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I've owned my Aerostitch Darien suit for a year now so I can give a four season review, Basically it works very well in all weathers. The jacket has 5 zippered pockets, including one on the right sleeve that's handy for a cell phone, two handwarmer type pockets in the chest and an inside velcro'd secure pocket, you can haul a LOT of stuff in there...The pants have two slash pockets in the front and one velcro'd pocket in the back.
Protection is provided by the quality Goretex material itself, armored pads in the shoulders, elbows and knees which actually fit in the right place to do some good and an available and highly recomended spine pad that also velcro's in. There's also two or three thicknesses of lined fleece jackets that zip in depending on how cold your area is likly to get. The jacket is cut roomy so even with the liner in place you can still move around, in the summer the loose fit aids in air flow so it's a well thought out compromise
This summer with temps in the 90's for a short while I wore the jacket with the vents open and was fairly comfortable when moving. Got a little warm sitting in traffic but that's going to happen anyway. Wearing the pants over a pair of shorts was fine if in 70's and 80's but did get a little clammy if it was warmer, again that applies to any riding gear.
It'd be nice if the side zippers on the pants had some type of lining, at least in the upper section where you could get some air through them without totally compromising their abrasion resistance. The same thing with the jacket. If you zip the back zipper all the way open there's no material that spans the gap. If you got off there's a pretty big area open to abrasion, What I did was open both sides and leave a three or four inch section in the middle zipped closed to maintian some kind of structural integrity. A kind of mesh lining in that area would give me a little more confidance.
The real test came during the fall and winter where it's cold, wet and dark. Here the reflective material across the back, on each side and on the lower legs gives a pattern you can see for a mile, add the available Hi Viz Lime Yellow material and even the blindest cager is going to see you.
Unlike the Roadcrafters suits that can leave an wet crotch, the Darien jacket and pants stay dry in some pretty serious downpours and stay warm without electrics form the mid 30's on up. This mornings ride in was damp fog and 35* degrees on an unfaired bike at speeds upto 70 or so and while I wasn't sweating, I certainly wasn't cold either. Factor in the very high quality stitching, excellent fit and the fact that alterations and repairs are availabe for the life of the suit it's a pretty good investment. It's also Made in the USA which counts for a lot in my book anyway, and you have a pretty dam* fine piece of gear. Expensive, but in the climate I live in with moderate temps and plenty of wet and changable weather it works much better than leather most of the time.
I give it a good 5 out of 5 stars, highly recomended.
Protection is provided by the quality Goretex material itself, armored pads in the shoulders, elbows and knees which actually fit in the right place to do some good and an available and highly recomended spine pad that also velcro's in. There's also two or three thicknesses of lined fleece jackets that zip in depending on how cold your area is likly to get. The jacket is cut roomy so even with the liner in place you can still move around, in the summer the loose fit aids in air flow so it's a well thought out compromise
This summer with temps in the 90's for a short while I wore the jacket with the vents open and was fairly comfortable when moving. Got a little warm sitting in traffic but that's going to happen anyway. Wearing the pants over a pair of shorts was fine if in 70's and 80's but did get a little clammy if it was warmer, again that applies to any riding gear.
It'd be nice if the side zippers on the pants had some type of lining, at least in the upper section where you could get some air through them without totally compromising their abrasion resistance. The same thing with the jacket. If you zip the back zipper all the way open there's no material that spans the gap. If you got off there's a pretty big area open to abrasion, What I did was open both sides and leave a three or four inch section in the middle zipped closed to maintian some kind of structural integrity. A kind of mesh lining in that area would give me a little more confidance.
The real test came during the fall and winter where it's cold, wet and dark. Here the reflective material across the back, on each side and on the lower legs gives a pattern you can see for a mile, add the available Hi Viz Lime Yellow material and even the blindest cager is going to see you.
Unlike the Roadcrafters suits that can leave an wet crotch, the Darien jacket and pants stay dry in some pretty serious downpours and stay warm without electrics form the mid 30's on up. This mornings ride in was damp fog and 35* degrees on an unfaired bike at speeds upto 70 or so and while I wasn't sweating, I certainly wasn't cold either. Factor in the very high quality stitching, excellent fit and the fact that alterations and repairs are availabe for the life of the suit it's a pretty good investment. It's also Made in the USA which counts for a lot in my book anyway, and you have a pretty dam* fine piece of gear. Expensive, but in the climate I live in with moderate temps and plenty of wet and changable weather it works much better than leather most of the time.
I give it a good 5 out of 5 stars, highly recomended.
