Riding Gear for the Summer

[Moses]

found this:

Similar to Snell and DOT standards for helmets, CE standards for motorcyclist's protective clothing establish a unified testing procedure for products sold in Europe as motorcyclist PPE(Personal Protective Equipment). Under the CE directives, all products have to be tested and approved by an independent, government approved test house.

CE testing in Europe is mandatory for impact protectors, however, it is also required for any motorcyclist clothing claiming or marketing protective qualities. In other words, if a company claims their product is built for protective purposes, it must be backed-up with the independent testing proof of the CE standards. For example, manufacturers can market armor as "impact protectors" only if the pieces meet the requirements or simply "padding" if it is not intended to provide a safety advantage.

There are CE standards that cover each part of the body and each category of protective qualities associated with motorcyclist clothing. These include abrasion resistance, tear strength, impact protection, and seam strength. There are standards covering motorcyclist's suits, jackets, pants, and impact protectors("armor"), as well as gloves and footwear.

There are 2 standards that cover motorcyclist impact protectors. One for limb/joint pieces and the another for back protectors. Each provides various levels of performance based on energy absorption/force transmission.

The CE LIMB/JOINT PROTECTOR standard is labeled EN1621-1.

It allows joint/limb armor to transmit no more than 35kN of force.

Ratings are based on performance at an impact energy of 50, 75, or 100 joules creating three levels of performance within this standard.

LEVEL 1, BASIC--50 joules

LEVEL 2, HIGH PERFORMANCE--75 joules

LEVEL 3, EXTREME PERFROMANCE--100 joules


The CE BACK PROTECTOR standard is labeled EN1621-2. The test is performed with a 5kg "kerbstone" dropped from one meter to create the test impact energy of 50 Joules. The standard contains two levels of force transmission performance, using the same impact energy.

18kN@50J passes LEVEL 1 compliance.

9kN@50J passes LEVEL 2 or "high performance" compliance.

The fact that CE approved armor is tested and proven is the most important point. No other forms of so-called "armor" make claims of protection and/or provide credible evidence of performance. If a company is not willing to show performance results, we shouldn't be buying their products when other, actual certified products exist.


The CE standards for impact protectors do not specify any type of construction, strictly performance and coverage area. There are many construction types and materials used for CE approved impact protectors including Knox's plastic honeycomb(single-use) pieces, rubber-based foam pieces, EPS(single-use Styrofoam, like a helmet liner) pieces, and Rukka's air-filled protectors.

Other types of materials that are usually NOT CE approved are viscoelastic ("temperfoam" or memory foam) pads, dual-density plastic foams, and various hard plastic pieces and sandwiched-plastics.

The term "GP" is often used to describe a hard-plastic over foam design. It does not imply any real value or any exact specification of performance. It's an inexpensive and durable construction, which is why many contact sports use similar pads, but it doesn't appear to be the best option for impact absorption. Many companies make hard-shelled protectors of some sort. Some of them may be CE certified, but the plastic-over-foam design doesn't usually perform as well in impact tests as some of the high-tech foams in use. Alpinestars, Dainese, and Erbo all sell hard(harder)-shelled protectors that meet the CE basic levels.

Soft or hard doesn't differentiate performance levels. However, if you look at the construction of most CE approved armor you will find that the highest performing products are SOFT foams(Asterne/Astrosorb 8mm). At less than a centimeter thick, they may even seem flimsy. But these pieces fall in to the "extreme performance" category for CE impact energy absorption.

Some hard armor may protect against penetration or provide slightly better abrasion resistance than other forms, but penetration injuries are rare and can also be dealt with by soft outer layer materials. A hard object underneath an outer layer may also damage that outer layer in an impact or slide by reducing the surface area and increasing the pressure at contact points. Flexibility of softer components should also equate to greater comfort and better fit.

Here's some additional sources of info on proper impact protectors and CE testing:

http://www.bmf.co.uk/briefing/BMF-B...ing-PPE.html

www.ixion.org.uk/Leather2.html

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcblip/prd-tpro.txt

http://www.bksleather.co.uk/techno.htm

http://www.erbo.de/en/etouring/index.html

http://www.planet-knox.com/Knox/index.asp

[Moses]

This was a good read:

http://www.highvelocitygear.com/home.html

[Slide Panda]

Nice find.

Still not buying that that cheap jacket is level 3, where none of the big manufactures can get level 3 armor in their gear/choose to put it in there. Even specialty companies like T-Pro and Knox are not making claims that their stuff, which is recognized as top tier is level 3....

But the level 3 issue aside, $40 ebay jackets are not what I would wear. BUT! New Enough is closing out a number of textile and mesh jackets at the moment.

http://www.newenough.com/street/closeouts/textile_jackets_and_pants/
http://www.newenough.com/street/closeouts/mesh_jackets_and_pants/

[speed merchants]

I just picked up the new Daniese Shotgun summer jacket, an awesome piece of kit for Michigans hot summer days.