What's the difference ?

Tyzer

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When i changed from leathers to textiles i purchased an Alpinestars Andes Drystar jacket and trousers for me and wifey with extra protection and paid all in about £700. I dont ride in the winter but have experienced some really wet weather on a couple of tours and i have to say have stood up very well. Looking at Rukka or Klim gear i cant even get a pair of trousers for £700,so my question is, what's the diffference ?

Just curious as thats a huge price difference !:confused:
 
Its the materials used mainly, such as Armacor etc.., Rukka does use some very expensive materials, I have seen some Rukka clothing after some significant road crashes and they have stood up equally well to what you would expect from a well made Leather suit.

In my opinion Rukka (I have no knowledge or experience of KLIM) make textile clothing equal in protection to leather materials but a lot comfier for most conditions and obviously waterproof on top. I wear the majority of their of their range day in day out and it gets used in all weathers for long fast days in the saddle and it always performs as expected.

Also sheer size of D30 armour is massive in Rukka compared to most other brands so that tends to add another £50 -100 on top.


7 year guarantee aswell, it all adds up, and the intial layout is eye watering but worth it IMO.
 
I have Klim, but both Klim and Rukka have Goretex Pro.

So the goretex is on the outside of the material rather than a membrane or a separate liner. Ive been through some real bad downpours, especially one in the Dolomites. About 10 minutes later, bone dry!
Also, I have never had a drop of rain come through.

No more drying gear out after a ride!
 
It's laminated to the inside surface of the outer material (if that makes sense)

Goretex Pro has an extra laminated layer (3 layer) over Goretex Performance (2 layer)


I think I have that right.

from my G8 ThinQ
 
When i changed from leathers to textiles i purchased an Alpinestars Andes Drystar jacket and trousers for me and wifey with extra protection and paid all in about £700. I dont ride in the winter but have experienced some really wet weather on a couple of tours and i have to say have stood up very well. Looking at Rukka or Klim gear i cant even get a pair of trousers for £700,so my question is, what's the diffference ?

Just curious as thats a huge price difference !:confused:

Go for discontinued lines from Rukka , there can be some excellent bargains from online dealers , brother in law just got a pair of new but old stock Rukka trousers (that would have been £350 plus 5 or 6 years ago) from a UK online retailer (Infinity) for under £100
 
When i changed from leathers to textiles i purchased an Alpinestars Andes Drystar jacket and trousers for me and wifey with extra protection and paid all in about £700. I dont ride in the winter but have experienced some really wet weather on a couple of tours and i have to say have stood up very well. Looking at Rukka or Klim gear i cant even get a pair of trousers for £700,so my question is, what's the diffference ?

Just curious as thats a huge price difference !:confused:

I've owned both. Both excelent kit (have not owned klim).

The difference is that the rukka will probably last you three or four times longer. That's my experience anyway.
 
Remember that Gore Tex is the waterproof membrane and can either be a drop liner inside the outer layer or separate, or bonded to the outer surface as in Gore Tex pro shell etc.

The bonded PRO shell is better as it doesnt let any water penetrate the outer surface and dries mega fast, the drop liner allows the outer to get wet , meaning it can get heavy and takes much longer to dry, both are fully waterproof.

The 3 layer system means that there is an outer layer, Gore tex middle and then a liner layer all bonded together, This gives you a 3 layer suit which will technically last longer than a 2 layer as it takes the wear to the inside much better, the only downside is it can sometimes feel a bit stiifer and heavier.

The 2 layer jackets can still be bonded but lack the 3rd inner layer, meaning its lighter and more flexible but also not as hard wearing.

The more layers you want the more expensive it gets, but the difference you are asking about is all there in the details and creation of the jackets, just by looking at some you cant see where the extra £500 goes so you stump for the cheaper option

If you ever go and try on or even grab hold of the elbow and shoulder of a modern Rukka jacket like a Nivala or Arma T you will probably feel straight away the size of the armour and the materials that are involved in the making of them.

Dont get me wrong, I dont work for Rukka or anyone else (over 25years ago I was a Gore Tex Pro Consultant for my sins) But I use their full range of kit daily and I can tell the difference after wearing it for any length of time.

HTH
 
and if you think biking gear is expensive just check out shell jackets from the likes of Jottnar and Arcteryx….
 
and if you think biking gear is expensive just check out shell jackets from the likes of Jottnar and Arcteryx….

Even though I have an Arcteryx Alpha SV I wouldn’t dream of spending that amount on a bike jacket. There’s lots of good bike kit out there that doesn’t cost a fortune and will keep you warm and dry for the amount the average Brit rides in the wet and cold. If I was wearing it all day every day that would be different and I would go to Rukka just for the warranty alone.
 
and if you think biking gear is expensive just check out shell jackets from the likes of Jottnar and Arcteryx….

I've got a fetish for Arcteryx stuff. Really like it. You can easily pay £300 for a pair of gloves.

- Arcteryx Gamma MX Hoody (great for casual)
- Arcteryx Fission SV Jacket (great for Winter Coat)
- Arcteryx Beta AR Trousers (great for Winter Walking)
- Arcteryx Nuclei AR Jacket (great for portable lightweight warmth & wind protection)
- Arcteryx Bird Cap and T-shirts (great for posing)

That lot keeps me sorted in most weathers. Really nice.
 
When i changed from leathers to textiles i purchased an Alpinestars Andes Drystar jacket and trousers for me and wifey with extra protection and paid all in about £700. I dont ride in the winter but have experienced some really wet weather on a couple of tours and i have to say have stood up very well. Looking at Rukka or Klim gear i cant even get a pair of trousers for £700,so my question is, what's the diffference ?

Just curious as thats a huge price difference !:confused:

I don’t know about your kit, but I’ve yet to find any that has armour coverage/ size to match Rukka’s.
 
Its the materials used mainly...


IMO, it's actually profiteering mainly...

Not denying Rukka et al make good gear, but €1300 for a jacket is taking the piss no matter what material and armour it uses...

Again, IMO...
 
When I took my Klim trousers to Lancashire Sports Repairs for alterations the sewing machinists both groaned when they saw what I was offering to them. They said Klim especially, plus Rukka and Halvarssons stuff were the most difficult brands to work on because they were so well made originally that they were nigh on impossible to pick apart to get access to alter or repair. They showed me how the stitching on the panels they needed to get into on my trousers were both very finely and evenly stitched in two or more rows but also there wasn't really a point of failure, ie even if a line of stitching failed then that bit of the trousers didn't also fail catastrophically. In the end it took them something daft like 4 hours to pick apart a couple of panels in the waist band and add a dart adding 2" to the waist. SO, as well as the basic material being expensive I guess you are also paying for very well designed and very well made products.

The best way to get Klim or Rukka is to be patient, as I was, and wait for a secondhand nearly new suit to come up for sale. I got my Klim Badlands 5 years ago at less than half the then list price from a guy who bought it for a Euro trip, decided he didn't like it and put it up for sale. It was still as stiff as cardboard so obviously had had very little wear. However its not and never has been 100% waterproof: the main zip is rubbish and where the jacket bunches up at your belly when you sit, in heavy rain waters pools and comes in the zip. The trousers leak ever so slightly at the crotch too and for an otherwise well thought out jacket the cuffs are crap.
 
and 20k for a new bike isn't?

It’s only a specious figure, most people see it as a £199 per month toy. For the majority saying that it’s a X grand bike is almost bragging, no offence intended.
I remember when they went through 15k and the insurers shit the bed and refused to insure what was substantially the same bike.
We have sleep walked into evermore expensive price tags because it doesn’t matter to most and it props up the secondhand values too.
 
I got my Klim Badlands 5 years ago at less than half the then list price from a guy who bought it for a Euro trip, decided he didn't like it and put it up for sale. It was still as stiff as cardboard so obviously had had very little wear. However its not and never has been 100% waterproof: the main zip is rubbish and where the jacket bunches up at your belly when you sit, in heavy rain waters pools and comes in the zip. The trousers leak ever so slightly at the crotch too and for an otherwise well thought out jacket the cuffs are crap.

They don't seem to currently make the cuffs expand large enough to get gloves with some fabric etc around the wrist, e.g. my Held 2 in one gloves, up inside of the sleeves in case it rains. Maybe it's to stop the sleeve riding up if you fall off at 30mph and gives you fiction burns on the forearm, DAMHIK with a different Klim jacket where you could get the gloves inside of the sleeves.
 


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