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By Jimmy, 2010/03/07 8:58 pm

In my quest to find the perfect riding jacket for Hee-chan, I came across a contender in the Siren jacket from Shift Racing (www.shiftracing.com).  Now, I’m not terribly familiar with the Shift brand.  The company appears to target itself at the dirt and street racing crowd; their designs usually feature sharp graphics and atypical styling, definitely appealing to a younger (and hipper) demographic.  This doesn’t mean that they sacrifice functionality for pure fashion as I found out with the Siren.  In fact, I was surprised to discover Shift trying out some interesting design elements with this jacket, something you don’t normally see from a brand that has until now, been under my riding gear radar.  While creative, they don’t necessarily work all that well.  Let’s take a closer look.

Outer

The Siren jacket’s dimensions were a good match for Hee-chan, with shoulders and sleeves being the appropriate width and length.  The fit is on the roomy-side without feeling excessively baggy.  I feel that this jacket would be a good match for a touring rider.  The overall length of the torso was well-proportioned and not too tight around the chest, which is one issue Hee-chan often encounters with other leather jackets.  This should all lead to minimal time needed for breaking-in the leather, which is a plus.

Overall, the appearance of the jacket is acceptable.  Branding is sedated with the Shift logo or name stitched in a concealing black thread in four locations (lower front, left shoulder, right shoulder, and lower back), along with a small metallic logo badge on the upper back.   The jacket features a lot of panels stitched together, which lends a grittier aesthetic.  The jacket is not overly bulky, but it is also cut in a manner so as to not appear too curvy or feminine.  There is slight bulkiness around the elbow and forearm due to the armor, but it is not unreasonable.  Unlike leather jackets that use a significant amount of non-leather materials for comfort and breathability, the frame is leather all the way around.  There are no perforations, although there are sections around the underarm, shoulders, and upper back containing heavily stitched areas of what appears to be columns of raised/padded leather.  I feel like the raised leather does make the jacket appear unnecessarily larger.  Otherwise, the leather itself is your typical pebbled cowhide in a matte finish.  It does feel substantially lighter than other leather jackets I’ve handled before, and this can be attributed to the slightly thinner 1.0-1.2mm leather being used.  I would consider this to be the minimum level necessary to have adequate abrasion resistance and comfort from the elements, although the weight savings might make this an acceptable trade-off for some.

Adjustments to the fit of the jacket are relegated to two locations.  There are two small zippers in the lower rear that flare up the base of the jacket by about two inches each.   Also, the sleeve cuffs are controlled by a velcro strap that offers about one inch in closure.  We felt that the velcro panels aren’t large enough to really trust holding their adjusted placements.

In keeping with the Siren jacket’s minimalist tone, reflectivity is also limited to two spots.  There is reflective piping on the lower back and more piping around the elbow stretch panels.  This should prove a little helpful, but one should opt for a high-visibility vest if they intend to do significant nighttime riding.

The sleeves contain small accordion stretch panels by the elbow to aid in arm movement.  The base of the sleeve features a velcro cuff with a small zipper opener.  You’ll notice that the jacket features a cloth sleeve liner that extends past the actual length of the leather sleeve itself.  There’s both an upside and downside to this feature.  Provided that your glove can fit over the extending cloth, you should get some extra warmth when riding in cold weather.  If your glove can’t fit over the cloth, then you’ll have annoying bunching of the fabric by your hands.  It’s important to note that this cloth liner is actually stitched into the bottom section of the sleeve; it is not removable.  This essentially means that in hot weather, the cloth liner will provide unnecessary insulation and block air from entering the sleeves.  An interesting, but unsuccessful design if you ask me.

There are not a lot of ventilation options on this jacket.  There are intake vents at the left and right upper chest.  It’s a good spot to bring in air, but it would have been nice to see some ventilation zippers or perforated leather along the arms.  The rear of the jacket features an unusual exhaust vent.  Most jackets will have a simple zipper mechanism to open the exhaust; the Siren uses a single snap.  This reveals a large mesh panel that does a good job of releasing hot air, provided that you’re able to get some in through the front.  Note that it’s possible to simply lower the front jacket zipper (and keep the collar snapped in) to get some more air at the expense of some protection.  Anyhow, the rear exhaust in unsnapped mode creates a rather odd-looking profile as you now have a large panel and snap dangling out the back.  In addition, even in snapped mode, the vent is technically still open, and air can come in from the rear of the jacket.  Lastly, we noticed that it was difficult to close the rear vent snap; we found ourselves pushing quite hard against the foam pad to lock the snap in place, and even then it didn’t feel or look very secure.

Wrapping up the outer shell are nice details such as zipper pulls for easier grip and the snap collar that I briefly mentioned before.  The single snap prevents any adjustment, so keep that in mind.  The front zipper, made by YKK, features big teeth and a somewhat loose feel, which I don’t particularly care for, but should be fine for the wearer.

Inner

The interior of the jacket contains an insulated vest liner.  It is removable via a single zipper that wraps around the vest.  As well, there are two small snaps at the rear of the vest that allow a more secure fit to the back of the leather outer.  The jacket only has one interior pocket over the left chest; it would have been nice to see more pockets incorporated into the shell or the vest itself.  A mesh-lining is revealed once the vest liner is removed.  There is a velcro pocket for the back pad, access to the shoulder armor, and a zipper at the base of the jacket to access the elbow armor.  There is no zipper connector for matching pants, however there is a snap loop that is supposed to connect to Shift pants.  At first I thought it was a loop for hanging the jacket upside-down, or a belt/belt-loop connector (which is kind of weird).  In my opinion, a zipper connection is always going to be better than a loop connection.  In all, a simple interior.

Protection

One thing that the Siren jacket got right was the armor.  The foam back pad is noticeably denser than the usual gray back pads one finds in jackets.  It’s still pliable enough to not cause discomfort when shifting positions, and its shape is compact with the width tapering outwards as your reach the bottom.  The elbow and shoulder armor features CE-approved Powertector pads that are quite thick and squishy.  This gives me the impression that they will provide good impact protection without restricting arm movement.  The armor is not adjustable as they are fixed into position by velcro pockets.  The elbow armor is notable because it is located in a padded armor pocket.  One accesses this via the base of the jacket, going between the leather shell and the mesh lining.  It is cumbersome to add/remove the armor, not to mention impossible to photograph, so you’ll have to take my word that the padded pocket is there.  FYI – the padding is located between the mesh lining and the armor itself on the interior of the arm (not between the armor and the leather outer), so it’s more of a comfort feature for the wearer.

Summary

The Shift Siren leather jacket leaves me somewhat disappointed.  On the one hand, it’s comfortable right out of the box.  On the other, it’s lacking a number of key riding comfort points:  odd/weak ventilation, fixed sleeve liner, poor cuffs, simple interior, etc.  For $400, this jacket doesn’t deliver what I’ve come to expect at this price-point.  It features a number of novel tricks, but unfortunately they don’t work for Hee-chan, and I suspect they won’t be sufficient for others as well.  The Siren is essentially a 2-season jacket and if you have a spring/summer jacket already, buying this jacket might make sense.  If not, I think you’d be better looking elsewhere.  (2.5 out of 5 stars)

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By Jimmy, 2010/02/21 10:07 pm

The REV’IT! (www.revit.eu) brand is most closely associated with the world of off-road/dual-sport riding.  They make gear designed to perform well in a variety of temperatures and to stand up to the rigors of a rugged environment.  To me, this is evident in their excellent textile jackets and pants.  REV’IT! gear features high-quality protection, great attention to construction, and an abundance of features usually missing in competing products.  However, this review covers the REV’IT! Allure jacket, an item distinctly outside of the off-road realm.  Leaning more towards street riding or touring, this women’s leather jacket exudes typical REV’IT! quality, but misses out on a surprising number of key features.  Here’s my take.

Outer

Hee-chan tried out a size 40 jacket.  We based this off of the sizing guide provided.  Although we were concerned about the waist dimensions being too large, the jacket turned out quite well fit-wise.  The jacket is definitely on the slimmer side; it was the slimmest of 4 size Small leather jackets that we recently tested.  However, it fit the best out of the group, both in terms of length and proper amount of “give” in the waist, chest, shoulders, and arms.  Some of this is due to the stretch panels on the sides and arms (I’ll get to those later), as well as the velcro waist adjusters.  With more break-in, this jacket will fit even more comfortably.  Accolades to REV’IT! for making a motorcycle jacket that doesn’t seem too bulky or long; they got it just right.

First off, about the outer appearance: this jacket looks great!  It’s very flattering and could pass as an item for everyday, non-riding use.  The jacket has very clean lines and doesn’t go overboard on the branding.  There is a small metallic badge on the top-left chest area featuring the REV’IT! logo.  The upper back of the jacket also features the logo lightly embossed in leather.  “REV’IT!” itself isn’t printed by these logos so it leaves a very muted, dress-like appearance.  The left sleeve has the text “REV’IT! Engineered Skin” along the lower arm; stitched in red and white, it doesn’t quite match the overall look, but it’s a rather minor design gripe as it is not very noticeable.  The shoulder areas feature black patches made out of a sort of rough nubuck/suede-like material (I believe they call it Pampas leather).  These patches feature the words “Engineered Skin” on them, but it blends into the material.

The jacket is predominantly made from cowhide that is finely pebbled and given a low luster.  The weight of the leather feels very substantial, so I would venture to guess that it is 1.2-1.4mm thick.  Leather covers approximately 80% of the jacket with the remaining 20% devoted to polyamide stretch panels along the sides of the torso and under the arms.

The stretch panels are well-constructed.  Along the torso, there is ribbing that is individually stitched in place.  It adds some flair to the look of  the stretch panels and the multiple stitching should make it durable.  The fabric under the arm is actually two panels stitched together.  In addition to that, there are leather accordion-stretch sections by the elbows that allow extra movement in the arms.  We often see these accordion panels implemented in more expensive jackets, but unhappily find that they make the sleeves look too large or even baggy.  On the Allure, these have been constructed in a manner that keeps the arms looking thin, which is nice to see.  Lastly, there are velcro waist adjusters.  These allow for a large amount of adjustment on the sides.

This jacket features very stiff YKK zippers and Fiocchi snaps, which I like.  I haven’t done serious research on this, but my general experience is that the better quality the jacket, the more difficult it is to pull zippers up and down.

One quick note about the sleeves.  The cuffs are closed via a single snap, so there’s no ability to tighten or loosen them up while keeping the cuff in place.  Once the snap is released, the cuffs do have a zipper to open them up.  This reveals a simple opening that I would prefer to see mesh-lined.  On the upper arm, there is a zipper to open up a small air intake.

Oddly enough, the above upper-arm vents are the only dedicated ventilation options on this jacket.  Some air will pass through the stretch panels, and it’s possible to rig the cuffs and front zipper to allow air to pass through.  However, it’s less than ideal, and there are no ventilation options in the rear of the jacket.

As far as reflectivity goes, you might as well forget about it.  There is one small panel on the upper back that is gray in color, but will light up when car headlights hit it.  If you’re going to be doing a fair amount of night riding, I’d recommend a high-visibility vest.

Lastly, the collar is a simple affair; there is only one snap so it is not adjustable at all.

Inner

True story:  I opened up this jacket and immediately thought that they had forgot to send me a liner.  Yup, there is no insulating liner included with this jacket.  No full-sleeve liner.  No vest.  Nothing.  What you get is a mesh-lined interior with one rather large pocket on the right side.  There is a coat-rack loop by the collar and a short zipper connector for pants.  I’m glad that I don’t have to write much for this section, because the interior of the jacket is so simple.  Ultimately though, I think REV’IT! did itself a disservice by not throwing in some sort of insulating liner.

Protection

Trying not to end on a bad note with the Allure, I arrive at its protective features.  There is CE-approved ProLife armor in the shoulder and elbows.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the left and right shoulder pieces are anatomically different, allowing for a better fit.  The armor along the lower arm is also longer than normal, affording your forearm additional protection.  I like how the ProLife armor is fairly flexible and thinner than its counterparts in other jackets.  The armor is not adjustable.  Next is the Temperfoam back pad, which is the most comfortable pad I have yet to see in a jacket.  Most jackets come with a generic sort of light gray foam pad with holes poked in it.  Motorcycle companies do this as an incentive for you to upgrade to pricier (and more protective) CE-approved options.  While the memory foam pad (go ahead and push on it with your hand) is still just a thin cushion for your back, it’s a nice step up from the gray back pads.  It will still provide light impact protection, but mostly it gains points for being much more malleable and less obtrusive to the wearer.  I wish more manufacturers would pay the extra couple dollars to switch to Temperfoam as the default pad.

Summary

At $370, the REV’IT! Allure is priced in the middle of the spectrum for a women’s leather jacket.  When you consider the excellent construction, fit, and style, the Allure is absolutely worth the price.  However, the more you examine it, the more its flaws become apparent; the lack of an insulated liner and additional venting options really do detract from the overall usefulness of this jacket (these negatives can be overcome by proper attire).  Style over substance?  Perhaps.  For individuals who ride in moderate temperatures and don’t demand a lot in a jacket, the Allure will be perfect.  For those riding in more volatile conditions, you’d do better to try out REV’IT!’s textile line, or examine more utilitarian leather options.  (3 out of 5 stars)

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By Jimmy, 2010/02/11 9:43 pm

I’ve got something to admit: I’m in love with REV’IT! (www.revit.edu) products.  The best way for me to explain it is with the Japanese word, “otaku”.  In Japan, “otaku” means someone who is infatuated with something else, whether it be video games, anime, comics, or the like.  It’s kind of like calling someone a “geek” or “nerd” and while not the most flattering, it does convey the sense that when it comes to a specific hobby; otaku really know what they’re doing.  And to use the word as an adjective, REV’IT! is super-otaku when it comes to designing their gear.  I feel like they obsess over details that most other companies wouldn’t care to deal with.  And for a reviewer like me, this is the best thing ever.  I’ve picked up their much-hyped Cayenne Pro jacket, a top-of-the-line year-rounder that weighs in at a hefty $580.  Let’s see how it fares.

Outer

Although most people report REV’IT! clothing as having a slim cut, with my less than ideal body type, it fit just fine.  As a reference, I have the Medium jacket and my dimensions are:  5 feet 7 inches tall, 33 inch waist, 39 inch chest.  My body type is more square than V-shape and I had no problems.  The jacket sleeves felt like just the right length, enough to cover both a standard upright and sport-bike position.  The rear of the jacket ended right around the middle of my rear, so not too long as to be a nuisance when sitting down, and again, just right for a forward-leaning position.

The outer shell of the Cayenne Pro is made out of several different materials:  DuPont Cordura 500D, Cordura 1000D, and SuperFabric.  Cordura is basically strong nylon fabric that holds up well to abrasion, scuffing, and tearing.  The higher the number, the higher the denier (density), and thus the better quality the fabric.  Most good quality jackets will feature between 500D to 1500D Cordura; the Cayenne Pro features 500D and 1000D in various locations around the chassis.  In addition, there are SuperFabric panels around the elbows.  SuperFabric is high-tech material made out of tiny ceramic sections designed to provide even greater abrasion-resistance.  As well, SuperFabric resists punctures, so one could theoretically take a knife or sharp edge to it and still be okay.  I’ll leave it to someone else to test this.

Note:  The tags do mention the fabric being treated with Teflon as a protector.  I’m not able to tell if this covers only certain portions of the jacket or if it’s intended to mean that most of the shell is covered with the stuff.

Aside from the above materials, there is raised padding around the shoulders and upper back.  In addition, there are stretch panels near the elbows to allow for ease of movement.  I found the stretch panels to be work well without appearing very bulky, a common problem in lesser jackets.  The sleeves feature two sets of snaps on each side, one around the upper arm and another for the forearm.  Each set of snaps has two settings to tighten up the sleeves for a better fit.  One should ideally snap the sleeves snug so that the armor does not shift around.  Rounding out the adjustments, there are waist-level velcro adjusters on both sides, and two cords at the bottom of the jacket (just on the inside) to allow one to close up the base of the jacket.  For one, I wished that there was more velcro on the waist adjusters.  Closing them up to my personal fit, I felt like I was running out of usable space.  Someone who has a V-shaped torso might find themselves with very little velcro left for attachment.

As a side note, the jacket snaps are branded Fiocchi and are of very high quality.  The snaps feel very secure and are quite loud when opening and closing.

Reflectivity is good on this jacket, despite me opting for the black version.  There is a waist reflector on the back, one on each sleeve, and two on the upper chest.  As opposed to reflective piping, which can be very narrow, these reflective strips are substantial, running anywhere from 0.75-1.5 inches in width.  Most of my riding occurs at night and I felt like these did a good job of keeping me visible without looking ridiculous.  Finally, these reflectors are matte gray in regular daylight, so it doesn’t stylistically intrude on the wearer in daytime use.  A nice touch.

Pockets – you will find that most of the jacket’s pockets are on the exterior, with only a couple small interior pockets available (due to the complexity of the liner system explained later).  There is a large pocket on the rear of the jacket, similar to a fanny pack.  This has a cover flap, is secured by two snaps, and is not designed to be waterproof.  In the front, there are six pockets that feature different configurations.  The two upper pockets are covered with a snap enclosure.  Opening this flap reveals a zippered compartment that is waterproof.  The two lower pockets feature a water-resistant zipper, however the pockets themselves are not waterproof.  Also, there are two vertical zippers near the upper pockets that open up to reveal left and right-side mesh-lined pockets.

The Cayenne Pro does a good job adapting from a cold-weather setup to one that supports warmer temperatures.  There are two VCS ventilation zippers on the sleeves that open up to reveal a mesh interior.  Due to the rather stiff zipper covers, the opening isn’t very large, but should allow some airflow to the forearm.  Remember the vertical zipper pockets I mentioned above?  Well, it turns out that they can double as air intakes for the torso.  Kind of a nifty trick.  And speaking of tricks, one of the most ingenious of things done with this jacket is with the reflective chest panels.  These feature a flap that detaches via velcro and snaps into place by folding over the reflectors, revealing yet another mesh intake.  However, this does cover part of the reflectors, so your front visibility will decrease.  The rear of the jacket features two exhaust vents around the upper back.  In all, I still prefer a mesh jacket for summer riding, although these ventilation options do extend the comfort range of the Cayenne Pro dramatically.

To round out the exterior of the jacket, there are two small REV’IT! badges at the top of each sleeve.  Muted and not flashy, which I prefer.  As well, there is a REV’IT! logo on the back of the jacket.  The collar has a couple of nice features.  First is the 7-position adjustable collar, which allows a custom fit depending on if you’re wearing (or not wearing) a turtleneck or similar item underneath the jacket.  Useful, but I had a lot of difficulty getting the Prym snap to close properly.  Second, there is a hook-and-loop on the other side to hold back the collar flap.  This opens up the front to allow some cool air around the neck; again, great attention to detail here from REV’IT!.  Near the collar on the left is a port for a hydration pack.

Note:  Most zippers feature pulls that make using them much easier when wearing gloves.  In addition to this, there are small pockets for zippers to hide under when zipped up, reducing the amount of material dangling around the jacket.  Oddly, the lower front pockets do not have zippers with pulls, or the zipper pocket.

Inner

The interior of the Cayenne Pro is just as interesting as the exterior.  This requires a brief explanation.  Most REV’IT! jackets feature a 3-liner system.  First is the Cordura/SuperFabric outer that contains the armor and pockets.  Second is a waterproof, breathable liner called the Hydratex Membrane.  Third is an insulating liner called Exkin Air.  These run independent of each other, so it is possible to wear the jacket using the following combinations:

1. Outer-only
2. Outer with waterproof liner
3. Outer with insulating liner
4. Outer with waterproof liner and insulating liner

I don’t really find wearing option #3 useful as I would always do #4 instead.  However, if you wanted to do that, the Cayenne Pro gives you that option.  Also, despite this flexibility, one is only able to put the insulating liner inside the waterproof liner, not the other way around.

With that out of the way, I must say, the 3-liner system is excellent.  Each liner is connected to the other using a combination of zippers and snaps.  It’s rather interesting to see how this all works with each other, and how it’s possible to change up the liner arrangements, but I’ll let the pictures explain this.  I found the attachments to be quite secure, continuing the jacket’s use of YKK zippers, but changing up the snaps to something called King Star.  The insulating liner connects using half-length zippers, whereas the Hydratex liner uses zippers that connect from the top to the bottom of the jacket.  Aside from connecting the liner to the opening of the jacket, there are two snaps on the end of each sleeve to connect with the Cordura outer, and a snap around the collar.   One feature that I do like is that the waterproof liner closes by using a full-length zipper with an additional flap closed by snaps for greater resistance to rain.  Note that the Exkin/insulating liner doesn’t have any closure options.  The Exkin does have two convenient pockets, one of which was a perfect fit for my cell phone.  It also features an opening in the rear for a short zipper connector to run through for any compatible REV’IT! pants.  The Hydratex liner features the short zipper connector (run through the Exkin liner), and the Cordura outer features both short and long zipper connectors to work with a wider selection of pants.

A note about fit and usage:  With all liners installed, the jacket will fell snug and appear a little bulky, but I find it more than acceptable given the extreme warmth of the insulation.  REV’IT! jackets are designed to fit true to size on the outer, so adding liners will inevitably shrink the interior dimensions.  Please keep this in mind if you are in-between sizes or plan on wearing thick layers underneath the jacket.  The jacket is so warm, however, that you may not need to wear a lot of layers to do cold-weather riding.  I’ve been wearing this jacket throughout the winter here (around 40 degrees F) and have been very cozy just wearing a thermal and long-sleeve t-shirt underneath.

Protection

The Cayenne Pro’s armor provides both high and low points.  The raised padding on the shoulders and upper back add subtle protection.  Inside, you will find SaS-Tec CE-rated protectors in the shoulders and elbows.  This armor is unique in that it is naturally soft and pliable, as opposed to other protectors that tend to be very firm (only flexing because of incisions made in the shape).  The SaS-Tec armor will bend when any sort of pressure is applied, but slowly revert back to its original form.  This allows the Cayenne Pro to feel very comfortable when moving the arms around as the intruding presence of the armor is minimized.  Another unique property of the armor is that when struck at a high speed, it instantly firms up to provide very solid protection.  This can be tested by taking a hammer to the protector or simply whacking it against something very quickly.  Very impressive.  As someone who has encountered a lot of different types of CE-level protection, my opinion is that SaS-Tec’s is the most exciting, and I wish that other makers would incorporate it into their products.  I’d almost venture to say that this is the best armor that one can obtain in a jacket today.  The forearm protectors are longer than regular protectors, and the shoulder protectors are anatomically different between left and right sides, which is thoughtful.  Both feel quite thick and larger than equivalent protectors in other jackets.

Sadly, from this we go to the back protection, consisting of a simple foam pad.  In fact, it’s so simple that it’s worse than the back pad in a cheaper REV’IT! product, the women’s Allure jacket, featuring a more comfortable Temperfoam pad.  A SaS-Tec back protector is available as an option, but it would have made sense to simply include it as standard on the Cayenne Pro.  This is somewhat disappointing, and probably the only drawback on an otherwise excellent jacket.

Summary

The REV’IT! Cayenne Pro jacket is well-executed and full of versatile features that should accommodate a variety of riding situations.  It is extremely comfortable to wear and the quality of the construction/components should stand as a goal for other manufacturers.  Despite my misgiving about the back protection, the negative points are very minor (missing zipper pulls, seriously?).  Even considering the high price tag, this jacket is highly recommended for any rider looking for an all-weather jacket.  (4.5 out of 5 stars)

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By Jimmy, 2010/02/09 11:16 pm

Icon Motosports (www.rideicon.com) seems to love polarizing the motorcycle community with its outlandish commercials and over-the-top gear.  Just take one look at their website and you’re sure to find rock music spouting alongside images or videos of stunt riders on mean-looking sportbikes.  Another glance at their product line shows bright graphics, metallic embellishments, and tons of attitude.  It’s so pervasive that finding a product that would interest this otherwise old-fashioned reviewer (not to mention, scooterist) is … actually quite difficult.  My choices are basically black versions of the Accelerant or Motorhead jackets.  There’s got to be something more interesting here.

Enter the Hella leather jacket for women.  Not for me, but for Hee-chan.  Phew, now half the pressure is off of me and onto her for finding a jacket that works well for riding.  First off, the Hella jacket we tried was the plain, black leather one.  Aside from a few detail areas, the jacket is quite subdued for Icon, but nonetheless beautiful and, dare I say, impressive.  Icon has a history of being somewhat obsessive about their products, and the more I dig into this jacket, the more I feel like this should be considered by all female riders who claim one of the following riding styles: cruiser, touring, or sport.

Outer

Gorgeous.  This brings to mind a biker jacket with dress sensibilities – something that would be equally usable in both riding and non-riding situations.  In my opinion, clothing stores will advertise leather jackets that are “biker-inspired”, but lack technical details that really matter when riding.  This jacket, however, does the reverse; it takes a gritty road jacket and polishes it up.  I hope you agree that Icon did a great job with the appearance here.

The leather chassis is made of 1.0-1.2mm thick leather.  This is in the middle of what would be considered adequate thickness for a leather jacket.  The leather is cowhide, features something of a matte, pebbled appearance, and feels quite substantial to the touch.  I believe the abrasion resistance of this jacket would fair well in the advent of fall.  As well, this leather will break-in nicely and the cut was friendly to Hee’s form.  We found the jacket to be true to size, with Hee wearing size Small.  For reference, she is 5 feet 4 inches tall, has a 36 inch bust, and 27 inch waist.  Two problems we had were with the shoulder width and sleeve length, which we felt were slightly too wide/long.  Icon jackets are rather infamous for having long sleeves, so we suggest you give a couple different sizes a try.

Continuing with the leather outer, there are no stretch panels on this jacket, although there are four small waist adjusters on each side.  There is perforated leather on the bottom and tops of the sleeves and down the side of the torso for some ventilation.  This is in addition to two intake vents near the shoulders, and two exhaust vents in the rear.  One could also theoretically open the hand pockets for more air as these are mesh-lined.

There are a number of snaps on this jacket, both functional and cosmetic.  There is a nice see-through snap on the collar as well as a flap at the bottom to cover the bottom of the zipper.  I wish my Alpinestars jacket had those!  In addition, there are four snaps that come up from straps at the bottom of the jacket.  These serve no purpose, but do add to the styling.  On the top left of the jacket is a metallic Icon badge that features several sparkly crystal-like inserts (and Hee likes sparkles so plus points there).  On the sleeve is a metallic Icon “I” that adds to the accenting.  At the end of the sleeves is a zippered cuff that opens up to reveal a leather connection.  I prefer mesh (for ventilation) as well as a snap/button closure, but perhaps Icon felt it would detract from the overall looks.  All the zippers are made by YKK and the snaps are unbranded, but feel like they’re made of good quality.  None of the zippers have “pockets” for them to hide into when zipped up, so they will flap around when riding.

Inner

As you open the jacket, you’ll notice that the main zipper flap says “Ride Among Us” in small, punched leather holes, the Icon motto.  A nice detail.

The interior of the jacket features two chest pockets.  Sadly, neither the liner nor the outer offers more interior pockets.  One thing I liked was the number of connections for the jacket liner.  There is a snap at the end of each sleeve, a snap on each side under the arm, and a zipper that goes clear around the opening of the jacket.   There’s even some leather covering the underarm snaps which is a good design point.  It’s nice to see an interior lining that really tries to “connect” with the rest of the jacket; it speaks well of Icon trying to create a product that doesn’t cut corners and covers its bases well.

That said, the jacket does not have any zipper connection for pants (nor a flap to support sewing on a zipper connection).  I’m not sure if this is because Icon pants (especially for women) do not come with a mating zipper or not.  As well, the full-length liner, while lightly insulated, is not windproof or waterproof, so there is the chance of slight discomfort under less than ideal weather conditions.  I’d comfortably say that this jacket should do well under temperature conditions ranging from 40-85 degrees F, with the lower range expanding if you can fit a sweater under the snug fit.

Protection

Aside from the outer being made of leather, there is no additional material in the chassis to aid in padding or abrasion resistance.  If you like, you could call the raised “Icon” lettering in the lower rear of the jacket to be padding, but I just call it “pretty”.  However, inside the jacket, you will discover CE-rated armor in the shoulder and sleeves.  We found the armor to be of acceptable thickness;  it didn’t feel too bulky, but also felt like it would hold up in a fall.  It flexes well and features holes to permit ventilation to go through.

One welcome addition to this jacket is a dual-density foam back protector that is a step up from the usual foam pads you see in most jackets (even high-end ones).  The back pad is quite tall, covering a large section of the spine.  As well, it is tapered to not be too bulky, and there are incisions to aid in flexing.  While it has the consistency of tough styrofoam (don’t bend it in half or you’ll find yourself buying a new pad), it should provide better protection than your typical open-cell foam pad.

And yes, there’s a little Saint Christopher medallion hidden inside the jacket.  I’ll let you discover it for yourself.  May it protect you in your travels.

Summary

The Icon Hella leather jacket presents a good blend of form and function.  The features and attention to detail are many and the gripes are minor.  At a retail price of $350, we believe the wearer is getting good value for their money: an attractive jacket that has long-term usefulness and versatility both on and off the bike.  (4 stars out of 5)