Cowhide Leather

As the name suggests, cowhide leather is made from the skin of cows. Long used by motorcyclists for its protection during crashes, it’s no wonder why cowhide is one of, if not the most popular choice for leather motorcycle jackets, suits, and gloves. Another big draw to cowhide leather is the price to quality ratio. Although typically not the cheapest option on the market, cowhide leather is considered a great value in relation to the quality of protection and comfort it offers motorcyclists.

Kangaroo Leather

If you’ve never purchased leather before you could be asking yourself why you would ever want leather made from kangaroo skin. Don’t be fooled, though. Kangaroo leather is considered one of the best types of leather you can buy, and some of the best racing suits in the world like the Alpinestars GP Tech 1 are made of it. Since kangaroos do not have as much fat as cows or some other animals that are used for leather, the skin does not have to be shaved as much, if at all. This means that the integrity of the skin remains in tact. Kangaroo skin is also naturally lightweight and flexible. The special tanning process required for making kangaroo leather makes the leather less likely to lose its shape over time, as well as more water resistant.

No matter what type of leather you select for your riding gear, the most important thing is that it is in good condition (sewn properly, not too worn) and is abrasion resistant. There are many factors that come into play when selecting the right leather for you: riding style, temperature, and cost are all things to consider. One thing is certain: some type of protection is necessary when riding. AGVSPORT said that “Research conducted by MAIDS (Motorcycle Accidents In-Depth Study) has revealed that, after the examination of over 900 motorcycle accidents in five different European countries, the riders that wore PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) not only had a bigger chance of surviving the accident, but often survived the accident without injury as well.” Protect yourself so that one ride doesn’t become your last ride.

Riders Discount provides a vast variety of leather gear to suit your riding needs. Our leather gear is available at a variety of prices and leather types. As always, Riders Discount is here to help you make every ride the perfect (and safest) ride. Visit our website to find the right gear for you. Our expert sales team is here for you by phone 10AM-6PM ET M-F 1-866-931-6644 or email at support@ridersdiscount.com.

ALPINESTARS MENS GP TECH 1 PIECE LEATHER SUIT 2015 – Click Image to Purchase

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Held used Kangaroo leather for the main construction of the Race-Evo – about 70%. Kangaroo leather is both stronger and lighter than cowhide, which pays off in safety and comfort. Large cuts of leather were used so that fewer seams were necessary to hold it all together. Cowhide, durable synthetics, and other, more exotic materials like stingray hide make up the remaining 30% of the suit. This combination gives you the best of both worlds. The highly abrasion resistant stingray leather is found on the shoulders and sleeves. This helps them slide, rather than catch the pavement during slide. The shoulders, elbows and knees also feature an innovative type of protector. Held coated titanium in extremely hard ceramic alloy and set them as inserts in molded plastic. Titanium is tough and abrasion resistant already, but the additional ceramic coating makes them even more durable and long lasting.

Kangaroo leather is more abrasion resistant than cowhide, which means that thinner material can be used. This saves a significant amount of weight and makes it more flexible. These weight savings allowed Held to cram more protective features into the inner suit without weighing the rider down. These features include extra layers of leather in major impact zones and armor that was developed with the help of their fellow German engineers at SaS-Tec. The two companies developed a new type of shock absorbing protector that can take on extreme amounts of energy over multiple hits. Armor comes in the form of soft, pliable foam that becomes even more malleable when exposed to body heat. This allows it to conform to your body individual body shape. You can find these protectors in the shoulders, elbows, ribs, hips, tailbone and knees. The back has a SaS-Tec unit as well. It is made of a similar, conforming foam, but it is CE level 2 certified, whereas the rest are CE level 1. These features make the Race-EVO great at protecting you when it counts, but there is also another area where it shines – comfort.

Held put a lot of focus into making this suit comfortable to wear and a big part of this was making it flexible. They accomplished this through the use of a ton of stretch material, both accordion and Schoeller Kevlar. The accordion stretch panels are found in the standard lower back location, as well as running up the sides of the back. They then connect with another set at the shoulders that cuts back inward towards the hump. Schoeller Kevlar is used in areas that don’t need to withstand an impact, such as the underarms, crotch and calves. This material is soft and stretchy, but very durable. This same material extends to the cuffs of all four limbs so that they fit comfortably into your boots and gloves without binding up. At the neck, you will find that they lined the collar with a softer stretch material that will not irritate your skin or restrict head movement. A narrow strip even extends back to the hump so that you don’t have to strain at all against the leather to hold your head back when you are in a full race tuck. All of these aspects make the Race-EVO a suit that not only conforms to your body like it was custom made specifically for you, but also feels well broken in the first time you put it on.

At $1899.99, this suit is a premium product, but the features and quality that you get from Held make it well worth the money. 

• Shown here in black/white, it can also be had in red/black/white.
• The collar of this suit has a strip of stretch material that extends back to the hump. This greatly improves the comfort when you are in a full tuck. The hump also circulates air throughout the body of the suit.
• Molded plastic armor with a ceramic coated titanium insert sits over the SaS-Tec shoulder armor. They are vented for additional air-flow, as are the similar guards on the knees.
• The fully removable liner has a raised honeycomb pattern at the back to keep a layer of air between you and the suit.
• The complete set of SaS-Tec armor removed from the Race-EVO. As you can see, they have you covered throughout the suit. The back protector is even a full coverage CE Level 2 unit that can take multiple impacts.
  

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