Warmnsafe
I can't comment on Gerbing jackets - I like the gloves and got some brand new ones when one of my old pair stopped working so it's no doubt high quality gear and the lifetime guarantee is an incredible incentive.
I can comment a bit on vests and liners and would like to put in a good word for WarmnSafe while I'm here..
I just bought a Gen4 jacket liner and I like it a lot. It's very thin so versatile i.e. will fit under race-like leathers for those winter trackies or normal commuting gear for getting to work. It's also very warm worn straight over a long sleeve t-shirt (core + neck + arms) and the service from warmnsafe themselves has been absolutely excellent, very helpful, quick responses on emails (despite Mike being on the move between trade shows and wotnot) and also super quick on the shipping.
The dollar price on the above (particularly when you factor in a heat controller) looks high but obviously converts to less in old money. Also an interesting thing they have going is trade-ups. You can trade in any old warmnsafe kit to get the newer stuff as it comes out and you can even (something I did take advantage of with this liner), trade in other manufacturers kit for quite a selection of their range. I got about $70 off the price of the jacket for an old vest (so that saved me the bother of ebaying it). An example of general helpfulness on the service side - instead of shipping my trade-in to the states they had me ship to a hotel in Amsterdam where Mike was going to be visiting, this substantially reduced the postage costs. Also they claim they'll not ship the gear till they've received your trade in but in this case it was shipped in advance of that as there was a little delay in Mike's travel schedule. Can't say fairer than that I think.
On a more general note, I couldn't comment on the performance difference between the Gen4 liner and other similarly specc'd kit but having now experienced the difference between at least two "market leading" vests and this liner with full arms and neck warming (mhhh.. neck warming) I wouldn't go back. I think there is some truth in the comments about keeping the core warm and the rest stays warm too (certainly got me through a few winters on the M40) but when it's really cold and windy that logic begins to wear thin (so to speak) and you're ending up having to compensate somehow with extra sleeve coverage and neck gators and wotnot. With full coverage your not - simple as that. So 1 cotton long sleeve T, a super thin heated liner and your old faithful mocycle jacket (with or without it's inner depending on temperatures and type of outer jacket) and your done.
As I said, having taken the pepsi challenge I definitely won't be going back to a vest. I'd say maybe a vest for emergencies but a thin liner packs smaller than the vests I've known and/or can be worn on spec anyway when it's not that cold and be ready to be plugged in when temperatures drop.
That's my 2pence worth hopefully of use to someone.
