Mods, Please block this thread from Putter, he would lose his mind if he knew how many women were posting here.
I gave up with a woman's suit and just got a Hein Gericke Celtic suit. It fits me great, but I am almost 5'11".
Aubrey what size Celtic did you go with? My GF is 5'10" ~155 and very hippy with a larger butt, but thin waist. Shes lookin at doing some track days this year and is looking for anything that would fit.
I had a custom suit made from Spartan Leather and absolutly love it. They even worked with using my own design for it. I think I paid a total of 500 bucks and liked it much better than A* and teknic. After this suit I will not buy another womens suit off the rack ever again.
That is so very true. I would love to get a new women's cut suit. I currently have a blue/white Spidi suit. I've seen some of those boots by icon (forget what model), but they are ATROCIOUS. Ain't no way (even as a backpack) I would ever consider wearing them. Its a broken ankle waiting to happen.
I don't really worry about matching my leathers and my ride... just so happens that I have all black leathers and an all black bike or black and gold bike. But my gloves are black and yellow. If I can't ride good I may as well not look good huh? haha. Thanks for the info on custom suits, that may be the way I have to go, need to save my pennies. I'm 5'6" with an athletic build and most stuff tends to be tight in the shoulders and thighs/butt.
Ah, no worries. I've never worn ICON, wouldn't dream of it. I started with a pair of SMX plus (still have them, but boy are they worn out) and now have a pair of A* Supertechs. I've had several years to build my gear wardrobe. side note: I've never gotten into the icon gear. There were several girls around here who were passengers (and some that eventually started riding their own bike) who were oohhh and ahhhhing over those heeled Icons. I was like, are you completely crazy or is looks more important than safety? [sarcasm on] b/c I know that casts are SO attractive [sarcasm off]
You forgot to mention how sexy road rash is too :up: It kills me to see the tennis shoes and skinny jeans most chicks wear but as you know, they have to look good on the back of their mans bike. I've actually gotten comments from other women about me wearing my full leathers during my rare visits to the canyons. I look at them and say "laugh all you want, but if we were both to crash, I'll be the one walking away, you wont." As you know, once you start getting into trackdays, racing, etc the quality and level of safety in equiptment you purchase goes even higher. I just wish there was more out there for women. I guess most haven't figured out that when we crash, we crash just as hard as the guys do. So I don't understand why there isn't more gear equal in quality as the guys' stuff out there.
See, I have to wonder if part of the problem is that manufactures still have the notion (however misguided it may be) that the wimmenz should be back in the pit to hand their man some water and let the "boys" do the crashing and riding hard. <shrug> I"m sure that isn't it, but kinda of makes one wonder. I'm not the fastest out there, but I'm fast enough that when I crash, I know I've crashed (usually by means of ripped up leathers and having to replace things on my bike after it's gotten slid down the front straight...or cartwheeling...or, well, you get the point).
...and the off-the-rack offerings for women today (I agree that they aren't quite on par with the men's stuff) is at least much improved from 15 or so years ago, when I first was looking for a leather suit. The only one I could find for off-the-rack was a Fieldsheer. It was white with little pastel squares all over it and it had elastic cuffed sleeves. Like that's gonna work. I went for my first custom Vanson back then, and have continued to go that route.
My wife does trackdays and for the warmer months, she has a Femmoto suit that she loves. She crash tested it at Nashville after only having it for about 3 -4 weeks. It held up very well. Also, since y'all were talking about boots too, SIDI makes a pair of ladies boots comparible to the Vertigo. If memory serves me they are calle the Lei.
I think you are spot on. I think they believe all the women should be either on the back of the bike or in the pits. In truth, the majority of the women are but for those of us who aren't, we need some good stuff. That comment is sig worthy Crashing definitely sucks. I've only crashed once on the street and *knock on wood* I haven't crashed on the track...yet.
I don't think that it's necessarily that the manufacturers think we should be passengers on the bike, I think it's more that they just aren't in touch with the fact that the number of aggressive riding women is growing. I used to be heavily involved in wakeboarding, and the same thing was evident there, very few women specific boards and bindings, and those that were made were pink and flowery and based off a mold for a true beginner board. Once women started riding harder and demanded better boards then the manufacturers obliged. Perhaps if we take up our concerns with the manufacturers through email and give them suggestions as to what women who actually ride hard want and need, we'll start seeing better gear.
Very true. But again, the majority of women are on the back of the bike. That's something that I don't think we can dispute. Never mind that even on the back of the bike, when you crash, it's not going to matter if you were the rider or not. You have a good chance of getting effed up.
I'm not about to read others' posts, but I did want to chime in quickly. Heroic Racing makes some outstanding gear, and the line designed for ladies seems quite ingenious. I'm not affiliated with them, btw - just saving up for a full custom!
Check out crush's custom stuff too if you want to go that route. +1 on icon. The whole idea of icon making is...... well.....