Textile mesh jackets. Protection?

Got a flyer from M&P showing the 'Joe Rocket - Ladies Cleo Mesh
Jacket' [1] and I wondered what sort of abrasion resistance this sort
of material offers please (compared with leather etc).

Daughter is riding to work now and next week is due to be a heat wave.
No fun after working all day in Tree Surgery PPE, so a cooling ride
home might be nice.

The Mrs is still going through that 'is it f'in hot or is it me phase'
so she might also appreciate a cooling jacket.

T i m

[1] They are the older model but are priced suitably.

 

I read some pretty scathing reviews from people who had 'tested' JR
mesh kit a few years ago. They basically just fell apart when they hit
the tarmac.

Having said that, they'll still give you the initial impact resistance
when you hit the road, so are probably fine if daughter's just
commuting through town. You're looking at substantially more money for
decent mesh kit though.

 

Halvarsson inner with the mesh outer might be a little bit better than
the Joe Rocket one then. Probably a little more expensive, too...

 

Not good.

Yeah, it's only 10-15 min's on a good day and mostly 30 mph so
probably not a biggie as you say. In fact I think the short trip is
part of the issue. On a longer / faster ride you get the chance to
cool down, at least from that getting_yer_gear_on / bike_out /
loaded_up heat.

As is often the way with these things.

Cheers, T i m

 

Absolutely zero if the jacket is full mesh. If it's got some textile
panels expect it to be just a little better than zero.

 

Sorry, FWIW I should have included a link but couldn't find the
things first look.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/m8zob3

I wasn't sure if on an (originally) 80 quid mesh jacket the 'mesh'
would be made out of something a bit stronger (from an abrasion POV)
than say say denim etc?

T i m

 

I have a Joe Rocket mesh jacket and I really wouldn't want to test it at
any sort of speed. I only wear it for ear protection.

 

Personally I'd go for as good a normal textile jacket as I could
afford, but make sure it had a few vents. You don't need to be going
very fast before vents get a bit of air circulating.

 

Ok thanks.

Our only experience of 'textile' so far is my old Lewis jacket and
daughters Frank Thomas Ladies two piece, neither particularly good in
the protection stakes I don't suppose.

Could you give me a good example of a good textile jacket please
(something the panel would generally recommend etc)?

T i m

 

Bear in mind IANAE. Pat has one of these

URL:http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/cPath/1_15_114/products_id/4144

which is a nice bit of kit but not exactly cheap. You could get
yourselves to a HG and have a look at one of these

http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/index.php/cPath/1_15_114

 

What?

 

Perchance to protect his lugs from the wrath of the SO if he doesn't
wear "protective" gear?

 

from the local H&S rep, aka the SO, presumably

 

LOL! Bit slow there, Nige.

 

Skin is more expensive & looks a lot better on the body.

Most textiles really offer very little protection unless reinforced with
leather & armour, but folk still ride in it. Like me for one. I got a very
nice AS jacket the other week, i would think a ham sandwich would offer
better protection.

The only thing i can't bring myself to ride in is jeans, might get some
kevlar types, or maybe not.

 

Christ, even my 2 piece Arlen Ness leathers arent classed as PPE!

 

Fair enough. But for low speed shuff, it's better than a non
motorcycle jacket would you say?

;-)

I guess much of this is down to risk management. I knew a bloke who
regularly rode his CX500 between Nth London and Brum in his shirt
sleeves and if he *had* to wear protective gear he said he would have
given up the bike ('too restrictive' <shudder>).

Me, I nearly always wear the leather trousers and gloves (still only
got Derri boots atm) no matter what the weather and either the leather
or textile jacket as well (and no matter what machine I'm on). But
then I'm the sorta bloke that *would* end up on his arse if I didn't
wear the stuff (guaranteed)[1]. However, I'm used to just putting up
with hot / cold whereas daughter is forever adjusting layers etc.

I still really can't understand those who ride without gloves. Won't
your hands be the first things you put down in the event of an off?

T i m

[1] First and only time I rode daughters 125 scooter with her on the
back and displaying her L plates, 50 yards into a 100 yard journey and
*I* come face to face with a 'traffic' car *and* get pulled over.

 

Yep, Scott are good.

 

100% agreed. I especially think things like that when going down hills
on my cycle in T-shirt and shorts and doing 40 mph ... ;-(

Ah, thanks. I thought there may have been (these days) some
indestructible material / thread these were constructed with that
was as good as leather.

And me with the Lewis Gore-Tex / textile thing. I suppose I allow
myself to think it might actually help but I think I know it wouldn't
help much.

That was an option when daughter was choosing her first decent gear
for her 18th ('Draggin Jeans' etc). She ended up with a Dainese jacket
and top that was on sale and fitted her (we know we could have found
better VFM etc but it was her 18th).

Sfunny innit, another bloke said the other day when talking about our
Yamaha Majesty ... "and at least you don't have to put all that gear
on with a scooter" ??? Have they never just fallen over on concrete
when running or come off a bicycle?

I had an angle grinder with a stiff wire brush attachment 'skip' into
my jeans covered knee and before I could pull it off it had gone
though the jeans and all of my skin (and that was about 1 second). If
only I'd had my leather chaps on that day. ;-)

T i m

 

The top-of-the-range stuff comes pretty close, but you have to pay for
it. I've just bitten the bullet and got some of these for the summer.

URL:http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/cPath/1_2_99/products_id/4871

Even with £55 knocked off for joining the HG club that's an awful lot
of money, but if I could afford it I'd have the jacket as well. They
are absolutely superb - much cooler than leather and very nearly,
IMHO, as protective.