Words by Gordon Compton
Photos by Becci Russell
I know what you're all thinking, what a fine figure of a man, I know. Don't keep on or it'll go to my head (which is out of shot for product clarity, I don't want to avert your attention away from the matter in hand). As for the threads, top branding, CE approved armour, shower proof liner, less than £150, and it's a good bit of kit to boot. Can't be bad.
Alpinestars T-Breeze Air Flo Jacket
Contact: www.alpinestars.it
RRP: £139.94
Date Purchased: June 2008
Mileage so far: 5000
Textiles and Leather, have always been greatly debated, which gives more protection, which is the best value, what looks better, so on and so forth.
Well the days of the heavy waxed Belstaff jackets are luckily behind us, and the world of Textile bike clothing beckons, and is becoming more and more popular. Thanks to an ever expanding range of styles, protection as good as being on a par with leather, and good enough to make any traditional leatherhead think seriously about what they’re going to buy next time around.
From most angles, the T Breeze seems to ooze quality with it's excellent finish all over which is something that sets it apart from most budget offerings. Like most well respected manufacturers, quality and price always seem to be close company, but sometimes there are some exceptions, this jacket is definitely one of them.
A nice feature with this jacket is the elasticated waistband zipper which will still allow an excellent degree of freedom when zippered up to any Alpinestars trousers with a matching waistband zipper facility. Because of this, it makes for a cooler option for trackdays, or even touring in hot weather, which this particular jacket has done in temperatures up to 40 degrees C, and still performed admirably.
Intended primarily as a Summer jacket, its vented, shower proof, hardwearing, and armoured, oh and it can zipper up to any Alpinestars trousers, so it can be used on track days, all for less than £150.
Add this to the branding, and Alpinestars have just baked their hotcakes, and they don’t need a salesman.
There has to be a catch, especially as it’s a top brand manufacturers name spattered over it, there has to be something somewhere, a cut corner to justify such a cheap jacket. Actually, if anybody can find ANYTHING, then they’ve bought a seconds.
Well here's the shower proof liner in all it's naughty nakedness; in fact this is the only naff looking part of the whole garment, but it does fit in to the jacket in no time at all, and is er, showerproof. The main body of the liner zippers in to the outer jacket, whilst the arms are attached to the outer jacket by loops and poppers, to save dragging out the arms every time the jacket is taken off.
...And this here is the liner installed showing the duplicated pockets, so you'll never accidently leave anything in the outer pockets to drown in a down pour, plus it means everything is to hand without having to unzip the liner to get to the pockets.
Ok, so it can be said, truthfully, the armour isn’t as generously sized as others, but it is still CE approved, and the jacket has a rather flimsy shower proof liner, but it can be taken out, and zippered back in, in a couple of minutes, and it works really well.
Alright then, there is one thing, one little gripe, the mesh that covers the front of the jacket is coarse enough to let vast quantities of air (after all, that is what it’s supposed to do) and unfortunately every insect sharing the same airspace. Ok, so that’s going to happen, but they don’t splat, or bounce off, just become part of the mesh. Yummy.
There could be other gripes, mainly how hot you get when in traffic, which is a no brainer really, but things cool back down icy cold very soon when back on an open road, and back up to speed. Just try to get that sort of comfort from a leather jacket on a warm day, let alone a hot one.
Here is a shot of the jacket with the liner completely removed. The jacket still looks fairly substantial, which is certainly the case although this does not compromise the incredible lightweight feel when on, or indeed it's refrigeration ability when on the move.
Well this jacket was tried out on a holiday to Italy, 2500 miles of varying temperatures, from 18 to 40 degrees, yes, 40 degrees, and it performed impeccably. Alright, yes, I did get hot, when things slowed down, but at over 50mph at these temperatures dropped down to the extent that it felt like I had walked into a fridge. Pretty extraordinary really, and all from this from a sub £150 jacket.
I am most probably starting to sound like some shopping channel wannabe, but this is the only ultra reasonably priced bike product that I have parted cash over, and really been taken aback by what an exceptional piece of clothing I’ve bought in to.
Conclusion
Great value at under £150, you have a top branded jacket that does all it should be able to for a summer garment, and effectively, and then some. The finish, materials, and tailoring belie the low price tag, along with the CE approved shoulder and elbow armour. The foam back and chest padding is also a nice touch.
The only thing that highlights the price compromise is the shower proof liner, which when removed has the feel and looks of a lower quality than the rest of the garment, but when it is zippered in, it fits perfectly, and works a treat
IF YOU DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE, THEN YOUR WARDROBE WILL HATE YOU FOR NEGLECTING IT.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment