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Cant say much about the jackets doc, but have to disagree on the armour front.

I have a Teknic mesh jacket with Knox "Flexiform" armour in shoulder and elbow. I recently ordered some knee armour for my Klim pants from Revzilla. The knee armour although is supposed to be Klim, it bears some branding by the name of "4 Bikers". This armour also is CE rated, exactly the same as Knox.

The Klim pants I have unfortunately come with very small pockets to fit the knee armour in. There was no way I could have accomodated the Bikers brand pads in there without cutting it. I used my Hindustani dimaag and swapped the Knox armour in my jacket with the Klim one and the Knox was a perfect fit for the pants.

Whilst swapping the two out, I couldnt help but notice that the Knox armour was substantially thicker than the Klim one, wider too. It almost encapsulates the patella. The other armour, not so much. The sides of your knee are completely vulnerable to impact in case you were to take a tumble.

I did a very unscientific test of the 2 armours. Placed an armour each on both my knees, and hit the knee with a TV remote stupid:

I progressively kept increasing the force with which I hit the knees and can say this with utmost confidence - for a hit where I did not feel a thing on Knox armour, pain announced itself loud and clear when I hit myself on the Klim armour.

Is Knox better than the standard stuff available? Hell yes! Fork out the extra bucks for it if you can IMO.

I just sold my Australian Dri Rider Apex jacket (which was sadly way too large for me so had hardly been worn). It was a touring enduro style jacket (like the Cramster K2K and the DSG Triton/Maverick).

Now I know I am not going to get that quality jacket here in India but equally I do not want to wait before someone can get an imported one down for me from the US or Australia (which I will anyways later on).

So as a stop gap, I am going to use this money (quickly, before I spend it off :uncontrol) and buy myself the best Indian jacket I can as a stop gap.

And from whatever I have seen, I am trying to decide between the Spartan Icarus (the Helios does not justify the extra 2K in my opinion) which is a really well made mesh jacket with good beefy CE rated armor and a rain liner but no thermal liner, and the Cramster K2K which has been the best selling Indian touring enduro style jacket, which is cordura (better abrasion resistance compared to mesh), vented (though will not be near as good as a full mesh jacket), has both a rain resistant and a thermal layer (the latter is a 1000 buck extra in the Icarus or Helios), tons of pockets, and not as good armor as the Spartan jackets (I have seen them - they are "CE rated" - the 1621-1 is not written, unlike on the Cramster Breezers, even the Spartan back protector pad is thicker than the K2K). I do like the fit and look of the Cramster (3/4th length, gathered at the waist) more than the Spartan (short street style). The Icarus with the thermal liner would cost about 5800, while the K2K would come for 6000, so nothing in that as well. I'm getting the DSG Triton for about 7000, but I don't think it gives me anything more than the K2K except for a fatter segmented back protector (new).

I think I've covered almost all the attributes one looks at while buying a jacket. But still not sure one way or the other. Another reason for which are the many "Crapster" type remarks one hears, though from what I could see, the K2K looks like a feature rich well made jacket at a very decent price.

Try speaking to Spartan directly. These guys are quite customer friendly and will be happy to direct you to some local dealers

I have no experience with KYT helmets but it seems to be a good VFM option. I think our friendly mod Jaggu just got himself one. Maybe ping him for some details?

I know what you mean doc. My point was only around the armour only and not the VFM factor of teh jacket. Having compared 2 pads from 2 reputable brands (I would say KLIM is very reputable) gives me the confidence that Knox will probably protect me better if I were to be in an unfortunate circumstance. All the best with your search

Totally agree with you. I am so impressed by the protection of knox that I went ahead and upgraded my helios back protector, which had a pretty thick CE rated, to Knox advance X back protector. There is a reason why KNOX are number one in protectors and armor

Hi,

I am looking for something to protect my lower body.
Should I buy knee guard and boots or the riding pants and boots.
I am not that lavish on the budget, so thinking of the spartan riding pants.
Does anyone has any experience with spartan leather shoes.
Or if I am opting for SIDI, which model should I go for.
I might want to pick up a knee guard for sunny days in that case a alpinestar is the best I suppose.
Where can I source the alpinestar and the SIDI for best price.
Thanks.

has anyone used this AGV glove:
http://www.performanceracing.in/Prod...ve-mayhem.aspx

is the merchant reliable? their site is crappy.

thx

I would suggest riding pants over knee guards any day. Riding pants offer far better protection (in addition to knee and shin armor, it also offers hip protection [dual density foam]) and material used in riding pants are far better for resisting abrasion compared to regular pants.

That said, pants are cumbersome for daily use within city as you will need to wear them over regular pants or change to regular pants when you reach your destination.

I use this one. These are cargo style pants. I find them comfortable except that the knee armor on the left digs into my knee while riding. Need to reposition the armor properly for better comfort. Highly recommended.

You may also consider this or this. The latter has mesh panels providing more ventilation.

I've not used them personally but did get to take a look closely. They seem to have quite a bit of safety features and do seem like good VFM at the price they are offered at.

If you're buying Sidi, buy them online in USA and have it shipped to someone residing there so they can get it for you when they come here. That way, you will save a lot of money.

When I bought my Sidi's a few years back, I paid US $ 300 for it which came to around INR 14k. Locally it was available for 4k more than what I paid.

Here are a few links:

1

2

3

4

PRS is reliable and highly respected in the Mumbai riding circle. Do call them and speak with them if you have any queries. They are very responsive.

Riding pants anyday, not just for the impact and abrasion resistance, but for comfort! I have ridding comfortably with riding pants for more than 20 hours a day, but regular jeans don't last longer than 3. Riding pants have a coarse piece attached under your bum, which prevents slipping forward, and exponentially increases comfort.

My experience with Spartan Odysseus riding pants has been really bad. The knee guards really dig into the skin, and after 1 hour of usage I just want to pull them off.

I have friends using Spartan Hercules and Zeus shoes, and they are happy with them. Having said that, they aren't too beefy (like the Tarmac Venom for example), and may not provide as much protection.

Pick ANY SIDI boots, even the cheapest are of highest quality. I believe only PRS has SIDI in India. A* is all with DSG. I wouldn't really bother with knee guards, if you really want full protection all the time for your lower body, buy Joe Rocket Alter Ego riding pants from PRS, they are overpants and can be worn over your jeans.

1. Anyone here has experience with/owns armored jeans (I assume that is what they are called , they have kevlar layer inside the jeans ) ? If yes , from where did you acquire it and for what price ?

These ones?

http://www.performanceracing.in/Prod...ket-jeans.aspx

Yes like that , might get one of those for touring purposes .

Do you know of any riding jacket that appears like a regular jacket ? I mean something that doesn't have a big alpinestar (for example ) or similar brand logo across a portion of the torso , something subtle with leather finish that can also serve the purpose of casual wear .

I have the same concern but only on the left knee. I pulled out the armor to check if it was placed incorrectly (upside down) but it wasn't. Maybe I need to reposition it or wear a thin pair of pants inside. I had an ugly red scuff mark on my left knee after a full day's ride.

The other problem with the Spartan pants is that they claim to be waterproof but are far far from being so. Heard the same about their Cordura jacket (Achilles? Adonis?).

On the last rain ride to Goa, my friend had bought these pants specifically for the ride. By the time we were 100 kms into the ride (the uber fantastic Varandha Bhor ghat - where it was coming down in celestial buckets) his inners were soaked.

I was wearing my Aussie Dri Rider WP pants, and while eventually I too got that first dreaded cold trickle, my inners were not even close to the wring-buckets-of-rain-water-out wet as his were.

I have "heard" that DSG's Nero pants (the one with the Adidas style side piping) are better on this score. Ashok (ashkamath) here wears them. Maybe he can confirm?

Got a reply from Spartan. They have directed me to Chopra.:Frustrati

What's up Doc?? I love to say this whenever I come across a doctor stupid: coming back to the topic. I ride with DSG Nero riding pant, they are very comfortable but extremely hot and will make you sweat although I wore it during this month October known for the Great October Heat. Apart from this the pant is built from heavy duty cordura material and has vents but are not much of use in summer. The pant boasts of waterproof pockets so I think it must be waterproof although I need to try this during monsoon to confirm it. Few things that I missed in this pant was no velcro strap around the waist for a snug fit, there is elastic at two ends of your hip though, but it doesn't help in giving you that snug fit around the waist as in Spartan Odysseus. One more issue that I came across was the knee guards keeps sliding down and needs adjustment especially while you get down from the motorcycle it just hangs below till your shin. Although it comes back to its position i.e. the knee position while you sit on the motorcycle but adjustment is still needed unlike Spartan Odysseus where the knee armour inside the pant can be adjusted by velcro straps outside irrespective if you are on or off the bike. I am thinking of modifying my DSG Nero pant with the kind of velcro straps around the waist and knee area similar to Spartan Odysseus for that snug fit.