Apparel suggestions, please.
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How hot are you talking? And what kind of riding?
I live in Central California and see my share of dry heat, but fortunately we don't get your kind of hunidity. I stop riding abive 100F, because I can. My car has a/c, lol. I imagine I'd drop that 10deg if it was humid.
I have a couple different combinations of gear.
For commuting:
-Cayenne Pro jacket (first gen), light grey
-Fieldsheer Phantom mesh overpants, black (Unfortunately)
For adv rides:
-32 Degrees Heatgear long-sleeve base layer
-Olympia Dakar 2 mesh jacket, white w/black mesh
-Rev'it Sand 4 pants, white
In moderate (dry) heat, up to maybe 95F, the mesh jacket does well. But above that, the hot and dry air blow dries you to death on the freeway. The light breathability of the Cayenne Pro does better above 95 than the mesh, particularly if I douse my base layer in water before taking off.
However, the mesh jacket breathes a lot better at low speeds, and you'd probably appreciate it more in the humidity. I got it specifically for hot weather dual sport rides where I need something ultra breathable to throw over a chest protector for abrasion resistance.
One option to consider is the AdventureSpec Supershirt. It's a base layer with built in armor and abrasion resistance. You can wear just the shirt (But ugh, it's all black), or throw a jersey on over it.
Another option is Motoport mesh jackets. A bit heavy for what I do, but people swear by them.
No matter what you do, put a good technical base layer into your getup. The 32 Degrees Heatgear stuff is cheap, but Underarmor has really solid compression base layers that are very popular. It may seem counter-intuitive to add a layer in the heat, but it's absolutely worth it.
I live in Central California and see my share of dry heat, but fortunately we don't get your kind of hunidity. I stop riding abive 100F, because I can. My car has a/c, lol. I imagine I'd drop that 10deg if it was humid.
I have a couple different combinations of gear.
For commuting:
-Cayenne Pro jacket (first gen), light grey
-Fieldsheer Phantom mesh overpants, black (Unfortunately)
For adv rides:
-32 Degrees Heatgear long-sleeve base layer
-Olympia Dakar 2 mesh jacket, white w/black mesh
-Rev'it Sand 4 pants, white
In moderate (dry) heat, up to maybe 95F, the mesh jacket does well. But above that, the hot and dry air blow dries you to death on the freeway. The light breathability of the Cayenne Pro does better above 95 than the mesh, particularly if I douse my base layer in water before taking off.
However, the mesh jacket breathes a lot better at low speeds, and you'd probably appreciate it more in the humidity. I got it specifically for hot weather dual sport rides where I need something ultra breathable to throw over a chest protector for abrasion resistance.
One option to consider is the AdventureSpec Supershirt. It's a base layer with built in armor and abrasion resistance. You can wear just the shirt (But ugh, it's all black), or throw a jersey on over it.
Another option is Motoport mesh jackets. A bit heavy for what I do, but people swear by them.
No matter what you do, put a good technical base layer into your getup. The 32 Degrees Heatgear stuff is cheap, but Underarmor has really solid compression base layers that are very popular. It may seem counter-intuitive to add a layer in the heat, but it's absolutely worth it.
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This is super helpful. I'll check out some of these companies. The Motorsport mesh sounds like a great solution.
When u say technical layer you mean like the leggings type material?
Rev'it is good stuff, and very comfortable if it fits you well. Not cheap, though.
Olympia used to be a great brand. They sold a few years back, and the company that owns them was having some financial issues recently. I've seen some of their newer gear, and I'm not impressed at all. Unfortunate, because they used to have some excellent gear.
"Legging material" is a bit of an oversimplification, but yes, essentially. Special material meant to sit against your skin and wick moisture away, keeping you cool and dry.
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Ha ha...Yea...lets go with technical layer.
I have picked up a lot of stuff from the advrider flea market. Some more from Facebook Marketplace local ads. No way I could've afforded all of the gear I have new, up front. I'd still be paying for it.
This seems like a good place to ask. I'm looking for a lightweight, breathable (GoreTex or knockoff) rain jacket/wind breaker with excellent neck lining. I'm currently using an Olympia Horizon jacket that is light and breathable, but has plenty of other flaws including razor sharp zippers and velcro stuff that stab me in my ever-flapping neck skin. I'm living with it by using neck gaitors while I look for the perfect solution. Everything I've seen is either too heavy, too expensive and/or still has sharp stuff in the neck area. I'm kind of surprised that even the some of the very expensive brands still have exposed zippers that grind into your neck in the wind.
I like for my gear to be in lightweight layers that I can adjust as needed while easily packing away what I don't need. Armored jackets don't work for this.
Any suggestions?
I like for my gear to be in lightweight layers that I can adjust as needed while easily packing away what I don't need. Armored jackets don't work for this.
Any suggestions?
I agree. I've bought and returned a few things from them, and received nothing shy of top notch service.
I don't know about breathable, but...
Half the reason I bought the Olympia Dakar 2 was because the waterproof liner can be worn over a normal jacket. I don't actually plan on using it in conjunction with the warm-weather Dakar, but I've had to use it a few times over my Rev'It jacket in freezing weather to cut the wind. It also has an included under-helmet hood, but I don't really ride in the rain for long on purpose, so I don't intend to use it.
I don't notice any issues with the velcro or zipper.
Thanks for the advice. I'll check it out at Cycle Gear the next time I'm there. Kind of overkill to just get the rain liner, but I'm open to anything.
AFAIK, Cycle Gear brick and mortar stores don't carry Olympia. The ones here definitely do not. And I'm not sure I'd invest in anything new from Olympia. They have different owners now, and what I've seen of their newer stuff hasn't impressed me.
My point was more that there might be some outside-the-box solutions for you, be it a pirated rain liner from another jacket or a clearance gore-tex shell from REI.
Yeah, I've already been shopping REI and other places for this. Some of my favorite motorcycle clothes over the years were actually ski clothes. I'm old school and don't like armored jackets because they're heavy, uncomfortable and don't pack away easily. I've tried several.
Cycle Gear still sells Olympia, but they don't stock it, and I agree with you on Olympia's issues. I kind of miss the good old days when shops stocked stuff and you could try it on, but I fully understand the business advantage of not keeping a lot of inventory. I've also considered having someone sew a neck liner and zipper cover into my Olympia jacket. That would probably cost more than finding the perfect jacket so I'm going to keep searching for now. The neck gaitor works, I'd rather save money for other things, and this gives me an excuse to browse around every motorcycle shop, Goodwill and outdoor store I pass.
I think you might be surprised at the cost of alterations. If they're simple, $20-40 might cover that.
But I'd also take the excuse to browse stores for clearance stuff
I'm in Cycle Gear every few weeks just to see what they've moved to their clearance racks.joking aside, you do need some jeans regardless how hot it is. As far as the upper body goes, I use a Klim Induction jacket. Haven't tried the Pro which has improved padding but the regular is good. Very good.
I like my Alpinestars Andes for cold weather (zipper vents with removable liner, waterproof, adjustable Velcro neck closure, covered zippers) and I have a Noru mesh jacket for summer. I still need some light summer pants tho.
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