The longer most rider’s gear is worn, the better it seems to get. Up to a point. Everything eventually wears out.
I bond with a new Aerostich suit after about three months of regular use. If I’m able to wear one for several years, I’m unhappy having to break in a new one to try out some small prototype design feature.
There are more 'teched-out' products in the world today than ever, and there’s also an appealing backlash against overdosing on tech. Witness the renewed popularity of traditional selvage jeans and flannel shirts. Even with the most highly engineered technical protective clothing, simplicity can be a feature, not a bug.
Over forty years ago, the first Roadcrafter suits seemed incredibly complicated and high-tech compared with classic denim jeans and riding leathers. They were. Aerostich’s recipe combining Cordura and Gore-Tex fabrics, Scotchlight reflectives, Velcro hook-and-loop, and even YKK’s highly engineered Delrin zippers created an entirely new type of gear. A rider’s lightweight water-resistant highly protective coverall.
Many laughed at them, but as years passed and the Aerostich rider’s gear recipe became increasingly adopted by businesses intending to improve it, many more riders came to appreciate the intentional simplicity of their Roadcrafters and Darien's. Simplicity has always been -- and remains -- a key Aerostich feature.
More than a few Aerostich customers have now worn out their old Roadcrafters and then tried something else, only to discover some elaborate 'tech' is for styling and marketing that works best in cad-cam design programs and ad agency photo studios but not out on the road in day-to-day use.
Tailfins were added to most cars during the 1950s because they helped sell more of them, but they didn’t do anything to improve automotive function, durability, comfort, or performance. Decorative stitching was added to the pockets of denim pants during the 1980s and this sold a lot of designer jeans but did not improve the value, function, or comfort of basic jeans. Eventually, those popular fashions declined.
Sometimes there’s an actual backlash, and such large trends are usually viewed as having been a bit silly and harmless -- after they pass. Fashions come and go.
The Roadcrafter suit has always represented our best effort to solve, as simply as possible, the timeless problems experienced by motorcycling commuters and high-mile riders: Comfort, convenience, safety, protection, and durability. An Aerostich suit is a simple coverall made for riding more. That’s all.
Small nuances matter. Hidden inside every Roadcrafter sewn during the last fifteen years, there’s a short strip of Velcro hook and loop located behind the left 'hand warmer' pocket. It’s there to help seal a small gasketed wire port that is even further up inside the corner of that pocket and to help capture a short jumper wire that can be pre-positioned there to make using electric gear easier. A Roadcrafter-wearing Aerostich customer named Steve Hall suggested this refinement, so it became known as the ‘Hall Pass’. Without it, using electric gear inside a coverall is harder. Not impossible, but a lot more cumbersome.
A small, simple solution. One of many.
-- Mr. Subjective
PS - A Personal Story: Armored Coverall Basics
Last Dec 19th, 2023, at 8:15 AM, a customer named David emailed me this: “So it appears that (brand XXX) has "stolen" your one-piece design with some changes made to it. Sure looks a lot like your one long zipper design ? Perhaps (brand XXX) convinced (another brand YYY) to only sell to them now ? I hate when someone steals a good idea from the inventor ?
Dave”
I replied:
Thanks Dave,
Yes they have made a copy of our innovative armored coverall. They are not the first, either. Hopefully this will be viewed by many riders as further testimony to the value and utility of wearing armored textile coveralls for riding motorcycles. Especially in short-hop applications like urban commuting and daily errand riding, etc.
For many riders, the largest disincentive to dressing this way is you don’t feel as cool as you do when you are wearing more traditional and conventional gear. Walking through a grocery store in an armored coverall you get a lot more looks than you do if you are wearing a leather or nylon jacket over denim pants. It would be nice if this way of dressing to ride became more widely accepted as ’normal’.
As an individual rider, I’ve been wearing these coveralls (Roadcrafter, R-3) for so long I no longer am troubled by both knock-offs or the funny looks people give me when I’m wearing one. It’s occasionally even amusing if someone asks what I’m wearing, or if I’m riding a motorcycle as I stand in a grocery check out line holding a motorcycle helmet in one hand. I wear my R-3 mainly because without this suit I’d feel less safe and less comfortable, and would be riding a lot less. So it’s worth it for me and other one piece suit buyers. But most riders don’t prioritize frequency-of-riding in all weathers as much as I do, so they don’t think armored coveralls are such a cool way to dress.
Andy
Audio Version (6:59), reader: Mr. Subjective
My only regret in buying my Aerostich riding gear is that I very unlikely to live long enough to need a replacement, As for Doug who complained that he needed a new suit “after loosing weight and needing a smaller suit,” I say “shame on you for making me feel even lazier.”
I’ve owned a two-piece Roadcrafter since 1997. For a long time I zipped the two pieces together and wore it as a one-piece coverall. Yeah, it looked a bit dorky. My response was to walk into places and pretend to be from the CDC, making remarks like “nothing to worry about folks, we’ve got the outbreak contained; just boil your water for the next couple days.”
My new right hip in 2018 pretty much put an end to that. I can no longer lift my foot quite high enough to slip it through the right leg of the pants, so now I put on the two pieces separately.
The original jacket was pretty sad-looking by about 2019: frayed, patched, on its fourth or fifth zippers in some places, the ballistic patches faded from black to translucent silver-gray, and the fabric bubbling up in places (Cordura separating from Gore-Tex?). Still, that June it kept me dry on a ten-day trip to Deals Gap that included eight days of build-an-ark, streams-running-across-the-road, four-feet-of-water-in-the-parking-lot rain. Can’t complain about that! And thanks to the rain, I had the Dragon pretty much to myself!
I finally bought a new jacket in 2020, on a “10% off all in-stock suits” sale. It’s now got about 50,000 miles on it (I figure the first one went about 250-300,000 in 23 years). Still on the original pants, as I tend not to wear them as much. Still haven’t crash-tested the suit (been too careful and/or lucky), but I will say it is the bestest, most comfortable all-weather gear I have owned in my near 50 years of motorcycle riding. And, when I think of how much I spent on leather jackets (which cracked in the sun and got waterlogged in the rain) and rubber rainsuits (which always seemed to be cracked and leaky when the rain started) before I was introduced to Aerostich, I think my Roadcrafter’s a bargain. Quality usually is.
I bought my two-piece R3 in 2001. I still use it although it’s taken a beating in two road riding crashes and a few encounters with hot exhaust pipes. Its scuff marks and frayed contact points from pavement impact remind me to ride smart. If I’m riding any of my motorcycles, you’ll see me wearing my Roadcrafter. It’s been part of my riding gear for 23 years and over 70,000 miles.
I have a one-piece Roadcrafter purchased a few years ago. While it’s a wonderful piece of equipment, for women it’s a little more cumbersome at “comfort stops” because you have to get completely out of it, and then completely back into it. So while keeping it for more extreme riding conditions (where it’s worth the hassle), I decided to take advantage of the recent sale to add a Roadcrafter jacket to my riding gear. I already have a good pair of armored pants by another company, so my first thought was to get the matching jacket. So I went to a big motorcycle shop and tried on EVERY JACKET they had… as well as every other ladies jacket in every brand the store carried. None seemed as well made or protective as ‘Stitch…. so I bought the jacket. Even the super high end “other” brands don’t hold a candle to Stitch!!! Final note: I didn’t realize how broken in my one-piece Roadcrafter suit is until I got the brand new Roadcrafter jacket! Thank you for making such a Superior (pun intended) product!!!
And… there’s Andy.
Many retailers offer a selection in their products; some few manufacturers (primarily industrial) build in quality; fewer still are passionate about their products.
Mr. Subjective is all that, and a great writer.
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