It's HOT. Are You Still ATGATT?

[teerex51]

Mesh Jacket and textile pants with the liner removed <...>

Ditto here and it's frigging torrid wearing a full-face helmet. But I don't believe in flip-ups.

Did some high-mountain riding last weekend (elevation 9,000 at Stelvio Pass) and it was definitely chilly wearing a mesh jacket. I'd have gladly pitched a tent up there and stayed until September...

Stef

 

[El Toro]

One of the problems with flip up helmets is that folks don't take, or maybe lack the knowledge, to make sure that the chin bar is actually locked on both sides. As you close the chin bar, you need to hear a distinct snap on both locks (one on each side). Just closing the bar does not always get the locks to fully engage on either the Nolan 102, or on the HJC SyMax. I think this is critical to the integrity of the protection offered by these helmets, and if they're not locked, they're not offering their maximum potential protection.

 

[BwanaDik]

I finally got to press my Texas Cool Vest into service on the way home from work. 50 minutes of 97F, 75% humidity on the Houston freeways to get home. It seems to work great. I wasn't exactly "cool" but when I arrived home I wasn't sweating and my hair was still dry inside my helmet. An absolute first for summertime Houston riding. No dehydration concerns as I started sweating within moments of taking off the vest while putting all my gear away. During the ride, I could feel that my hands and feet were hot but the rest of me was comfortable-ish. Sort of the same theory as an electric vest, keep the core temp at the right temp and the extremities will be OK. It has to be chinced up fairly tight against your skin (shirt) as the major cooling effect is from conduction, not convection (evaporation). One nice thing is that it works better without an air draft so I zip my 'Stitch all the way up. Probably wouldn't work too well with mesh gear. It's made from denim so you could probably be downright chilly if you poured some water down your back before setting off. Also looks like it will only work for about 1 1/2 hours so LDR stuff is out. Unless you keep extra packs in a trunk cooler or something.

A couple of minor drawbacks:

It's heavy, probably 6 pounds or so

I'd hate to fall off the first 20 minutes or so, until the frozen stuff starts to soften up. Ice is pretty hard, even if it's not made of water. Definitely getting a long over due back brace for the suit.

A bit expensive at $165 but considering I can wear it inside my full 'Stitch, I don't have to buy a second set of hot weather mesh gear.

I think it's the way to go for us poor souls that have to endure Southern summers to ride in.

I'm staying out of the ATGATT discussion except to say that, here in Texas, we don't have any laws about what you can and can not put in the back of your pick up truck. So we put anything and everything in there and it may or may not fall out. So I get a real graphic example on a fairly regular basis of what will happen when not wearing full gear, every time a dog jumps out of the back of some idiots truck at 50 MPH on the freeway. Yeech!

 

[Tenchi]

I was knocked off my bike in 35ºC (95ºF) heat. People were being really impatient to get out of the heat and complacency was rife. I was the only rider that I saw the entire day who was wearing appropriate gear; most were getting around in their Corona singlets and stubby shorts.

No matter how hot it is, I will be ATGATT*. Murphy's law dictates I will get hit when it's least convenient; O'Reilly's law indicates Murphy was an optimist. I'm not willing to push my luck when it's not much more effort to wear all the gear.

The other argument is that in Australia gear is REALLY expensive. Thus it makes sense to wear it as much as possible to get the most out of the gear before you have to get rid of it. Now that I'm in the US it's not so bad, but it's hard to drop the mindset of "you pay so much for the gear and you choose not to wear it".

EDIT: It takes a lot of riding gear before the cost of your gear exceeds the medical costs of falling off without the right gear on.

 

[dragonchef]

Living on a military base, there are requirements that have to be met to even get on the base on 2 wheels (gear nazis). The choices that were made are interesting...

DOT helmet

Full finger gloves

over the ankle boots

long pants and long sleeve shirt

reflective vest

You can buy $25 helmets downtown with optional DOT stickers (I got my full face Arai from the factory dealer here, and since it is outside the US, no DOT sticker....so I got one from a friend)

The HD crowd loves thier skull caps, jeans, long sleeve T's....but they think that I am the one pushing it when instead of a fully refelctive construction reflective vest, I wear reflective leathers....except when it's hot, then I go with my Vanson Mesh in white codura...I have conviced the gate guards that my gear qualifies....but carry a reflective belt just in case...

I have been checking out the Cycleport codura riding pants....I just don't think the First gear pants that I have are all that great, and I'm sure that they would melt in a slide....that's why I can convince myself that jeans are better ?

 

[madmike2]

I just don't think the First gear pants that I have are all that great, and I'm sure that they would melt in a slide....that's why I can convince myself that jeans are better ?

I suspect my CyclePort Kevlar mesh pants, and most Cordura mesh pants, are better than your blue-jeans. IIRC, "jeans" aren't very protective above...oh...hmmmm...10 mph, or so.

Of course, we'll never know until one of "needs" the protection. Oh, wait.....I already proved my own point! One of many links to my "get-off"

 

[dragonchef]

MM---you just convinced me to pull the trigger on the CyclePort Cordura mesh pants....$189 now seems very cheap...THANKS!

 

[madmike2]

MM---you just convinced me to pull the trigger on the CyclePort Cordura mesh pants....$189 now seems very cheap...THANKS!

 

[Silver Penguin]

ATGATT, no matter what the temperature. I've seen the results of other choices, and don't like them. It would seem odd to ride without my gear, kinda like driving a car without a seat belt, and the door wide open.

My Olympia mesh overpants are pale gray, which may be better in the heat than basic black.

Jill