New-ish rider with a couple of gear q's
 

I'm an avid dirtbiker and had a street bike for a while, but never got that into it. I know a lot about and own a lot of dirtbike gear. I know little about and own little street bike gear. I've got a good helmet, jacket and gloves, but never got pants or boots. I'm about to take the plunge into the VTR world and need some gear advice.

Boots or Shoes: I like the idea of the Joe Rocket Atomic Shoe for comfort/walking around, etc. I also understand the safety aspect of a boot and have been looking at the Vega Nitro Sport Boot. Anybody know anything about either of these? What's really the better bet? I'm not and don't plan to be a track rider. I don't really know what other factors to take into consideration.

Pants: I don't want to go the leather route here in AZ. That just seems like it would get nasty quick. I had been thinking of overpants in case I end up needing to use the bike for commuting (probably not, but ya never know). Then there's regular Nylon pants with pads in strategic places. What should I really be taking into consideration here?

Thanks!

I don't know about the two boots you listed, but there are several great boots out there. The main idea is you need something that provides good coverage for your ankles. While shoes are great for walking around, you'll want the protection that boots provide.

Overpants are great. I recently bought a set (JR Ballistic pants) and use them regularly. Any sort of spirited riding will see me grab my leathers, but the textile pants are way more comfortable. If it gets real hot in AZ, you might want to pick pants that are perforated. The JR Alter Ego might fit the bill here.

As you may know, leathers offer the most protection and can be fixed after a crash, whereas textile is usually used up once and thrown away.

Re: New-ish rider with a couple of gear q's
 

I plan on still riding quite a bit in the summer. The heat and resultant sweating doesn't bother me all that much, but it might if I were in something that didn't breathe well. Also I'm 6'2" and 250 lbs with big legs so I don't know about getting into some of the leather out there. I don't really plan on getting too "spirited" in my riding anyway. Most of the time my wife will be occupying the back seat so that'll keep me a little more conservative.

Re: New-ish rider with a couple of gear q's
 

G'day Yardstick.

The heat is something we deal with all the time here, so all our gear has to be breatheable in my opinion.

So I would reccommend you lash out and buy Goretex boots. My Sidi Vertebra Goretex boots are comfortable even on a very hot day. Great. Don't buy shoes, not worth it.

For pants I would reccommend you look at Kevlar pants. Very comfortable once again and easy care too. Most of them look just like jeans and can be worn anyware, including a trip down the balck stuff if you are unlucky! I have a pair of Draggin cargo pants and am impressed with the comfort of these too.

I am also an avid dirt biker, so I think like me, you too would know that safety is paramount, and you should always get good gear.

Ride safe!

Re: New-ish rider with a couple of gear q's
 

For the boots I would recommend SiDi which are a bit pricey, but from what I understand Setup's come off of the same assembly line as the SiDi's and only cost $129.00. I have crash tested a set of Teknic leathers and the Sidi's and walked away with minimal injuries. Probably the best investment I have is the 7 spine back protector from Teknic. For $70.00 it has paid for itself twice.

Re: New-ish rider with a couple of gear q's
 

I finally found the Setup Vision boot (the one for $130). It looks like a decent boot. Has anyone tried them? Seen any reviews? Seen them in person?

I've ended up with a Fieldsheer Mach 3 jacket and Air 2 pants so far. Hopefully I haven't gone too far from decent stuff. They got decent reviews on motorcycle-superstore.

Check out Hood jeans - fully lined with kevlar, not just in "critical areas" which is good in case the jeans twist or move during a crash.

Sidi Champion Air boots might work well. I have the AStars Effex boots which are great for general purpose and touring.

Re: New-ish rider with a couple of gear q's
 

I have a buddy that bought and returned those boots, they looked kinda cheesy. For racing and hard riding I have Oxtar tcs boots I saw a guy crash hard with them on with impact to his feet and he walked away, (Pun intnended) which made me want to buy them. You can find these on closeouts right now for under $130 just do a search for them. For the everyday ride to work or whatever I have ICON superduty boots. They look like a hicking boot but have motorcycle specific protection and a really nice feature, a buckle that goes across to keep the boot tight and the laces down so they don't get caught on anything.

As far as the Fieldsheer stuff, I've owned a bunch of thier stuff and I'd have to say it's always been very high quality gear. It has better armor then most and the seams have always held together nicely. The leathers I just recently sold to Loco were vey thick and put together well, I almost didn't sell them because they were so nice.

Re: New-ish rider with a couple of gear q's
 

Yeah,

Fieldsheer is good stuff, I used it at the track and if you are going to go leathers, you should try to get perforated leather. It really cools you down once you get moving. For boots I use my buddy's Alpinestars boots, real easy to get in and out of, and look great. I live and ride in Texas, so we know a thing or two about inescapable heat, too! After being in a collision with a car, where I hit and slid on the pavement, I'd prefer to be well-protected and hot than bloody and stitched up.

Re: New-ish rider with a couple of gear q's
 

I can sort of identify with that. A long time ago my dad went over the hood of a car, breaking the windshield with his face, shattering his patella and then scraping his broken femur on the pavement. I definitely want to be protected as much as possible. I don't want to go for full leathers yet, but maybe in the future. I'm trying to lose about 40lbs I put on after a bad mountain bike wreck, so if I get leathers now I'd have to get new ones in the future (big $$ both times). I have some respect for the nylon stuff since I went down in an MSR dirtbike jacket and jeans on the street a long time ago. That jacket barely shows any wear from that wreck. With pads and boots I might not have even been sore. I also don't ever plan on hitting a track day, but I know I'm probably more likely to have an incident on the road. It'll help that I'm pretty conservative on a street bike as it is and my wife will be riding with me most of the time.

Rather than start a new thread here, I have another quick question. I just got a Fieldsheer Mach 3 jacket (in XL) and it's a little tight. Not so much that it is totally uncomfortable, but it is definitely *form fitting*. Is that the way it should be? I've heard that you don't want a jacket or pants to be loose because the pads won't stay put in a crash, but how tight is too tight? Probably my biggest issue is that the jacket only covers to my waist. It seems like it could be an inch or two longer.

Nope. Thats the way FS works. I thought so too when I got mine from Superhawk22. The reason is (on mine) that it zips to the pants and if you extended the jacket much further it would be really difficult to reach that zipper. The FS jacket just fits a little more snug than the other brands, but once you are riding, you don't notice it.

^What he said.