Hi all, I will soon be starting a new job that will involve lots of road riding year round. It’s a couple of years since I had a road bike, so I am looking for advice on gear from peoples personal experience. The full works, gloves jacket and pants and boots. I’m ok for a helmet. Thanks in advance Jack
i think this will mostly come down to budget, and what you are used to. but everyone will have their favourites, or failures, at all levels. e.g. for rain, you will either want a waterproof oversuit, or a goretex laminate, so that your gear doesnt stay wet. not a separate waterproof layer inside, as they might not dry out in time for the next ride e.g. what is good for winter/rain is not many vents or places to leak, but that becomes a challenge in summer, so a compromise or different gear for summer and winter if you have a failure in the gear, do you need loan gear while it is being repaired or you have enough spares? you need to be clear about what you want from it first, and then see what fits that requirement in your budget
Winter glove wise I can highly recommend Bering Vesuvio heated gloves. Battery pack in each, last a few hours on min setting. Absolute gem through this winter for me. Other than that, as said above it'll be a case of finding the right gear for your budget. Personally I have dianese textiles with goretex jacket and trousers. Sidi goretex boots. Weren't cheap but have lasted a couple of years so far. In cold weather I put the linings in, warm weather I take them out. I also have some wolf leather 2 pieces for the summer
I would say Goretex is a must, not only is it the only guaranteed waterproof but it’s breathable. Dainese/ Alpinestar/Bering and Rukka would really be the options for me. I’ve had Rukka and it’s 5yr warranty is worth it’s weight in gold, there is a reason the police etc often use it, it’s not always the trendiest looking but it’s superb. If u really are doing the miles, look at a ‘laminate construction’ essentially it means that the water doesn’t soak into the material at all, it beads and runs off meaning the kit doesn’t get heavy when riding in the rain and drip everywhere when u stop. Honestly, if I was using kit to ride all year and doing decent mileage, I wouldn’t hesitate at spending £1500-2000 on it, the reason being that it’s just not worth the danger aspect of being cold and wet on a winter night time ride.
Haven't really got anything to add to the above with regards to kit other than Alpinestars SMX plus goretex boots. I cant recall them ever failing me, they look sporty too which is a bonus. Make sure you layer up as well and invest in a heated jacket. I travel 25k a year on a sports bike, year round and ideally you will need 2 sets of decent kit because unless you have a drying room quite often that kit will still be wet/damp the following day and it isnt ideal putting wet/cold kit on and then heading back out for a long commute.
+plus one for SMX Goretex, they are lovely. Bought them to use for road and kept my race boots but honestly I ended up just using the Goretex ones for everything. Again, get Goretex as the boot construction is actually leather rather than ‘lorica’ on most others
Thanks very much for everyone’s input so far. I didn’t really set a budget so I’m fairly open to it. The alpinestars Andes Drystar stuff seems to be the favourite so far from reading online
