“Lost all respect” “another clickbait content producer”… ? You seem to have understood it differently to the way I did. I think the piece highlighted clearly but constructively to average bikers that they were not so cocooned in reliable safety as they might like to believe with their new protective gear, and if they wanted real protection to reduce fractures, a bit of velcro’d in PU foam is really not going to do much, so look beyond that, but if they are happy with soft tissue protection only, it will probably help. I think that is a very important message. If anyone believes that Level 1 and 2 CE standards are anything other than the big players in the motorcycle clothing industry deciding how best to protect themselves, whilst spending the least possible on protecting their customers, they probably also believe in Santa Claus and a flat Earth.
"Set unadventurous standards based on what the market would support..." Kind of sums that video up. That being said, he is a supporter of airbag tech, just not what's currently accepted for CE 1 and 2 spec. But, if you were going out for a ride, and I were to tell you that you're going to crash; would you take the pads or leave them? My answer, I'd take them. Even slightly mitigating an injury is worth it.
Due to the extreme temperatures we now get in summer, and that I am mostly in France, I recently bought some Furygan jeans. Make life bearable on the 30’ days. AAA rated, but with level 1 ghost armour. I will be upgrading to level 2. He can ride without if he wishes. I also have Lindstrands AAA leather trousers, with level 2 armour. Safest is not to come off, but feel sure the Lindstrands would serve me better if it happened. He does come out with some weird shit. Thought provoking or just being ‘alternative’ on occasions, dunno. A bit annoying though.
Sadly most of social media/Youtube is just clickbait. It's how they make their living - number of hits, not actual quality of content.
Remember to wear leather time you are dragged down the road for 200m at slow speed holding onto a child's bicycle handlebar ... I think of all of the expertise involved in CE (and other) testing of materials - and this clown ignores the standards, test protocols, verification, peer review - and does his own idiotic test being dragged down a road. Clown.
I'm getting confused. The clothing being "idiotically tested", by "a clown" that is highly rated as safe -presumably due to these aforementioned protocols- totally failed. Now the vid showed a man sliding down the road, at low speed, wearing protective gear, that is sold at a premium price due to a safety rating. We also saw him doing the same wearing leather. There was no smoke & mirrors. Any of us could find ourselves doing something similar next Sunday after a bacon roll. We all saw the results. I'm definitely wearing a leather jacket -aren't you too?
I rarely wear a leather jacket these days. The testing of any kind can never be indicative of a crash as no two crashes can ever be the same. And unless you are on a race track, the chances of sliding along the road for any length of time are minimal to say the least, you are likely to hit something very quickly on the road.
^^. I agree leather offers superior slide/abrasion resistance. What the tester ignores is impact. Track day riders are likely to slide, maybe a long way if they come off. Leathers, all day long on track. It is a requirement anyway. On roads though? I balance comfort, practicality and safety. Leather trousers with a very well padded and reinforced Rukka textile jacket. I dont expect the jacket to remain intact, but do expect the padding to do a good job. Textile trousers though do not give me so much confidence. I know someone who has though, let us say, a bit of a history for crashing on the road. His Lindstrands textiles were the worse for wear after his last off, but the para-medics had to cut them off. I remember the air ambulance guy, he could not believe how hard they were to cut with the serrated heavy duty scissors! He didnt slide though, more of a flip through the air and a face plant. Lucky to just have facial injury (Shoei meets rock!) and chipped bone on his spine.. His tip, strong quality gloves and helmet!
Assuming of course that he has not ‘adjusted’ any of the tests/ garments/ filming. And what possible reason could there be for that? Not like his income relies on having a ‘big story’ to sell is it? Oh hang on……. Official tests might not be perfect but I would trust them 100x over a muppet like that. And also consider the ‘negative evidence’- if so many of these expensive protective items are as bad as claim, why haven’t we heard about it from customers? Where is this evidence? If I bought AAA rated kit and it fell apart at micro speeds you can be sure I would be shouting about it on every forum/ social media I could.
Try and keep in mind he is mostly talking to Americans, a significant number of whom think wearing a helmet is for softies but filtering will result in instant death and destruction.
The possibility that the fellow is making it all up and creating a conspiracy theory does of course exist, but personally I think thats a theory for the birds until such time as someone shows why he wants to support cows skin over nylon. I would also expect an expose and rebuttal from the synthetic folks but AFAIK there is none? Leather has a strong history of providing protection to men since our time began, and I certainly am not surprised that it out performs most other products. I'm going to leave there save for saying discussion is good, and respect for others opinions (if not belief or agreement) is healthy so thanks for the debate.
Show me the stats where people wearing this kit have the injuries suggested and I will happily believe it. As a professional scientist, evidence always was, and always will be the thing that informs my decision. This guy possibly misrepresenting the facts is hardly a conspiracy. Not exactly flags floating in the moon really. Just typical of so much shallow click bait that seems tragically popular.
Hmm. When I lived in CO (5 years) most of the bike guys I knew rode without helmets. Now I can't/won't speak for any or all of them, but we naturally discussed it from time to time. I never heard anyone say that helmets were only for softies. Most said they really liked riding without a helmet, so thats what they did. What other riders did or did not do was of no importance. They all typically skied hugely too, also without helmets or any protection. I never wore a helmet whilst riding in CO but did in CA as the law required it. I wear one in the UK only because its a legal requirement and I'd be caught immediately if I didn't. I rarely wear a seatbelt and probably never will. I'm old enough and ugly enough to make up my own mind methinks...
I wouldn’t dispute that leather will have better abrasion resistance than most textiles (though there are now some exceptional textiles made for their abrasion resistance) but sliding is only a small part of any accident. The biggest problem in any accident will almost certainly be impact rather than abrasion, unless it’s on a race track.
I've got to say I like the F9 videos. Wether he is talking rubbish or not, the vids are well thought out, original, and entertaining. He is aware of the controvercy of the armour video, he spoke about that on ABR festival. Think with highsight, he would not make it again. But hey, it will at least get you think about it in a bit different light. As with everything online, you have a choice to believe someone, or not.
