Upper Body Armour - Shirt - Full. Troy lee or Leatt

[R120]

This is the one I have

Leatt

Protective Neck Braces, Body Armour & Sports Gear

www.leatt.com

After you put it on (as with many similar protectors) your body heat warms it up and it conforms to your body - obviously the hardshell protectors dont so this.

 

[carlbiker]

This is the one I have

Leatt

Protective Neck Braces, Body Armour & Sports Gear

www.leatt.com

After you put it on (as with many similar protectors) your body heat warms it up and it conforms to your body - obviously the hardshell protectors dont so this.

Any reason for not the shoulder version?

 

[Zimmerframe]

I think Zimmers reviews are good but he is clearly looking for ultimate protection given his crash/injury record.

Lies it's all lies ..

That was originally my criteria. I failed. So I've decided instead to crash less which makes it a lot easier to find and choose armour.

I will still crash, we all might crash .. it normally happens when you don't expect it. Sometimes it's stupidly slow when a bunny hop goes wrong, sometimes its stupidly fast and you have no idea what went wrong..

All armour is a compromise and we're all different in what we ultimately want from it, what protection we think is important, what body parts we want to protect and to what level. Gary for instance doesn't wear a helmet often, but wears a titanium box ....

Ideally, you want to wear it for every ride. If you find yourself thinking "Should I wear my armour today" - you have the wrong armour for you.

On the leatt front, I'm probably overly harsh in how I judge it, mainly because of how they describe and sell it. I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of the Leatt Impact shorts when they turned up, but I now wear them on every ride - even though they offer less protection than anything else I have. Purely because they're comfortable, cool and still offer some good protection.

I have the Airfit, Airfit light and the Airfit hybrid. They're all nicely made (not a fan of leatt's choice of zips despite them saying they've improved them) Easy to put on, easy to take off. All using the same none central zip as a motion or forcefield so you can have decent not split chest protection. They all fit well, are generally comfortable and the protection is there in the basic places. I just don't find any of them really excel in anyway. The airfit light is my favourite amongst them. It's the lightest, the coolest and offers good basic protection without any bulk/weight/restrictiveness. The hybrid is my least favourite, mainly because it fails to deliver on what it claims to offer. It's also the most restrictive/least freely moving. The elbows are good, but not excellent, the shoulders are good, but lack area of coverage.

The motion 2 top I just find to be the most comfortable and at the same time it offers excellent back and shoulder protection.

The forcefield is a bit of a freak of nature .. it's only 200g heavier than the motion 2 - the same as an airfit light - and yet offers (exceeds by a margin) CE2 back, chest, shoulders, elbows .. I need a few more weeks in it really to get a better idea of it long term.

 

[carlosaberto22]

I spent days researching for a body protector, liked the look of the Troy Lee one but looked a pain to get off, almost went for the leatt lite but was worried it would be to much to wear all the time. Ended up having the Leatt body stealth version and I’m well impressed with it. It’s really good quality, feels great on and doesn’t get hot at all due to being really thin a light. It’s skin tight but the zip makes it easy to get off and on.

Not fell off yet but it feels like it will do a good job protecting back and arms. It’s not got the protection as the lite or full version but no point having that sort of protection if your going to leave it at home on hot days. The stealth version can be warn all the time in any weather and you forget it’s on.

 

[Stretch40]

Hi all I'm sooo happy I found this 2 weeks ago I had my first big off and seperated my shoulder grade 3 apparently so while I wait to heal I'm after some suggestions my mate has leatt 3d airfit I think I'm sure this would have possibly saved my shoulder and pain (it hurts when your 42 and fall off lol ) did pb on Strava that day aswell bugger so what are people going for short sleeve or long ? Thanks

 

[R120]

Any reason for not the shoulder version?

Yes, I just dont like wearing them! Well to expand I find that due to my body shape anything that offers extended coverage beyond the back doest fit very well - I am a not big of chest/broad shouldered and as such anything which has integrated arms or shoulders tends to mover around too much, unless I size down, meaning the back protector is too tight.

I prefer to use individual bits of armour than an all in one, most rides I wear the back protector, knee pads, and I also have a couple of these which have built in hip pads (the biggest off I have had in the last few years nearly resulted in a fractured hip, and still gives me jip 12 months later, so I always where hip pads - I like these because they are built into a bib short eating they stay in lace and are very comfy to ride in.)

7 Protection - Hydro Bib Short

7 Protection (7iDP) - The Hydro Bib short combines hip padding, a chamois liner pad and four pockets to stash food and tools in.

7protection.com

 

[Zimmerframe]

Hi all I'm sooo happy I found this 2 weeks ago I had my first big off and seperated my shoulder grade 3 apparently so while I wait to heal I'm after some suggestions my mate has leatt 3d airfit I think I'm sure this would have possibly saved my shoulder and pain

I think everything mentioned in the thread is good . It's almost like buying an EMTB .. most are good .. some are better for some people.

I was armoured for my latest big off. Keep in mind it doesn't make you invulnerable, it just reduces how bad things could be and hopefully for most offs, it stops you having any problems.

If you can try things on, that will help you decide. We're all different in what we like and want.

 

[Mikerb]

I chose the short sleeve Airfit lite. The long sleeved version adds an elbow pad and a bicep pad but I find it better to just use elbow pads separately if needed...and I rarely use them.

 

[Hamina]

Dainese Rhyolite 2 Safety Jacket - Out of Stock | Tredz Bikes

Dainese Rhyolite 2 Safety Jacket. Out of Stock. All Body Armour are delivered free to the UK mainland*, 365 day returns & Price Match.

www.tredz.co.uk

Any thoughts on Dainese Rhyolite 2? My feeling is that they have quite a long history producing motorcycle riding and safety equipment and at least there the quality was very good.

 

[carlbiker]

Any thoughts on Dainese Rhyolite 2? My feeling is that they have quite a long history producing motorcycle riding and safety equipment and at least there the quality was very good.

Looks sweaty to me…..even my knox urbane pro makes me sweat but it’s as good as ventilation gets, I literally wear just the top on it’s own these days as it’s too hot otherwise, the fabric is abrasive resistant and on the whole quite meshy in design so I tend to start with a shirt over it but in 15 mins I’m back down to just the top!

The only issue is it’s quite heavy and I’d prefer something lighter on hot days but it’s the best one I’ve tried so far tbh……if I end up buying an Orbea rise I’ll have to find something else I think

 

[Hamina]

Looks sweaty to me…..even my knox urbane pro makes me sweat but it’s as good as ventilation gets, I literally wear just the top on it’s own these days as it’s too hot otherwise, the fabric is abrasive resistant and on the whole quite meshy in design so I tend to start with a shirt over it but in 15 mins I’m back down to just the top!

The only issue is it’s quite heavy and I’d prefer something lighter on hot days but it’s the best one I’ve tried so far tbh……if I end up buying an Orbea rise I’ll have to find something else I think

Maybe there's something one can't see from the pictures but the Knox Urbane Pro MK2 looks like a fully closed windproof jacket.

I was thinking the Rhyolite for a little downhill riding with elevator lifting and for the dark, slippery and chilly autumn rides in the forest.

 

[carlbiker]

Maybe there's something one can't see from the pictures but the Knox Urbane Pro MK2 looks like a fully closed windproof jacket.

I was thinking the Rhyolite for a little downhill riding with elevator lifting and for the dark, slippery and chilly autumn rides in the forest.

as you can see it’s very ventilated. This is number 1 for me as if it’s hot then your own air conditioning kicks in leaving you getting dehydrated and more prone to mistakes which is kind of ironic I think…..

I also have the urbane action which is lighter, I thought I’d used for summer instead but it doesn’t have the same ventilation so I’m currently considering other options.

you can also add a chest protector to this which is pretty neat but then restricts ventilation abit so it’s a toss up, you could carry it with you in a bag and easily switch it in/out

 

[Zimmerframe]

Doesn't really help anyone, but I've been using the tld7855 more again lately instead of the Racer. OK, it's not perfect (no armour is), but I'm starting to think it might be cooler than the racer whilst offering way more protection. I've been running the racer with the arms zipped off, so you just have shoulders and back basically. The foam chest is pretty pointless I think and contributes to it being warmer + the 7855 material just seems to vent better. But then this year we're not really getting mega temperatures here, so it might be when it's really hot I'll find the Racer feels cooler again.

Dainese Rhyolite 2

Always like the look of this, but never bought it to try. Once you start looking around it seems to have too many bad reviews on fit, armour moving around, poor zips, armour falling off.

For example :

Link to amazon reviews - might have to translate

As @carlbiker says, it looks hot too.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

Update on my post from 2019

Upper Body Armour - Shirt - Full. Troy lee or Leatt

For @tedturbine 's suggested UFO Ultralite 2.0 with the 10 year reactive armour : 30% off at £105 with another 10% off if you subscribe to their newsletter ... UFO Ultralight 2.0 Bodyguard Protector Shirt - buy cheap ▷ FC-Moto Must be bargain of the day for a full upper body armour with...

www.emtbforums.com

My Troy Lee TDL7855 with a few inserted mods is still working fine for me and has more than lasted the test of time. 8 years of ownership now and a few recent falls and it is still going strong.
Please note: I wear this armour on every single ride I do and cover about 3-4000km every year.

The only thing to be aware of is the sizing. The fit is quite small so if you are a large I would suggest XL or even XXL. I am 72kgs with a 104cm / 41 inch chest and a Large is a good fit for me and I normally take a small/ medium on everything else.

 

[Hamina]

Always like the look of this, but never bought it to try. Once you start looking around it seems to have too many bad reviews on fit, armour moving around, poor zips, armour falling off.

For example :
Link to amazon reviews - might have to translate

Yes there pros and cons and the reviews raise a bit ambivalent(?) feelings. It's always a risk to buy protection without really testing it. Mainly the Dainese quality has been good in motorcycle equipment.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Yes there pros and cons and the reviews raise a bit ambivalent(?) feelings. It's always a risk to buy protection without really testing it. Mainly the Dainese quality has been good in motorcycle equipment.

Agreed. It's always difficult to read between the lines. For motorcycle protection I always used Dainese and Alpinestars. For MTB I tried several of the Alpinestars pieces with high hopes, but found them all to be too hot or with design faults which made them uncomfortable against the skin. I haven't tried any of the Dianese range. I liked the look of the body protection, the elbow protection, the knee protection - but eventually decided against them based on reviews.

 

[Hamina]

Well I might have just bought one. It's been on -30% sale at their site for some reason. Might need to return it if the measures don't match. We'll see..

 

[Hamina]

Well I might have just bought one. It's been on -30% sale at their site for some reason. Might need to return it if the measures don't match. We'll see..

Tested and will return. I think I was waiting something heavier. It could be good for trail riding. The design is quite nice though. The distance between elbow and shoulder pads was also just a bit too long and size smaller would have make the chest part too small I guess.

My "problem" is that I already have Evoc Enduro 16L backpack with quite decent and long back protector. I also have Dainese motorcycle back protector which is also quite sturdy. The backprotector in Rhyolite was a bit short compared to the existing ones. It feels a bit complicated to decide what could be the best combo with current backpack. The backprotector is removable in the Evoc but doesn't make sense to replace it with shorter one in the protector jacket.

I also ordered the Dainese E1 protector shorts in size XL but with approx 35-36" waist and there was zero possibility to even get them on. Unbelievable! Could have been good considering the protective pads.

 

[Zimmerframe]

My "problem" is that I already have Evoc Enduro 16L backpack with quite decent and long back protector.

Have you thought about something like a Leatt Roost Tee ? It has no back armour so would go well with your Evoc without wasting money having to remove or cut out back armour you don't want.

The protection doesn't look "significant" but more than none and probably good when it's warm. No elbows though, so you'd need them separately.

Roost Tee 2018 t-shirt protection | ROSE Bikes

Le LEATT Roost Tee 2018 est un t-shirt de protection très léger et res

www.rosebikes.fr

On offer at alltricks :

Maillot de Protection LEATT Roost Noir à partir de 75,00 € au lieu de 100,00 €

Retrouvez un large choix de produits sur www.alltricks.fr

www.alltricks.fr

Doesn't get great reviews though - so maybe something similar ...