Living in Victoria, and especially in the Macedon Ranges, provides a good indication if your winter wet-weather gear is up-to-scratch, both at keeping out the rain, and at the same time keeping you warm. In the last three years I have lost count of the number of frosty mornings I have ridden in, although the ones where I have reached my destination with a layer of ice (and in one case, snow) on all forward-facing exposed surfaces stay with me, as sources of proof to others that I am completely insane.
As you know, most Gore-Tex-lined suits provide the waterproof Gore-Tex layer as a separate inner liner within a Cordura outer shell which supplies the abrasion resistance. This is required because Gore-Tex is inherently quite fragile and, as I have found by personal experience, people in a hurry can put a foot right through it. As it also requires special equipment to weld the seams watertight it is not repairable, and you then have the onerous task of throwing out a $560 pair of pants, then explaining to your wife exactly what you have done, and that you now need another pair. Please.
What makes Tiger Angel unique is that they use a three-layer laminate of Cordura, Gore-Tex and a Fabric Sport-X liner. As the Gore-Tex is part of the outside layer, the material is extremely durable as there is now no fragile inner liner. As a bonus it's also machine-washable and, if you remove the body armour, it can be dried in a tumble drier. Unlike 99% of motorcycling gear nowadays, the product is made in West Melbourne, so you're also supporting a local industry.
Anyway, how does it all work, and more importantly, is it worth the money?
The short answer is simply and effectively, and yes.
The long, and much more verbose answer, is as follows:
The Jacket.
The jacket comes in four standard color combinations, red/black, orange/black, yellow/black and blue/black, although if you opt for a custom-made jacket, there are many more combinations available.
I picked the orange/black for visibility in winter, it's actually more of a very bright red, and I thought it wouldn't be as hard to keep clean as the yellow.
Here’s mine modeled by Ros, and a chair.
I used to wear a 200-weight polar fleece crew-neck jumper with my Dainese jacket, even with its winter liner installed. As a result, I looked like the Michelin man on a bad day. The Element jacket comes standard with a (I'm guessing) 300-weight polar fleece liner, which attaches to the jacket by narrow-gauge zips on both sides, a mating pair of press-studs in both sleeves, and a small tab of Velcro at the neck. I've found that riding in temperatures close to zero I only need to wear a thermal long-sleeved undergarment on top of my short-sleeved work shirt to stay comfortable. Anything above 8 or 9 degrees and it's fine just with the jacket and the shirt. The rear bottom of the liner is loose, so care needs to be taken when putting the jacket on, as the liner will ride up your back and lodge somewhere near your shoulder blades, where it's a bugger to pull down.
There are two external hip pockets, which I would think aren't 100% waterproof as they are just covered with a long flap, however I haven't managed to get water in them yet. There is a waterproof pocket under a flap in the right-hand chest area on the outside of the jacket, and another inside the right-hand overlap and directly under the outside chest pocket. Strategic points on the shoulders and elbows are lined with 1000D ballistic nylon, and there is cross-linked foam armour in the typical impact points in the elbows and shoulders, and a large removable foam back armour pad with a waffle-textured inside.
Shoulder and elbow reinforcement and waterproof pockets.
The jacket is fastened with a very chunky good quality zip that fastens all the way to the neck. The overlap is quite clever with a sown 'gutter' on the inside which funnels any water that gets that far down and out. The first 200mm of the jacket from the bottom is fastened by Velcro, followed by three press-studs, then there is a Velcro strap that fastens the neck as tight as you can handle to keep rain going down your neck. The rear of the neck is lined with a thin neoprene-type material and the fleece liner sits below this. As I found out last week, the result is a pretty good seal, I have since ridden in rain and wind hard enough to get inside my helmet, but none got down my neck.
There are long zips on both sleeves so you can get your winter gloves within the sleeves and they don't fill up with water, further tightening can be achieved with press-studs. I have found my summer gloves fit perfectly and the zips do all the way up, but the Dririder Extreme pair I use a this time of year only lets the zips do up about 2/3 of the way. No great issue, the inside of the zip area is lined and no water gets in anyway. There's reflective piping on the back and both arms, and reflective logos on the back and both sleeves (see photos). Normal jacket adjustments are done with a waist belt and an elasticated drawstring around the bottom.
Detail of the fleece liner and its zip, and the sleeve zip.
Sleeve press-stud adjustment.
As I had the suit custom-made I opted for the jacket and pants to mate together with a short zip about 400mm long. I've had mixed results with this zip as the polar fleece liner bunches above it and as my arms aren't triple-jointed it can be an absolute pain to do up. I've since learnt the trick, but the first week saw me doing the zip up while the suit was off and climbing into it. It does hold the back of the jacket down at speed, so it is worth considering if you go this route.
Jacket tail showing zip fastening for pants.
The Pants
The pants come in any colour as long as it's black. If that was good enough for Henry Ford, then it'll do me. The Tiger Angel guys do manage to break up the black by making the various gussets in the contrasting jacket colour, which is something Henry never got around to with the Model T, and not only because they had no gussets.
Note: The pants have no fleecy liner, so cold temperatures require long-Johns (or in my case, short-Micks). This isn't really an issue, most other pants with padded or quilted liners make them very bulky. Short trips are fine without them.
The pants have a zip-up fly with a covering Velcro flap, and are fastened at the waist by a Velcro strap arrangement.
They are deliberately cut high to allow a decent overlap with the jacket and to stop water blowing up your pants and up and over the waistband when you’re sitting on the bike. If you're short like myself you look a bit of a gumby, but as I have long lost any self-respect I was born with, I don't particularly care as long as they work, which they do. Partially elasticated waist to allow for lateral expansion.
One thing I do like about the pants is found at the bottom of the legs where there is an extremely large zip. This opens the legs up to (on me anyway) nearly the knee, hence allowing the easy putting-on of boots. The zip easily zips over the top, tightening achieved at the bottom with another Velcro strap. My Dainese pants did not like zipping over my boots and eventually the zips broke off.
Gusset closed, gusset open…
There’s removable armour in the knees, you’ll need to remove this if you wash the pants otherwise they float. Reinforced backside and crutch with 1000D Ballistic nylon, waterproof pocket on the left leg, and reflective panels just above the knees, reflective 'Tiger Angel' logo and the bottom of both legs. The rear of the pants has the mating part of the jacket zip.
In conclusion?
Bloody brilliant, they have far exceeded what I expected of them. Completely waterproof, warm and usable in winter and summer with the liner removed. There are a few minor niggles, the jacket and pants require too much effort at 6:15am to do fit together, and sometimes I give up and get Ros to do them up. The pants feel a bit loose, but that's my fault for losing weight after the fitting. The logo at the bottom of the pants leg is coming off, but the guys from Tiger Angel have said they can fix that easily.
They are a bit costly at first glance, approximately $1100 all-up, not including the 5% surcharge for custom-making. However, this 5% extra is neatly circumvented if you tell them you are a member of Netrider (or the Ulysses Club) at the time of order. It takes 4-6 weeks for the guys to make them, however if you have a timeframe in mind they will do their best to accommodate your wishes, within reason. Keeping in mind my old Dainese Gore-Tex set of gear (which was made in Pakistan) cost me over $1200 four years ago, the replacement cost now is around $1300 AND I put my foot through the Gore-Tex liner in the pants' crutch, this is really good value.
They're made in Australia so you're supporting a local industry, which is a big plus for me, especially where the price is more than competitive, and the product is superior. The guys in the factory are fantastic, if you get oily crap on your jacket from the bus, they are more than happy to offer cleaning advice (Dry-clean or use Sards Wonder Soap).
If anyone wants any more info, their website is here:
http://www.tigerangel.com.au/gore/element_1.html
http://www.tigerangel.com.au/gore/element_pants_1.html
...or feel free to PM me.
You'll notice I've borrowed some of the Tiger Angel pics in this post, hence the jacket colour change every now and again.
thanks
