.A.S.S. and Keith Code's California Superbike School ALL allow participants to wear Roadcrafter suits. It is only in COMPETITION where leather is required. If you're riding at race competition speeds on PUBLIC STREETS I hope you get caught and locked up REAL soon for the sake of everybody else on the road. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
So if someone is wearing leathers they MUST ride race speeds on the street? The conditions on the STREET (except for speed) are MORE perilous than the track. The track doesn't have trees or gravel or mailboxes or chickens or turkeys or dogs or deer or trucks or cars. There are plenty of runoffs. You could be traveling at a fraction of track speeds and suffer worse injuries. Leather, in numerous drag tests, provides greater abrasion resistance. Leather also provides greater impact resistance (same tests) and helps to keep armor in place better than textile. I'm pretty sure most track day organizations do not allow textile in advanced group. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I'm not bagging on Aerostitch products. I WEAR THEM MYSELF! My point is that in the narrow comfort band, I prefer to wear leathers for added protection. It's why I am interested in the Stitch leather suit. If it expands the comfort range for leather use, I'm all ears! Looks to me to be the best of leathers plus the best of Aerostitch rolled into one. Yay! | ||
| Bluzm2 |
But Fatty, the real question is will the Stitch Leather products suffer the same "age related" shrinkage is the synthetic version?  | ||
| Britchri10 |
RE: Leather Vs Aerostitch: My take is it is all down to personal preference. I usually wear a leather jacket, boots + armored jeans, leather gloves & a Shoei helmet. Just "my" preference. I have never worn Aerostich products & I hate the idea of crash testing anything. Regardless of what you wear, falling off hurts! It's all a matter of individual taste & what you are comfortable with. Chris C | ||
| Court |
The Aerostich is an amazing piece of engineering. The Aerostich vs. leather abrasion resistance comparison has been the subject of ad nauseum comparisons by magazines over the years. There was even one theory that leather was more likely, glven that it's less "slick", to catch and cause a sliding riding to tumble. Tough logic to buy. I do know the speeds at which I have slid Aerostich suits down course asphalt, not your smooth fine grade track surface, but course grade highway and . . . well, it's not only easy to get in and out of (about 7 seconds), provides rain protection and TONS of visibility but . . . well, it's never let me down in a slide. I don't think I'd ever, without some good research, want to get into the "which is better" . . . .leather is tried and proven on race tracks. But I've yet to see anyone abrade and Aerostich through and suffer road rash. It may have happened. Given the huge population of Aerostich folks we have here maybe someone has an example, I too use the full CE spine protection, hips, keens, shoulders, elbows and the works. It makes for a really heavy suit but it's worked really well for me. The Aerostich vs. leather discussion traditionally winds up with the "you're more likely to wear it since it's easier to get into" assertion. Sound? Who knows? I've worn and Aerostich over an Armani tux to the Grand Opening of the Ducati flagship store and that worked great, Not sure leathers would have allowed that. Others will . . . at least they have since I've engaged in this discussion since 1994 . . have varying opinions. | ||
| Froggy |
I guess I am exhibit A. But the rash was smaller than a dime, and looked more like a rug burn. | ||
| Court |
But the rash was smaller than a dime, and looked more like a rug burn. Were you on a public roadway? Roughly what speed? What surface? How well did the Aerostich work? | ||
| Jaimec |
By the way, in regards to the "Impact Protection:" That comes from the padded armor in the suit, not from the material the suit is made out of. Moot point. As for:
That argument is right along the lines of "If she floats, then she's made of wood and therefore a witch." Just came back from riding all day in my new Darien Suit (with Kanetsu AirVantage electric liner). Nowhere near as easy to get in and out of as my Roadcrafter but I can see the suit being useful on long tours. Unlike the Roadcrafter, the Darien is supposed to be 100% waterproof. It doesn't have the big, built-in "Backpack" pocket in the back either. Still, I can see it affords the same protection in a fall and the quality of construction is typical Aerostich. I just need to break it in more so it doesn't feel like I'm wearing a suit made out of cardboard... | ||
| Froggy |
This was my big crash back in 2009. I was on Rt 9W and hit a stopped car while doing like 50-60mph or so. Flew up over the handle bars, landed on my right side no much in terms of sliding, but the fall did most of my damage. Broken collar bone, brokenish wrist (they say it was fine, but it has been broken so many times they couldn't tell on the xray, but I personally knew it was broken). Bruises all down my right side. The 'stitch got a little beat up, the right zipper that gives access to my pants was ripped open and will not close, the right shoulder pad material has scuffs, and on my back around where the reflective stripe there is some small holes. I still have not had it repaired to this day, I've just been too lazy to send it in. My leather 1 piece and my Joe Rocket textile jackets have more armor in them than the road crafter, I want to believe they would of protected me better. In fact, I ended up tumbling down the Saw Mill Parkway a few years ago, and walked away from it (just a broken foot, K-mart boots) in a Buell Adventure jacket/pants which also has more padding than the road crafter. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
I have a Tiez Lombard 1 piece, but prefer wearing the combination of my Tourmaster Transition jacket with Caliber pants. I'm currently on my second Transition jacket. Wore the first one for two seasons and it's got minimal signs of wear, I just wanted to change from black to hi-viz. Zippers still work great, velcro sticks, stitching is all intact, it's just as waterproof as the day I bought it, and it hasn't "shrunk". (rumor is, high rider metabolism keeps the suit from shrinking  ) With the cost comparison, if the Tourmaster gear lasts me 4 years then it was just as much $$ per season as wearing a Roadcrafter for 10 years. The Tiez Suit pays for itself in the same comparison after only 2 years. Both of my "cheap" suits have much better armor than the Roadcrafter has to offer and unlike Roadcrafter owners, I have no complaints about my suit's waterproof qualities. The Tiez suit has proven to be 100% waterproof, and the Tourmaster gear is the same except for minimal intrusion in the gap between jacket and pants - pretty much impossible to avoid that weak point in any two-piece setup. I'm glad people are happy with the Roadcrafter and similar outrageously priced suits, but the budget stuff works great for me. I just purchased a Shoei RF-1100 to replace my old 1000 model. Love both helmets but I'm seriously looking at the Scorpion EXO lineup next time I make a purchase. They're manufactured with the same composite resin shell as my Shoeis, same DOT/SNELL ratings, but at 1/3 of the cost. Plus Shoei doesn't offer the hi-viz solid color option that I want for my next lid. | ||
| Jaimec |
There is one other area where traditional leather beats the Aerostich textile suits, and that's in protecting the rider from the heat generated by sliding down the road. For that reason, Aerostich advises their users to wear their suits over regular street clothes with long sleeves and long pants. Leather can be worn "Commando Style" but my experience says it works best if you wear silk longjohns underneath. And since this is a Buell forum, and it is an oft-repeated theme here: Aerostich Roadcrafter and Darien Suits are built ENTIRELY in the United States, by American workers. The prices are high because they do not (and CAN not) hire women and children as "Slave Labor" as they often do in those countries that produce those "Bargain" suits. Think globally, buy locally. | ||
| Jaimec |
Rode in the rain for the first time with the full suit. So far, so good. It wasn't a particularly hard rain though. | ||
| Court |
 He slides . . . . . S-A-F-E ! ! | ||
| Jaimec |
Was it repairable? That looks like it took worse damage than my suit. | ||
| Court |
New sleeve and replaced pants. | ||
| Jaimec |
Got a call from Duluth last night. Five of the six ballistic patches need replacement, and I'll need a new left sleeve. That's damage from the crash itself (I was also advised that I SHOULD replace all six ballistics or the unreplaced one will look "odd" compared to the other five). Besides the crash, there are some "wear and tear" items that needed to be addressed as well. It MAY turn out to be cheaper to replace the suit. I should get a final estimate today. I HOPE I don't have to replace the suit... it's a "20th Anniversary" suit, and I like having that "uniqueness." | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Well "touch wood" I haven't crashed in textile gear, but looking at the damage my leather jacket & trousers suffered in my last wreck, I don't think it would have changed the outcome one way or the other if I'd been wearing textile. I like cow, but I'm becoming an old git now & find textile more comfortable. | ||
| Jaimec |
Hmmmmm... still no word... | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Saw a USED road crafter go for $461! Half a G for a used suit. People are asking as much a $600 for a used one. Stuffs gotta be good. |
