Hot weather Gear

[Uncle Hud]

Didn't figure you for the "fashionable" type, Uncle. Does Kelly have a banana suit as well?

Chuckle, chuckle, and one more chuckle ... just because. Our matching helmets are an admission of my googly eyed and whole-heart craziness for this woman.

We attended an Aerostich pop-up event in Atlanta last year. "Why do they insist on making everything so ... so functional looking? They don't they make anything pretty for girl bikers?"

Always happy to follow her "girl biker" FZ-07. Summertime wear for her: mesh First Gear jacket with matching mesh First Gear pants.

[Abercrombie FJR]

Klim Latitude Jacket and pants. LDComfort long sleeve top and bottom.
Up to 90F I open up the vents and ride.
Above 90F I soak the LDComfort top, sleeves and chest, close all the jacket vents, loosen the neck, open the sleeve cuffs. Unadjusted cuffs to control the ram air flow up the sleeves. Sleeves and chest stay damp and maintain cooling for 2-3 hours. I actually have to close the sleeves down sometimes to control the cooling as i can get chilled if not careful. My experience with Mesh is that it greatly contributes to dehydration.

This is true. On back to back days, I rode in 100+ degree heat in Montrose CO. The first day I wore a one piece full mesh Olympia Stealth suit and was miserably dehydrated and over heated. The second day I used bigjohnsd's method with my full Gore-Tex Latitude suit with controlled ventilation and a wet shirt. The wet shirt is a little swampy feeling, but was much more comfortable and cooler by a large margin.

[Drinyth]

For the past couple of years, I've been riding in Tourmaster Flex pants with the panels off exposing the mesh and a Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket. That combination flowed pretty good air and kept me comfortable.

Just a few weeks ago, I bought Rev'it Airwave jacket and pants. My Tourmaster pants were too baggy for my liking off the bike and my Joe Rocket jacket was getting tired and extremely faded. The Airwave stuff seems to flow pretty good air. I tried it out yesterday in the upper 80s, and I was pretty comfortable.

Like others have mentioned, I think staying hydrated is key. Stopping every hour or two when it's really hot out to make sure you're taking enough fluids in is really important in the heat. I've done the soaking wet shirt thing as well which seems to work, but tends to dry out pretty quickly while wearing mesh. I don't know if I'd like the swampy feeling with wet shirts and all the vents on a jacket closed?

[Hppants]

I'm agreeing with Big John and Abercrombie. I use the mesh for the short day trips. But on the long trips, the textile jacket with the vents open and a soaked T-shirt underneath was better, I think.

[bigjohnsd]

I'm agreeing with Big John and Abercrombie. I use the mesh for the short day trips. But on the long trips, the textile jacket with the vents open and a soaked T-shirt underneath was better, I think.

Once you try the soaked LDComfort top you will really find out what cool is. The fabric is a real treat in that despite holding a whole lot of water it feels dry against your skin. The long sleeves are where the real cooking take a place, they even sell just the sleeves. The long pants really keep the nether regions dry and help keep the radiant heat from the Road And the bike off Of your legs while sucking any perspiration away from your legs. Buy a set before you leave for CFR

[bungie4]

I'm agreeing with Big John and Abercrombie. I use the mesh for the short day trips. But on the long trips, the textile jacket with the vents open and a soaked T-shirt underneath was better, I think.

Once you try the soaked LDComfort top you will really find out what cool is. The fabric is a real treat in that despite holding a whole lot of water it feels dry against your skin. The long sleeves are where the real cooking take a place, they even sell just the sleeves. The long pants really keep the nether regions dry and help keep the radiant heat from the Road And the bike off Of your legs while sucking any perspiration away from your legs. Buy a set before you leave for CFR

This. It works. I bought a cool vest some years ago. The LDComfort solution is much better compared to that.

Also, and I won't admit to this publicly, but the tights absolutely rock compared to the briefs.

Also, does anybody else find LD"s sizing guide run to the small side. According to their chart, I should be wearing a medium. The waist bands are uncomfortably tight. I bought he large, and they are STILL snug. This was before the ever expanding universe that is my gut came into play.

[bigjohnsd]

LDComfort size is a titch small, if you're at the top Of their size range you would be wise to go up one size

[Redfish]

All this is Good Stuff but it is worth adding that different parts of the world have different conditions that require changing the solutions.

What works Out West will not work in Swampy Flatlandistan and vice versa. Here in the extreme humidity of South Louisiana the mesh works extremely well. Soaking my Tshirt quickly results in me smelling like a wet hound and growing green slime under my armpits.

In a dry climate as the temps approach that 98.6 F mark the last thing I need or want is mesh. Dehydration is certainly a factor but we also need to insulate our bodies from that heat. Remember Clint Eastwood with that poncho in all those spaghetti westerns?

I am sorely disappointed by my Tourmaster Transition because the waterproof liner does NOT have openings where the external vents are located. No real air to skin ventilation is possible. I have ridden a lot of miles with it but I am wanting something better. Dammit.

[bigjohnsd]

Andrew, the method I describe above works at 100% humidity in temperatures above 100F. You just have to try it. The LDComfort shirt is the key, it works where the tee shirt does not.

[Redfish]

I am looking at a better Touring Jacket. My Tourmaster Transitions, series 3 & 4 have both been good but not great. Both eventually disappointed me.

BigJohn strongly endorses the Klim and he is a man that Knows. I respect his opinion for a lot of reasons. The Aerostich Darien has some appeal but I am not convinced that armpit vents are enough for Swampy Flatlandistan.

I am leaning strongly toward the Olympia Richmond. What does the Forum say?

[raYzerman]

Do not see a Richmond on their site. I am a fan of Olympia, use it 4 season in combo with heated jacket liner for cool, windproof liner for cold, no liners for hot. Use rain gear over top for wet. Used to have Airglide, now Dakar. BigJohn is right about LD Comfort, not at all the same as a tee shirt. Have no cotton undergarments, they are the worst. I am not a Klim fan, Gortex exterior idea is OK for cool climates/wet, but venting is insufficient for me in hot.

[wheatonFJR]

Do not see a Richmond on their site. I am a fan of Olympia, use it 4 season in combo with heated jacket liner for cool, windproof liner for cold, no liners for hot. Use rain gear over top for wet. Used to have Airglide, now Dakar. BigJohn is right about LD Comfort, not at all the same as a tee shirt. Have no cotton undergarments, they are the worst. I am not a Klim fan, Gortex exterior idea is OK for cool climates/wet, but venting is insufficient for me in hot.

I have an airglide...is Dakar sufficient in the hot!?!?

[Hppants]

If the jacket sleeves do not have a ZIPPER on the cuff, I don't care if it is God's gift to riding apparel, pass. Walk RUN away from it.

[silverback]

I am looking at a better Touring Jacket. My Tourmaster Transitions, series 3 & 4 have both been good but not great. Both eventually disappointed me.

BigJohn strongly endorses the Klim and he is a man that Knows. I respect his opinion for a lot of reasons. The Aerostich Darien has some appeal but I am not convinced that armpit vents are enough for Swampy Flatlandistan.

I am leaning strongly toward the Olympia Richmond. What does the Forum say?

I have the OG series 1...still.

Its not great at anything, but decent at everything. The venting doesn't get through to the skin, but I have found it inflates enough that air moves around. For warmer rides though, I prefer the mesh jacket. Cant beat it in the cold with the liner. It's pretty comfortable down to 30°F at 80 mph. A heated liner makes it good down to colder than I have ever ridden. It does ok in a mediocre rain, but in a frog choker, best to have something to help.

I would love to get something better, but bang for (less) bucks, the Transition is tough to beat.

I am interested in the LDComfort line and will most likely be getting a shirt for the next summer ride. One question though, do they have enough "slip" that a pair of jeans doesn't release the shark teeth from hell on the backside? Cotton undergarments tends to grab and make everything very uncomfortable.

[bigjohnsd]

I am interested in the LDComfort line and will most likely be getting a shirt for the next summer ride. One question though, do they have enough "slip" that a pair of jeans doesn't release the shark teeth from hell on the backside? Cotton undergarments tend to grab and make everything very uncomfortable.

I don't know, I never wear Jeans when I ride, always the Klim Latitude pants, Jeans just don't provide enough protection to make me feel comfortable. Stems from my years driving the ambulance picking up jeans-clad pirates at Sturgis.

The LDComfort gear is not "Sticky" in that it doesn't adhere to your outer layer

[FJRPittsburgh]

I wear LD Comfort shorts on every long ride. They are amazing and keep your fanny dry. There are some good LD Comfort videos on YouTube and on the LD Comfort website to show you how the dual fabric works. Wet on the outside, but dry on the inside. No chafing. Great stuff!

[raYzerman]

Dakar has more mesh than an Airglide, because the Airglide has fabric panel on front of the arms. Very similar overall I would say, 3/4 length and extra pockets are good, pouch in the back. Newer Olympia has mesh pockets.... don't know why they went away from waterproof pockets on exterior.

[fontanaman]

I am looking at a better Touring Jacket. My Tourmaster Transitions, series 3 & 4 have both been good but not great. Both eventually disappointed me.

BigJohn strongly endorses the Klim and he is a man that Knows. I respect his opinion for a lot of reasons. The Aerostich Darien has some appeal but I am not convinced that armpit vents are enough for Swampy Flatlandistan.

I am leaning strongly toward the Olympia Richmond. What does the Forum say?

I am a fan of a 3/4 jacket where two liners are needed. The first liner is the rain proof liner and the second is the insulation liner. Jackets with built in water proof liners do not breath or allow as much airflow as those with no built in rain liner.

I have a 3 layer Rev'it jacket having two liners, an rain and insulation layer. I bought a nice hiking rain shell and wore it over my riding jacket because the jacket is a bit short for my long torso. In cold temps I was surprised how much warmer the jacket was by adding the rain shell. So I figure a built in rain liner is not a good deal in hot / humid climate - a textile jacket breaths pretty well and why defeat that? The point is a 4 season jacket with a rain and insulation liner is a very versatile garment.

Hope to see you at CRF or Spearfish.

[Boozer]

I guess i'll add my 2 cents because it's that time of year. Early this spring I purchased a new Aerostich R-3 one piece. I have tested it in cold weather. Trip down to Suches with the Pant's crew in March where temps got down to 30 degrees. The suit worked awesome and I stayed warm and dry. I was concerned that it would be hot in summer weather. This weekend the wife and I headed down to Branson, Mo to see my parents. Before I left I ordered the LD comfort mock T to try in hot weather. Temps on the way home reached 100 degrees. I was amazed that when the shirt was soaked in water how cool it felt going down the road. The shirt holds a ton of water and stays wet for a long time if you control your venting. This gear gets my approval and I'm ordering more soon.

[Hppants]

I do believe that the textile gear with controlled venting over a soaked undergarment is the absolute best way to go. You need very little air flow to allow the evaporative cooling effect of the undergarment. Down here in sauna land, evaporative cooling is hardly effective. But elsewhere, I'm a firm believer in it.