What's your gear philosophy?

[fbj913]

you get what you pay for... period

[Pantah]

Originally Posted by fbj913

you get what you pay for... period

Not in the motorcycle business...

[243Win]

When new, impulse runs amok, I get better with time. Damned expensive way to be.

And makes for a pile of gear that I don't use and really should sell, ie used twice Tech10's, etc.

But I've found I'm pretty pleased with Klim, Arai, Sidi,... Oh wait, still damned expensive, nevermind,...

[ph0rk]

I've had a few runs at this. I'm a somewhat limited budget because I'm still in grad school, but my bike is my main means of transportation so I can "justify" a bit more than I normally would. I need to cover the entire weather range, and here in NC that's sleet/freezing rain to 98f and 90% humidity. One suit just won't cover it, and one manufacturer tends not to swing it either. I don't like the idea of jackets in the $500 range because thats a lot of money for something that will just get funky (in the summer). I like to buy on sale when I can, but my luck has been touch and go.


I need:
Something for frog stranglers
Something for super cold
Something for long trips
Something for ugly local heat (short trips).

Price/performance: I want to be able to replace it if it gets ruined without too much pain, and I figure that most synthetics will last me two years at best (Summer and everyday items in particular will last the shortest time, the hazard suit will last longer because it is special purpose). I like gear I can throw on and forget about.


Hazard Suit:
Roadcrafter 1 piece, new RiRi Zipper
Too hot for everyday commuting use in most months here, unfortunately.

Everyday Touring/Commuting:
FG Rainier 2010, Aerostich AD1 pants
Might go back to TPG escape pants for commuting only as the AD1 pants were too hot above about 78-80 for long stretches, and while they are much harder to don/doff the vents in the escapes would have done the trick.

Possible Short Commute:
Revit Tornado, Olympia Airglide II pants. (We'll see. I'm not a fan of mesh and Revit has disappointed in the past)

Gloves: (vary to suit temperatures, I'm picky)
Held Airstream
Held Warm'n'dry
Held Rainstar
Held short roo (on the way out, not as protective as the above. Cooler than Rainstar and good for weird alternating drizzly sunny days).

Boots: (sort of compromise here, but I wear them every day)
Sidi Canyons (43)
Aerostich Combat Lites (43 - needed very hefty insoles and still take my heaviest socks)
TCX Infinity (42 - wtf? - I tend to wear this least often and make it my long trip boot)

Helmet:
HJC fs-15 szM (refuses to die, and I like having a bang-around helmet. lighter than my scorpion)
Scorpoin EXO500 szL (love the flip down sunshade, been on about 3,000 miles of roadtrip with it and it is still not as comfy. Why do I need a large?)

Thermals:
Patagonia R3 Jacket
Patagonia Synchilla vest
I am currently a fan of patagonia fleece jackets and vests, I have an R3 and a synchilla vest that cover most cooler temps.
These blow jacket liners out of the water for warmth and are easier to wear after the ride. Usually too long to fit under a waist length jacket, though.
I have an Aerostich inflatable electric vest but did not require it for this last winter

[marine_mike]

It depends. Stuff that have uses other than just for my bike, I may buy on impulse. IE. Ammo cans for side panniers. Others, I'll research the hell out of and search for the cheapest price for that item before I commit.

[CafeRacer99]

Originally Posted by ph0rk

I've had a few runs at this. I'm a somewhat limited budget because I'm still in grad school, but my bike is my main means of transportation so I can "justify" a bit more than I normally would. I need to cover the entire weather range, and here in NC that's sleet/freezing rain to 98f and 90% humidity. One suit just won't cover it, and one manufacturer tends not to swing it either. I don't like the idea of jackets in the $500 range because thats a lot of money for something that will just get funky (in the summer). I like to buy on sale when I can, but my luck has been touch and go.


I need:
Something for frog stranglers
Something for super cold
Something for long trips
Something for ugly local heat (short trips).

Price/performance: I want to be able to replace it if it gets ruined without too much pain, and I figure that most synthetics will last me two years at best (Summer and everyday items in particular will last the shortest time, the hazard suit will last longer because it is special purpose). I like gear I can throw on and forget about.

This is how I think as well! I'm not sure if both of us are overthinking the whole thing though, lol. I'd be willing to bet most of the people on this forum also put this much thought into gear. I've got a friend who just wears his one jacket for everything, and just sucks it up if it's too hot or too cold. I wonder sometimes if that's not less trouble, lol. But then, where's the fun in that?

The main thing though, and this goes for motorcycling, backpacking, general travel and military deployments, is that moment when the research pays off and you find yourself in a situation where you have exactly the right piece of gear at exactly the right time.

My goal is to be more disciplined and do less impulse buying, but I don't see that happening soon. There's always something cool to try out.

[ph0rk]

Originally Posted by CafeRacer99

This is how I think as well! I'm not sure if both of us are overthinking the whole thing though, lol. I'd be willing to bet most of the people on this forum also put this much thought into gear. I've got a friend who just wears his one jacket for everything, and just sucks it up if it's too hot or too cold. I wonder sometimes if that's not less trouble, lol. But then, where's the fun in that?

The main thing though, and this goes for motorcycling, backpacking, general travel and military deployments, is that moment when the research pays off and you find yourself in a situation where you have exactly the right piece of gear at exactly the right time.

My goal is to be more disciplined and do less impulse buying, but I don't see that happening soon. There's always something cool to try out.

I've been doing less research, but I think a lot of it is cramming on a whole new field of knowledge. Once that is done, it takes less time to get up to speed on something new.

IMHO, a single jacket (here, where it is hot and humid half the time) would get so funkified it just wouldn't work for everything anymore. I'm sure it gets hot as balls where you are, but at least its dry, right? ;)


I wish a single jacket and pants would work for everything, but that will require magical fabrics that don't exist yet, unfortunately. I wish I could get a suit made of the New Material from Anathem - flows air when I want, blocks air when I want, molds to my body, weighs almost nothing and can stop bullets.

Oh well, I guess cordura, kevlar, and goretex will have to do in the meantime.

[Strave19]

Originally Posted by ph0rk

I've had a few runs at this. I'm a somewhat limited budget because I'm still in grad school, but my bike is my main means of transportation so I can "justify" a bit more than I normally would. I need to cover the entire weather range, and here in NC that's sleet/freezing rain to 98f and 90% humidity. One suit just won't cover it, and one manufacturer tends not to swing it either. I don't like the idea of jackets in the $500 range because thats a lot of money for something that will just get funky (in the summer). I like to buy on sale when I can, but my luck has been touch and go.


I need:
Something for frog stranglers
Something for super cold
Something for long trips
Something for ugly local heat (short trips).

Price/performance: I want to be able to replace it if it gets ruined without too much pain, and I figure that most synthetics will last me two years at best (Summer and everyday items in particular will last the shortest time, the hazard suit will last longer because it is special purpose). I like gear I can throw on and forget about.


Hazard Suit:
Roadcrafter 1 piece, new RiRi Zipper
Too hot for everyday commuting use in most months here, unfortunately.

Everyday Touring/Commuting:
FG Rainier 2010, Aerostich AD1 pants
Might go back to TPG escape pants for commuting only as the AD1 pants were too hot above about 78-80 for long stretches, and while they are much harder to don/doff the vents in the escapes would have done the trick.

Possible Short Commute:
Revit Tornado, Olympia Airglide II pants. (We'll see. I'm not a fan of mesh and Revit has disappointed in the past)

Gloves: (vary to suit temperatures, I'm picky)
Held Airstream
Held Warm'n'dry
Held Rainstar
Held short roo (on the way out, not as protective as the above. Cooler than Rainstar and good for weird alternating drizzly sunny days).

Boots: (sort of compromise here, but I wear them every day)
Sidi Canyons (43)
Aerostich Combat Lites (43 - needed very hefty insoles and still take my heaviest socks)
TCX Infinity (42 - wtf? - I tend to wear this least often and make it my long trip boot)

Helmet:
HJC fs-15 szM (refuses to die, and I like having a bang-around helmet. lighter than my scorpion)
Scorpoin EXO500 szL (love the flip down sunshade, been on about 3,000 miles of roadtrip with it and it is still not as comfy. Why do I need a large?)

Thermals:
Patagonia R3 Jacket
Patagonia Synchilla vest
I am currently a fan of patagonia fleece jackets and vests, I have an R3 and a synchilla vest that cover most cooler temps.
These blow jacket liners out of the water for warmth and are easier to wear after the ride. Usually too long to fit under a waist length jacket, though.
I have an Aerostich inflatable electric vest but did not require it for this last winter

Holy hell. What kind of assistantship are you on!? Your gear costs more than my car, bike, and gear put together, which is about 6mo pay. My RA must blow . Nah, looks like you have a very solid setup.

------------------------------------------
I started with a cheap helmet and cheap mesh jacket and old motocross gloves that I had around. (AFX-FX-20 helmet - $50) that actually served me well for 2 years. Fieldsheer mesh jacket on sale for $40, has some pads better than nothing and keeps me warm if I put the liner in with a sweater under it. I just wanted to ride and wanted something between me and the pavement.

After a couple years of only that I got some proper boots and a better jacket and gloves and pants. Icon reign boots, Speed and Strength Hell n' back ST jacket ($120!), Shift havoc pants, leather-textile blend that I really like, and shift bullet gloves. Recently got a scorpion exo1100 helmet as well because the afx, although it served me well, was 2 years old, the visor was yellowing and did not seal properly and I needed something better, quieter, comfier, for a long trip.


My philosophy is to get what I think I need. I was fine with my couple hundred mile rides (max) for 2 years with just hiking boots, cheap helmet, cheap jacket and MX gloves. I should have opted for better gloves and boots but finances were tight (grad school). I'm currently about to head off on a 4k mi trip around the northwest-midwest and so I upgraded my gear over the last 6 months as money and time allowed. Nothing is top of the line but I'm really happy with how my gear performs in all conditions and has held up well so far. The whole setup was about $750 jacket, pants, boots, gloves, helmet. I still wear my mesh jacket for my commute because its only a few miles at 35mph max speeds.... and I feel like a dork wearing my big-bulky S&S jacket just to ride to school.

[ph0rk]

Originally Posted by Strave19

Holy hell. What kind of assistantship are you on!? Your gear costs more than my car, bike, and gear put together, which is about 6mo pay. My RA must blow . Nah, looks like you have a very solid setup.

Heh, true. I do a lot of fancy data analysis, so I am actually on two RAs for this academic year, and I do some contract gigs from time to time. That is all stuff acquired over about three years, too.

Plus, I'm married and my wife has a real job, so my expenses are lower than if I lived alone.

[Wuwei]

Part of my philosophy is to never buy the latest-and-greatest, but to look for high-quality gear on sale or closeout. For one thing, there are always teething problems with any new products or materials, and I would rather have those worked out long before I spend my money on them. But, most importantly, by buying older models of gear I can often afford something much higher end and better quality, and still pay less than half of what the latest but lower-end stuff sells for. Another thing I do is look for timeless and versatile gear. Most of it is all black, with minimal or few logos etc, but I make it high-vis by wearing a vest over. Helmets are always white--cooler, better vis, and often cheaper. Instead of insisting on the latest in breathable waterproofness (not sure it really exists), I use a cheapo Frogg Toggs rainsuit over which keeps me drier and means I can have better breathability and venting for the 90% of the time I'm not riding in the rain.

[Tsotsie]

Gear Philosophy? Been mugged by reality too often to get that exotic!

Research or reading others comments and in particular 'sales' pitches has not helped me much. All of my gear gets modified or altered pretty soon to better fit me in some way. Fit and effective protection is more important that just straight price or looks - particularly several hours or days into a ride.

My gear is a mix and match of manufacturers - and gear that works. Like XXXL dish washing gloves that go over riding gloves and are truely waterproof - one does not have a choice of colors and powder blue or yellow certainly stands out! Ski mittens that are waterproof and keep hands really warm in nasty weather and are a lot cheaper and effective than fancy 'waterproof' and insulated riding gloves.

Some products, like helmets, buy the 'most' one can afford. Arai are the only helmet manufacturer that makes one that fits my shape of head so my choices are limited in that department.

[skierd]

When I lived in one set place, I had gear for commuting and traveling and gear for dirt riding. Basically that meant a pair of good jackets, one mesh and one waterproof with removable insulation, a pair of good overpants, street boots and street helmet for the former and a pressure suit, jersey, dirt pants, knee armor, hip armor, dirt boots, and a dirt helmet with googles. Now that I more or less live off my bike, I've condensed it all to one set of mostly do-it-all gear and am just as happy and nearly as comfortable as before.

I'll also add that when you can afford multiple pieces or have the convenience of having space to store it when its not in use, go ahead and use less expensive gear that works well. If you have to rely on one set of gear for all seasons and all weather and you actually ride your bike daily or nearly daily, pony up for one set of good gear.

[BeeMaa]

Most of the time I research gear to death.
It drives my wife crazy, but saves us $$ in the end.
I don't mind spending the money to get a quality product and will do this before buying two or three of a cheaper item that I'm not as happy with.

That said...research is ever evolving.
I continue to research things I don't need at this very moment.
Eg. - After looking at the Redverz tent (formerly Nomad) for a few years, we bought one.
I didn't need a tent, in fact I'm selling my perfectly good Mutha Hubba and large Kelty sunshade now.
The two items were replaced by the one tent, pack smaller and lighter.
Now I only have to set up and break down one tent instead of two.

The evolution continues...
Cheers.

[SUD-MAR]

I do research everything I need.

with regards to jackets/pants and gloves, after learning the hard way i.e. poor quality non water proof etc, tdy I go for the best my humble pocket is able to afford and if it is over my budget keep on saving until I can buy it.

when you reach almost 50 you start thinking that way, ain't that true

[keiji]

Originally Posted by levain

Research something. Obsess over it for awhile. Find it used cheap enough to buy it. Get it in your hot little hands. Wear it for a little while until something "better" comes along. Sell it for a profit, and buy the "better" piece until you realize it doesn't do what you wanted it to do. Repeat cycle for 10 years or so. Don't ever sell your Motoport pants, because nothing lives up to them Find something you really want that is new and costs more money. Go through your house and garage, and just start selling junk off raising money. Buy the new gear with your free money. Works like a charm.

I do what this guy does. I get about a year before I start getting the itch for the next suit, but hopefully it will change. I try to get a good deal on everything I buy, and I tend to buy a lot, much to the dismay of my better half.

Hopefully my current suit will keep me occupied for a little longer though....