Full body armor choices

T

Turley

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hey guys, I'm considering getting some full body armor for racing. I'm currenlty looking at

661 pressure suit Pro
TLD Decender suit

Anyone got any experience with either of these suits? How do they fit and so they give plenty of manouverability on your bike?

both suits around around the 280 mark and don't realy want to spend anymore than that,

cheers

Turley
 
skwiz05

skwiz05

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I like my 661 suit, but only issue I have being tall is the spine board should be longer on the "L" or "XL" sizes....
 
W2ttsy

W2ttsy

Likes Dirt
im in the same boat as skwiz. i have the SP1 pressure suit. its bulky and offers less manouverability than riding without a vest, but youll be hard pressed to find one that does. most of the time you wont notice it while riding, but when you arent , you will. also, it will be alot sweatier too :(

remember to try it on under your clothes, its designed for skin contact, not over a jersey or shirt. also make sure it fits, a badly fitting one is a waste of money and will probably do worse than good.

i like mine, and its a good value for money. wheelchairs cost more!

W2ttsy
 
mr636

mr636

Likes Bikes and Dirt
i rode with a TLD descender for a little bit. it was really good, except the leg armour. it was just too short.
i currently use a TLD top suit and fox knee shinnies.
best combo so far.
i dont notice any restriction in it. some people whinge about that, not me.
everytime i clip a tree with my shoulder i praise it.

just try it on and see how you feel.
 
F

frank-oi

Likes Dirt
i have a 661 pressure suit, the only think that i have a against it really is that the chest protection doesn't actually come down far enough to protect you lower rib cage. now i don't think that i have weird low ribs or some such thing. but i would have thought that i would come down lower to actually cover the lower rib cage but i have since broken ribs while not wearing it as well.
other then that.it's body armour. comon it's going to be a alittle restrictive. but not to the point that it's uncomfortable or anything.
 
J

Joe_Dirt

Likes Bikes
Yeah i have a 661 pressure suit and it fits quite well and i barely notice it when im riding, but i havent stacked hard with it yet so i cant give great advice. Also it breaths really well with a good jersey.
 
B

bolzy

Likes Dirt
ive got the daniese upper body amour and its never let me down, breaths really well and simple to wash

my advice dont go for a cheaper quality amour to save money casue it will come back to bite you
 
G

Gazzr

Squid
Go and check out the Alpine Stars Bionic jacket.

Top notch jacket and around $300

It is on my to buy list. Ive currently got an Azonic (rrp $200-250). Its been OK but not as well made (sturdy) or padded.

One thing jackets dont do real well is protect you abdominal areas. I had an unlucky crash back in June with all my armour on and spent a week in hospital.

I landed on the bike and copped a handlebar end into the lower gut area.:eek:

This punctured a 4cm hole in my small intestine / bowel, had excess fluid drained from my liver and some pretty bad internal bruising.

I reckon it could have been worse if I didnt have it on though. The chest plates took a fair hit as well and I had pretty sore ribs instead of broken ones.

Ive put the back protecter to use in other get offs and they do work.

Body armour is / can be bulky, heavy, uncomfortable, sweaty, smelly but when you axe yourself they generally make a huge difference to the potential damage you might cop.

I suggest you try on a few that fit your budget. One that is comfortable on one person might be uncomfortable on you. They all fit differently and some will feel much better than others
 
G

Gazzr

Squid
Oh

I forgot to mention, In my local area I found motorcycle shops had the Alpine Star jacket priced better than my LBS :) so it might be worth shopping around.
 
foolbis

foolbis

Likes Dirt
I have the 661 and it works well. Paid $160 new, fantastic price! Its really sturdy and yea u feel it when standing around, but it breathes really well when you are tearing along downhill.

Have had a couple of stacks up in thredbo but no damage to me, nor the armour either.

Agree tho, none of these suits do well for the stomach region...
 
A

aday

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I've done 10+ rounds of Downhill in my 661 pressure suit. I to bought it for around $160 and have had no troubles with it. Go that, best value for money.
 
Big_Al

Big_Al

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Where do you get a 661 Pressure suit for $160 these days thats fairly cheep for it
 
fleshbone

fleshbone

Likes Bikes and Dirt
the mace swat suit is quite nice,the little downfall is that it dont have elbow pads,but otherwise it is comfortable,protects you and is cheap.the cheapest azonic one protects you,has elbow pads and is also cheap but not as fitting as the mace swat suit.dont let the fox armour go astray either.
 
Mugger

Mugger

Senir oMermber
Big_Al said:
Where do you get a 661 Pressure suit for $160 these days thats fairly cheep for it
Click to expand...
Moto shop, more stock in there....

Got 661 Pressure suit meself, done runs in it for 2 seasons and a bit week in week out. Velcro isn't as good as it used to be but fixed that.

Love the thing, saved me plenty of times but still wouldn't mind something less bulky and more chest protection.

For the price I paid ($160), it has already paid itself off many times...
 
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