need one piece race suit

[area51junkie]

hey where's the best place to buy a race suit ....and whats the best suit to purchase in your experienced opinion.......do any of the T,O. bike shows sell this stuff ....or any stores that really support the sport......any imfo is great ......oh yah I'm 5'7" and 180lbs I ve been weight lifting for years so I don't have a big GUT or anything but if one suit fits someone thats not built like stoner/pedrosa I just find that sometimes shoulders and arms can be very resticktive

[DeAd-EyE]

Suits of Repute:

High-End:
- Spidi (even has a built-in airbag as an option...expect to spend around $2 Grand for that one).
- Dainese
- Held (Generally excellent reputation built on their gloves which come from exotic materials like kangaroo and stingray hide. Assuming some of this knowhow translated into their suits).

Normal End?
- Alpinestar
- Berik (i haz one. Other's have slid in it and report it holding up well).
- Joe Rocket?


Stores That Have treated me well:
- Bluestreak Racing (Should be able to order in some gear for you and deals with Spidi).
- GP Bikes (Alpinestars and just about everything else).
- Rider's Choice (Carry's the full Dainese range and other high-end kit).
- Corsa Meccanicca (George can order in anything from Held)

[reciprocity]

According to the people who have to repair suits when they crash, the best brand available right now is Spyke.

for the money, you can't go wrong with one.

They are available from Sturgess cycle in in Hamilton.

[Mr.Azim]

Send a message to HawkEye311 or Sunny... they run Tracksidecuts and often have used/repaired suits for sale. Highly recommended. They'll be able to size you up properly and make adjustments to the leathers if needed.

I have a Spidi suits but you don't need the airbag option.... they can range in price, the better suits of the brand starting around $1,200 or much less if you can find a used one/spare suit someone is selling... I've had 3 good crashes in it and haven't had to repair anything.

[john bickle]

hey where's the best place to buy a race suit ....and whats the best suit to purchase in your experienced opinion.......do any of the T,O. bike shows sell this stuff ....or any stores that really support the sport......any imfo is great ......oh yah I'm 5'7" and 180lbs I ve been weight lifting for years so I don't have a big GUT or anything but if one suit fits someone thats not built like stoner/pedrosa I just find that sometimes shoulders and arms can be very resticktive

Well, The best place to buy a suit is where you can get one that fits. In a perfect world as was mentioned,,Spyke is a great suit. I would expect from the weight lifting comment you will have issues. So make sure you take a back protector and exactly what you plan to wear under the suit with you. Put the suit on with the back protector and sit on a bike.As you lean forward for the bars the back will tighten up. So give it a few minutes and see if it relaxes a bit.
And when you say 5-7", 180 pounds,,,, that means nothing all suits fit different. The fact you work out is going to be the problem. You may need a bigger suit size shoulder wise and then it will be too long.
Used,,,well considering that the hardest thing on suits today becasue they are mostly made with 1.2 to 1.3 leather is UV rays and sweat! So all leathers less Vanson have a shorter life span. Vanson are old school and heavy but take a beating. So beware when going the used route. Sometimes today it's not as good of option. As far as altering,,,well been doing this about 30 years now and most suits today are near impossible to alter becasue of the stretch panels. Some suits can be altered but if it's in the shoulder arm area does take some thought.
So you probably will need custom becasue of your size. But that is not as scarry as it use to be and a great suit can be had for the $1000 area and ,,,,it fits!

[kneedragger88]

Thought I would chime in as a well "off size" guy thats road tested many a suit as Mr Bickle can attest. I had a Spyke that didnt stand up for crap. Every time I crashed it it ripped and Bic had to fix it and I had some rash. Had a custom IM suit that hit the ground well into double digit times some well over 80mph it was indestructible but Ivan takes forever, it weighed a ton, didnt breathe at all and had a liner made of crazy glue. Had a top line Teknic it was solid and I was told lower end stuff not as good. Had a Gerike suit also good stuff but pricey. Have a Rocket suit now, been down a few times seems solid. Wouldnt have touched them before but seem ok now.
Thats my 2 cents and unlike many who have opinions I have never owned a suit I havent crashed some many many times. Buy quality and buy what fits.

[IheartROSSI]

Thought I'd chime as well here, speaking from A LOT of crashing experience and some at very high speeds, SPYKE has ALWAYS held up very very well for me!!!! My last suit went through about 7 or 8 crashes and is still usable and in one piece. I do not have a mark on my body anywhere because of these wicked awesome suits!! I'm not gonna say anything bad against any other brand specifically, but i've tried a couple others that didn't hold up at all after one crash. Once I switched to SPYKE I was sold and will never trust anything else on my body but them!! They are on the higher end of the price range but whats your body worth to you? Sturgess Cycle in Hamilton is the place to get a great deal on these suits!

P.S. I'm 6'0 and about 230-240lbs, so i hit the ground hard and put suits through a crazy test when i crash!!
P.P.S. I do have a good sized gut but also very broad shoulders (think of a weight lifter that let himself go for a year) and it fit me great in the shoulders.


Aaron Kennedy AM#12

[area51junkie]

thanks everyone for all the help this forum is fantastic!! I hope my experience with SOAR is this positive this summer..

[area51junkie]

oh and I had a bad experience about 5 yrs ago with a custom IM suit....got it just after jan 1 and when the first time I tried it in the spring came around I found that in race tuk position the shoulders had so much padding and and not cut right that it all bunch up and I could hardly turn my head....the legs also had a lot of bunch up behind the knees that made it very cramped and the forearms and legs had no stretch panels on the in side ....it was very bulky and seemed to be cut for fashion not ergonomics......it was very thick leather but all it has done is hang in a closet.....so Im a little shy of custom I know it should be better right?

[omnivore]

If you have a good quality suit already, why would you just hang it up in the closet? Didn't you buy a custom sized suit? Have it custom sized then.. I would take it back to Ivan for alteration. He isn't new to the scene. Canada's top roadracers have been wearing his suits for yrs....so I am surprised it wouldn't fit in full tuck. I would ride there wearing it so he can come outside and see you on the bike, with it on, and then he can see where the alterations need to be done.
Have him fix it. That's the point of a custom suit....the fitment. That's what you're really buying....a CUSTOM size just for you.

[eastcoast_gsx]

According to the people who have to repair suits when they crash, the best brand available right now is Spyke.

for the money, you can't go wrong with one.

They are available from Sturgess cycle in in Hamilton.

I love my spyke. It loved me in Nova Scotia as well. Barely a scratch on it.

Call Sturgess, they will help.

[john bickle]

oh and I had a bad experience about 5 yrs ago with a custom IM suit....got it just after jan 1 and when the first time I tried it in the spring came around I found that in race tuk position the shoulders had so much padding and and not cut right that it all bunch up and I could hardly turn my head....the legs also had a lot of bunch up behind the knees that made it very cramped and the forearms and legs had no stretch panels on the in side ....it was very bulky and seemed to be cut for fashion not ergonomics......it was very thick leather but all it has done is hang in a closet.....so Im a little shy of custom I know it should be better right?

Ivan cuts his suits primarily for flat track.I had one as well. It's a more upright riding style. Good stuff ,bullet proof but hard to tuck up, that also is a result of the heavier leather he uses. We could try to swap the armour for a better fit. Some of his armour is good but thick and high up onto the shoulders. The back of leg can be cleaned up with material. Some issues can be fixed. If you want, email me and we can try to salvage it so you can ride in it.

[area51junkie]

hey john can that spandex type of material be put in the inside of the arms and back of the knee/calf area and if the bulk can come out of the shoulders I don't even mind not having cups there ,....hell I don't care if I can't put my arms down when I'm off the bike LOL........the suit is very nice and very heavy leather Wayne

[forexman]

If a Custom suit is in order, I would suggest you try out Ivan in Hamilton. Everyone says he takes forever, but 2 summers ago he had my suit completed in 3 weeks which is awesome for a custom suit. Catch him early in the season or now and have yourself a solid well built suit in no time.

Velocity also does custom suits and have sales from time to time... don't know how well they stand up to a crash... but lots of guys & gals have taken advantage of the deals Jimmy offers on group buys and if you can wait a few weeks you may get one cheaper.

Good luck with your suit hunting.