| Author | Message | ||
     Dummkauf |
Does anyone know if there are any third party tests(not conducted by the textile manufacturer) of the various textiles used in riding gear. I've been doing some reasearch and can't really find much on this. I currently have a cortech GX air made of 600 Denier Carbolex® shell incorporates 1680 Denier Ballistic Polyester, however I've seen a few forums and websites stating that this is nothing but a cheap knock off of Codura, and offers no real protection My main concern is weather or not the Cortech jacket will hold up if I were to hit the pavement driving down the freeway or if it is an overprices knock off of Codura? Does anyone have any personal experiences with this material? I realize leather is the best, but when I bought the Cortech jacket I was under the impression that the material would hold up very closely to leather. | ||
| Jaimec |
The last time I saw a comparison like this, Cycle Magazine was still being published (does anyone here even remember that magazine). Even then, they used basically the same test Andy Goldfine came up with to test the materials he uses in the Aerostich Roadcrafter suit. Essentially, they hooked up a "sled" with an open bottom behind a car. They'd place an example of the material they wanted to test flat on the sled so part of it protruded through to the ground. Next, the sled was filled with sand to both weight the material and press it against the ground, and to indicate when the material wore through and allowed the sand onto the road. The sled was then dragged along the ground until sand began appearing. The distance between the start of the test and where the sand began indicated the durability of the material being tested. I remember the results (though not the exact distances). Competition grade leather lasted longest. Next up was nylon cordura, followed by nylon ballistic cloth, and kevlar. "Fashion grade" leather was rather low down on the list, and heavy weight denim shredded almost immediately. The surprisingly poor showing of Kevlar was attributed to the fact that unlike nylon, Kevlar threads do not stretch, so the road aggregates were able to saw through the fabric easier than it could through nylon which would stretch and "pop" over the aggregate as easily as it would be torn by it. The test did NOT test different TYPES of leather, so I don't know if deerskin really was more resilient than cowhide or where Held's kangaroo skin would be in the mix. It would be nice if a modern magazine would conduct a similar test with todays materials though, wouldn't it? | ||
| Teeps |
Jaimec Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 (does anyone here even remember that magazine) Yes I have the last copy, of Cycle, positioned in the top of my tool box lid as a reminder of what great magazines used to be like. (Message edited by teeps on June 12, 2008) | ||
| Djkaplan |
I was a 15+ year subscriber to Cycle Magazine, all the way to the very end - I got the last issue ever published in the mail. I still have almost every issue boxed up in a closet. I love rereading them and occasionally come across an article I never read... it's like going back through time in a time machine. Part 2 of "How to Hotrod Your SR500" never did get printed... and Gordon Jennings is dead now. I guess I can stop waiting for it. | ||
| Miamiuly |
I've blown through jeans just coming off my skateboard, so I tend to be aware that they only protect from brushes with hot parts. A modern test would be nice, seems like maybe "Sport Rider" has done a little test like that (not the helmet tests) but I can't remember for sure. They do put stuff in the "Tested" column when they go down... leathers/gloves etc. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
These http://www.webbikeworld.com/ folks do a lot of equipment comparisons | ||
| Jaimec |
One of the neatest comparisons I can ever remember seeing in Cycle magazine involved a new infrared camera they had gotten their hands on. They compared different winter riding suits by suiting up a test rider and sticking him in a freezer for a period of time. Then they'd photograph him with the infrared camera looking for "hot spots." The more hot spots, the less effective the suit. The best was a Bates two piece outfit and I went out and bought one right after that article came out. They were right! I was perfectly comfortable in just a T-Shirt and jeans in the COLDEST weather we had here (in the teens). Once electric clothing became popular, though, the non-electric winter riding outfits went out of style and I could never replace that suit after it got damaged in an accident. Damn shame. | ||
| Sarodude |
Wow... Gordon Jennings.... A friend and fellow ex-racer and I used to joke that you had to have the name Gordon someplace in your name to hop up 2-strokes. Any other names come to mind for anyone? :-) -Saro |
