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-   -   The Riding Gear thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ride-safe/42000-riding-gear-thread-308.html)

You should check out the TripMachine website. They have the shift pad in leather, which should substantially increase its longevity and solve your crisis :)

Hey all,

I'm looking for a pair of riding boots for my daily commute and weekend rides (once in a while). This will be my first riding gear.

What do you guys think about Street Ace Boots by Solace? Their website says it is "CE certified to EN ISO 20345 standard". My budget is 6K.

Hi Folks,

M/49yo and getting a Honda CB350 tomorrow. I've only been a city commuter on two-wheels but never done highways. I expect (and intend) to ride gentle mostly around 90-100kmph on long rides (hopefully will start doing 1-2 longish like 200km rides per month and 1-2 500+ kms longer rides once or twice a year). No real intent of off-roading, than what occasional actual road conditions might require. I might do very little night-driving on highways, perhaps less than 10-15%.

Of course, I'd like to stay safe (avoid breaking bones at this age, or worse) but also trying not to spend too much. Gurus and experienced riders here, kindly suggest the bare-minimum (and then some) gear. I don't think I'd be upgrading bike in this lifetime.

My thoughts currently are to keep all essential gear cost under 17-18K, yes, I understand that it doesn't leave much room. These are things I had on mind:
- Rynox Air GT 4 mesh jacket (has CE level2 protection in elbows, shoulder, back and chest, although perhaps not top-notch): 7K
- RE Gritty/Trailblazer leather riding gloves: 1.8K
- Steelbird SBA-7 7Wings ISI Certified Flip-Up Helmet: 1.5K
- Rynox Bionic knee guards (not sure if it is considered essential), used over good/thick denim jeans: 4K
- Kavach safety (steel toe) riding boots: 3K (or perhaps Woodland ones)

I am not at all brand-conscious but definitely prefer safety over cheap. Just that I've read at many places that Axor helmets are no better than Steelbird, Studds, Vega etc., and I'm not sure I can spend 6K+ for anything better right now. I need to prove to myself that I'm going to be really serious about riding.

Would be wonderful to have thoughts and suggestions.

cheers,
B

Humble suggestion. Don't cheap out on helmet. Never ever!
Go for a full face, and look for something like SMK. It will be under 4-4.5 k.
If the budget is an issue, cheap out on the jacket and divert that fund towards helmet.

Please don't cheap out on gear. For the most part, the three basic essentials are a good helmet, gloves and boots. An ECE Certified Helmet is the bare minimum, honestly, and a good 4-6k is a good amount to spend. Secondly, do invest in gloves that have some sort of scaphoid protection system, and not mere foam padding. Thirdly, safety boots and riding boots are not the same, hence please do invest in purpose made riding boots. You can always pick up the jacket later. Spending a fair amount on proper gear now will save you a ton pf pain and money in an unfortunate situation (Although I pray that it never happens). Think of it like an insurance premium, its better to be safe than sorry. Cheers!:D

Appreciate that, but then when researching SMK came across this video of a crash-test done by Tiger Koul, which has some surprises. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ua2gd5oP4o

Its not a crash test. At the very least, crash tests requires measurement of G force transferred inside the EPS liner. A sturdy helmet may not be a safer one.
Anyways, up your budget and get a MT then. :thumbs up

Can try LS2 helmets as well. With the newer ECE 22.06 certification. Crash tested personally (unfortunately) and would recommend the same.

Thanks, but aren't ECE 22.06 certified helmets 12k plus ?

No mate, i got the LS2 storm at 9k.
You can try out SMK as well which might fit in within your budget.

Heads-up,*the Royal Enfield Cabo TCX boots are on sale on multiple websites for ₹5950 or ₹6375. These are the casual sneaker style CE-certified boot made by TCX.

I just bought them from Tata Neu at ₹2970 effectively. Tata Neu's cobranded Rupay Credit Card can be used on UPI for normal activities like buying veggies/groceries. And it offers 1% reward on all UPI spends. So I cashed it out on this purchase, feels like a pretty good deal.

Thanks for the tip-off, but are canvas style riding boots really better than pure 100% leather, steel toed boots from lesser known companies ? Canvas (as a material) doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. Am I missing something here ?

I was about to buy the RE Vamos but then saw Tarmac Rapid Riding Full Gauntlets going at the same price.
How is the quality & do they last?
They are probably the cheapest full gauntlets, I'm a little apprehensive because a YT review said the lining & stitching came out after a couple of rides.
I don't mind spending more(on korda track full gloves or rynox evo 2) rather than spending less initially which does not last for atleast a couple of years.

And how about the jacket, Sir?
Many tarmac jackets are going for huge discounts, does this brand match the quality to the likes of viaterra/rynox?

Thank you for the tip. Unfortunately, the starting size is UK7. Are there any riding boots with size UK6? Is the Street Ace Boots by Solace any good? Similar budget and they have size 6 too.

I think so, the Cabo is a leather boot, you can see it here: https://store.royalenfield.com/en/ro...ck-45-11-black

Ah, tough in between size. The womens TCX boots are also great and in stock, but they seem small for you.