Review: HEROIC Racing Prototype Suit

Hey guys,

My teammate and I are now rocking Heroic Racing suits and I wanted to share our experience so far.

http://www.heroicracing.com

First off, having run many different brand suits purchased from different places, it's worth mentioning how much better overall it is buying direct from a manufacturer. To have a guy you know by first name ready and willing to make you a satisfied customer is pretty nice. Those who have bought big ticket items like this through a huge distributor probably know what I'm talking about. After trying my teammates suit on (a size smaller than I normally wear), I thought it would work for me. It fit great walking around, but on the bike was just a bit to tight with my extra back and chest protector in. Todd got me in the right sized suit with no hassle...

My teammate got his Perfect Line suit first and I was pretty jealous when I finally saw it in person. He didn't have a single complaint as the fit and quality were top notch. The dual zipper, bib style entry makes getting in and out much more easy. External carbon fiber and steel armor in all the right spots and Kevlar stitching throughout make it very safe and durable.

He got a chance to test this out his second weekend in it. During a wet race, in a double right hander he clipped some curbing with the rear tire, instantly lost it and had his first highside. He tumbled probably four or five times down the track, coming to a stop still on the pavement. He had never gotten chucked like that before and said he doesn't know how I shake those off so easily! The suit held up really well, without a single busted stitch or tear. All the scuffs were very minor and there was no major damage anywhere. Unlike a fellow racer who had a minor get off in an Astars race replica which blew out the entire inner thigh seam! I'll try to post some pics of the Heroic post crash...

Anyway, I'm helping Todd test out a new prototype suit now. Similar to the other suits, but a few differences. This one is full featured but for those who prefer a single front zip. It is easier to get in and out of then others I've tried, still not quite bib-style easy though. The stitching is a new Italian bonded nylon thread which is supposed to be 20% heavier duty than Kevlar but with more capacity to stretch and spring back instead of busting.

It has zippers in the lower calf, parallel to the normal zippers, that release an extra bit of material if it's too tight. And the calf entry zippers are extended to almost the knee, which makes getting into the suit really easy without snagging up. The liner zips out and fits the suit very well. It's a real pain when you are trying to put your suit on and your feet get all snagged in the liner. No such problems here, very easy to get into.


Well, the night testing at PBIR ( http://www.racepbir.com ) went great. The suit fit even better than expected. Once it warmed up and stretched a little I had great freedom of movement and felt really comfortable on the bike. Those who have ever tried to use an ill fitting suit probably know that it can really throw off your riding.

I didn't get a chance to really push it, as it was hard to keep heat in the tires, we had no air fence barriers in place, limited safety crew, and oh yeah... fuggin dark in spots! Also, for how snug this suit fits me and for being a single zip setup, it is really easy to get out of the shoulders too (w/ under armor on). My other suits usually require a tug on the sleeve from a buddy to get out. This suit I'm able to just shrug it off.

It's pretty wild topping the bike out at night (legally). I'll try to post a little clip of that later.

Here's a clip of me exiting one of the LONG carousels and flicking over into the start finish straight.

http://www.leanangle.us/Nighttest.AVI




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Here are a few of my buddy's suit after a good hard crash:

 

And what the new track surface did to my KR slick :

 

Why do I feel like I just got spammed

 

You need some suspension changes and a set of tire warmers.

 

Look, I've got nothing to hide. My teammate purchased his suit for retail and loves the thing. Heroic is giving me personally some support for this season and I'm giving my honest opinions about the product. Is it perfect? Nope. But it is the best suit I've had so far out of about 5 others I've owned and many more I've tried on. I'm not here to blow smoke up anyone's asses. This suit is a prototype and you can't buy it just yet, the knee puck velcro placement needs some adjustment. and the stretch leather placement needs to be changed a little too. Besides those things, which will be fixed for production, I don't have any complaints.

 

I use CH proline's, but thanks...

The suspension setup has not changed since that tire was run at Homestead and was wearing perfectly.

The track surface is brand new, ultra smooth and has a ton of grip. Add this to the air and track temp being pretty cool, and it was difficult to keep enough heat in them.

 

I met Todd at BeaveRun at an STT day
He had some suits there.. didnt get to see anyone go down luckily, but they seemed nice.

 

EXACTLY

 

Stupid name for a brand. If i'm sporting "Heroic" across my ass I'd better be doing 20 to life and I've been beaten down by the Aryan brotherhood and I've been branded.

 

What Dave K said.

 

It's cool guys. I fully expected the sharks of the WERA board to have a frenzy. No worries. Just wanted to put up an honest review of a product that has earned my support and help give some exposure to a small company that is interested in supporting our community and making a good product.

 

Haven't seen the suits other than on their website so take this as an observation: they are pricey, I HATE the shoulder armor (and the idea that plastic should be on the outside), the sizing chart sucks the big one and the brand name is cannoli in a studded leather thong in a parade über ghey.

They do look nice in a modern design sort of way.

 

What's your issue with external armor?

I've had em with and without and definitely prefer some external. The armor on these is fairly thin and flexible, since you still have internal armor also. For me having the external stuff in places that will hit the deck in a crash, just makes it so the suits lasts a lot longer. You have scuffed armor instead of shredded leather.

 

as a photog and only speaking on the visual cues of the suit....it simply says Heroic too many times, we get the point

 

Agreed, it's a bit much...

 

Yea I didn't think it was possible for a company to slap their logo or name on a piece of gear more then A*, but I think Heroic just took it to a whole different level.

 

My last AGV was even worse. I took like six of them off and there were still a bunch more!