When I just started out with all this adventure riding thing, I wasn’t sure what kind of gear to pick, all I knew was that sports bike leathers won’t do the trick anymore, mainly because of a lack of ventilation and RST Adventure set with all the vents, pockets, cordura outer layer and inner warm layer, looked like a good choice to me at the time.
The only thing I couldn’t wrap my head around was why a waterproof layer is fitted inside? But that didn’t bother me much, as after a few rainy rides I realised that the RST Adventure jacket, and trousers, are water proof enough even without that “waterproof layer”!
In general I was pretty much very happy about it, till I went on a longer, multi day trip to Italy. After 2 days of non-stop rain, my gear was soaked… Like soaked, soaked to the last thread… heavy, and pretty much unusable anymore because all the layers kept sticking to the skin! Cold, wet and with sores on the neck (from the wet collar rubbing against the skin), I had to look for something a little bit more waterproof, and a little bit more windproof – if I wanted to carry on with my trip…
Now, after more than 5 years of ownership of this particular set, I’m still happy about it, but I no longer use it for adventure riding, only for commuting to work and short “bike test” trips, where I know that I will have to kneel and crawl around the bike (looking for oil leaks, or something silly like that). I do wear a separate waterproof layer on top though.
Super hard wearing set – Must admit that! After many many offs, kneeling and rubbing my knee everywhere to check the bike over on all sorts of terrains, and still I haven’t worn a hole in them, the only thing that fell apart – velcro on the trousers (nothing good old school thread and needle couldn’t sort thought!) and seems like the jacket started to shrink after many many washes (probably my fault, as I have no idea what those washing labels mean anyway..)
It’s a brilliant kit for touring though, plenty of ventilation all around, plenty of pockets, dries out fairly quickly, but I wouldn’t rely too much on its waterproof layer and I would use an additional waterproof layer on top when weather turns south.
Added bonus is that the jacket has an integrated pocket for hydration bladder, some weird strap at the back that can be connected to the front of the jacket (not sure what’s the real purpose of it, but after few tries I found that its stops winds going under the jacket really well) and pretty awesome detachable pocket at the back! Standard armour also did a pretty good job, and covered all the right places when I needed it to!
So to sum it up, Its just to get my word out about RST Adventure Jacket / Trousers kit and alike as this one that i had (Still have!) was/is still a very good kit for the price, but not very suitable for adventure riding without additional stuff. It delivered a lot more than I have ever expected, and it was good for riding all year round too – at least here in the UK where we have no normal winters. During rides with temperatures of 5 Celsius and below – can be a bit chilly, and more layers are needed!
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