Leather equipment and rain

spock

spock

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hello mates

currently I wear textile tourmaster jacket and pants, but of course leather has always crossed my mind and specially alpine stars jeje

since I don't have any experience at all with leather equipment I wonder how does it behave under rain, is the leather waterproof?

The problem I have is that due to the tropical climate here in my country we can't be sure when is going to rain, we can take the bikes under nice sun and suddenly after 150kms (93 miles) once we reach an higher place it can suddenly start raining, then stops, the restarts and so on, and being putting on and taking off a waterproof oversuit is not practical at all, and it doesn't look cool actually :D

I really appreciate your comments with this topic

Cheers from Colombia
 
I prefer to wear leathers, one piece, vented leather racing suit in summer for the majority of my rides, and a lined, with removalable quilted liner, in the jacket at least, 2 piece leather suit in winter in our reasonably mild climate in south Australia...

Only on very rare occasions do I wear dedicated wet weather riding gear, and have been caught in light to medium showers without too many issues.

I find that if I regularly "wax" my leathers with lanoline, saddle soap, or even a very thin coating of Vaseline, my leathers stay nice and supple, and reasonably waterproof, via the waxy layer provided by these sort of products, repels anything from light to medium showers pretty well...well enough not to ruin my ride.
 
Thanks wolf for your answer, pretty nice advices regarding leather care

so I deduce from you comments that in a downpour anyway some wate will enter :D

Actually from the safety point of view I think we should use it as well in the rain, there are more chances of a crash in those situations: less visibility, sudden muddy conditions, cages drivers even less aware of us, slippery surfaces that make us lose control, etc
 
I have ridden 400km plus in torrential rain wearing leather and arrived home tired and damp but in one piece. I haven't ever treated my gear with anything and it remains good looking and supple, just hanging it up to dry works.

I tried to buy a rain suit but couldn't find anything that would go over the armour in the sleeves of my jacket.
 
Remember, leather will weaken when it gets wet. Their tear and abrasian strenghth gradually gets reduced over time.

Textile will not offer as good as protection as leather, but it's strength and resistant to abrasions isn't effected when it gets wet.

Kevlar, their tear and abrasion strength will remain the same regardless how many times it gets wet or even washed. And it's even stronger than leather. But it's damn expensive. I'm sold on kevlar, I have kevlar gloves and air mesh kevlar pants from motoport.
 
Saddle soap and/or nikwax or other similiar products will keep your leather in good shape. My leather jacket is going on 8 years and looks the same as when I bought it. It takes alot to soak a good set of leathers. I have both leather and tex. I like the tex in really warm weather. Leather keeps the chill out better.
 
:thumbup:
OMG_WTF said:
Use NikWax Leather Restorer to add water-repellent[/url]
Click to expand...

I have textile and leather gear. I maintain my leathers with NikWax to. Here in Ireland we have very heavy rain. I have not had any problems with regards to getting wet. I don't know if different hides have better repellent qualities over each other? I also find my leathers to be warmer.

Nelly
 
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