Mesh, textile, leather? what?

[zcypher]

Wow lots of great replies, lots to think about, thank you! Since the Joe rocket atomic 4.0 is one I've had my eye on .. How is it?

 

[Chucker]

Wow lots of great replies, lots to think about, thank you! Since the Joe rocket atomic 4.0 is one I've had my eye on .. How is it?

Like I said, it's the only jacket I wear, and I live in the same climate as you, except your winters are worse. It has a removable liner that is quite warm. It has vents in the chest and arms for when it's really hot. Has good protection. AND I think it looks great. I highly recommend it.

As an added bonus, my wife and her friends think I look hot in it.:steve:

 

[zcypher]

What kind of build are you? Only concern left is how well it will actually fit. I'm 6'1 and 180ish, I want to make sure I'm not ordering something that won't fit properly. I'm checking out another store soon in person but so far they all have various different stuff, but not the atomic 4.0

 

[Chucker]

I don't think you can get an Atomic 4.0 in Canada. I bought mine in NY when I was there. In Canada, it's the Atomic 11.0 and it's different. Might be as good. I know it has YKK zippers, which are a lot better than the ones on the 4.0.

I'm a little over 6'1" and 190. The large is perfect for me.

 

[zcypher]

I don't think you can get an Atomic 4.0 in Canada. I bought mine in NY when I was there. In Canada, it's the Atomic 11.0 and it's different. Might be as good. I know it has YKK zippers, which are a lot better than the ones on the 4.0.

I'm a little over 6'1" and 190. The large is perfect for me.

You can definitely get the Atomic 4.0 in Canada, I think it's just one of the previous generations of the jacket. I've seen it on a lot of sites. However the site that has the cheapest combination of shipping and taxes (GPbikes.com for me) doesn't carry it. That's fine though, the Atomic 11 and Phoenix 11 look pretty good and they're available for $179.

So in your case the large fit well hey? Now I'm really not sure anymore. I looked at the Joe Rocket sizing chart, and according to that, a medium should fit me perfectly. The one Joe Rocket i tried in-store (a different model, I forget which one now) was a large and definitely felt slightly too big for me. It could be totally different than the other models though.

I am mostly set on either the Atomic 11 or Phoenix 11 unless something convinces me otherwise at the same price point. I'm just trying to figure if there is an appreciable difference between the Atomic 11's "Water Resistant Rock Tex™ 600 Outer Shell" and the Phoenix 11's "Combined Ballistic Free-Air Mesh and Rock Tex 600 Outer Shell".

Both seem to offer very similar as far as protection and ventilation goes, but unless I'm missing something, the Phoenix has the YKK zippers and the Atomic doesn't? Not too sure of that.

 

[adamo3957]

If buying a mesh jacket another word of advice. Look for the location of the mesh, inner arms is ok, chest is cutting it close, back needs a protector and preferably a part to slide on that isn't mesh... And sides/elbows deffinatly do not want mesh.

I have a Dri rider Air 2 mesh jacket that is the most ammount of mesh I could consider acceptable.

Remember it still has to protect you in a slide.

 

[Chucker]

When I emailed Joe Rocket to ask about the jackets, they told me the Atomic 11 had YKK zippers.

 

[zcypher]

Ok, awesome. So really, the atomic would be a better jacket, given that its all textile and no mesh? Am I understanding this correctly? Lol

They look so similar.

 

[Chucker]

The Atomic has no mesh, other than inside the vents, which have zippers to open or close.

 

[zcypher]

I'll be checking out another store in person on Monday, I don't want to miss out on any potential sweet deals that might just happen to be going on. If I don't find anything then, I'll probably order the Atomic 11.

 

[zcypher]

So I checked out a good half dozen stores. Gf found a sweet deal for her on an alpinestars half price that fits her perfect. For me I didn't find anything crazy good so I've ordered the phoenix 11.

I went with that since I found one in store to try on and really liked how it fit, better than all the others, feels great and I'm more likely to wear it I think. I'll probably pick up a better / hotter jacket for the cooler days and keep this one for the hot days.

 

[buzzbomb]

I'm late to the party, but I am also one of ATTGAT crowd. I live in South Carolina, U.S. We've got long, brutal summers. Everything I wear is mesh or ballistic nylon with CE in all the important parts: elbows, shoulders, back and knees.

The gloves have hard knuckles and my boots are full length, perforated leather.

I wear this stuff year round here. 100 degrees F plus in the summer. I layer jackets and pants and such underneath my gear in the winter. I'm good to down to about 36 degrees F. Any colder than that, and it's too cold for my 30 minute commute.

I use CycleGear's Heat Out leggings and boot inserts in the winter, and Cold Out shirt in the Summer. They're surprisingly effective and nearly always on sale at half price.

The best cold-weather investment I've made is some heated gloves. They allow me to ride about ten degrees colder than I used to, even with winter-weight leather gauntlets, and I get home with warm hands, which I didn't use to.

They're Hotwired brand, once again from CycleGear, and of course I got them on sale.

You're on the the right track. I spent a few years building up my gear. My last big purchase was my Shoei helmet. I had another helmet beforehand, naturally, but the Shoei was kind of the crown to the achievement of full gear.

I never get on the bike unless I'm ATGATT. Accidents are just that. If we could predict them, they wouldn't happen.

 

[ksanbon]

I can't imagine many things worse than being hit by a vehicle weighing over 2000 pounds...
You might want to consider hi-vis colors or patterns too. Personally, I favor yellow & neon-green. In the past 5 years, I've only had one close call w/ a driver who was looking in my general direction while wearing those colors. Red hasn't done as well for me, although I haven't tried it combined w/ black & white in bold patterns.

Here are some links for deals from clothing sources that have served me well
Closeouts > Leather Suits, Jackets, and Pants :: MotorcycleGear.com
http://www.motorcyclegear.com/street/closeouts/textile_jackets_and_pants/
Closeouts > Mesh Jackets and Pants :: MotorcycleGear.com
Motorcycle Jackets On Sale - Discount Motorcycle Jackets - RevZilla
Mens Motorcycle Jackets, Womens Motorcycle Jackets, Discount Motorcycle Riding Jackets - Compacc
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...#&&SearchParameters=7-0-0-0-0-1-24-3-6_3-11_1