Teknic Defender Motorcycle Boots Review – I’ve been using the Teknic Defender boots for 8500 miles now and have done everything from touring to commuting with them strapped nicely around my feet. After this time I thought that it was only fair to do a review. When I purchased them I needed a boot which could do everything, but still be comfortable enough to wear the whole day when I am walking around. For around £69.99 ( $120) I chose the Teknic Defenders as they were cheap, fitted me well, looked good and had all the features I was looking for in a boot.
Comfort
I chose the boots a size larger than I normally am as it was quite difficult to get them on in the beginning due to the quarter zipper (as with most motorcycle boots). Looking back now I am so glad I chose a size too big (they don’t feel big at all) as I have experienced NO discomfort at all. I wear the boots all the time which is mainly on my commute and I keep wearing them when at my destination. They look perfectly presentable when under trousers/pants which is mainly due to the lack of toe slider and PU hard shell. I like this as very rarely does one get their knee-down on the morning rush hour.
They are perfectly comfortable to wear all day while walking around and are of course equally at home on a motorcycle. I have tried them on several different bikes; cruisers, naked and sports and they fit all well.
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Viper RS-V121 Bluetooth Helmet Review: The Viper RS-V121 Bluetooth helmet was an interesting buy for me. My first flip-up helmet, my first Bluetooth helmet and my first helmet bought specifically with commuting in mind. Viper are a pretty new brand on the market which specialise in Bluetooth helmets and judging on the impression it has given me I am quite impressed.
Safety:
When buying a helmet which is produced from a company that is not well known I do some research before just to make sure the helmet won’t fall to pieces when I accidentally nudge it with my foot. So far I have never been let down and in fact one brand (KBC) has made me a life-long supporter.
The RSV121 has a 4* SHARP rating (the UK’s new advanced helmet rating system), this is frankly incredible for a flip-up helmet and to put that into comparison both Shoei and Shark flip-up’s which will set you back around £400 only scored 3*. Fortunately I have not had the first hand experience of crash testing this one but I am pretty confident that it should hold up. One more point is that the helmet is ACU Gold approved which means that you can also use it on track while talking to your buddies who are sat in IKEA’s kitchen department because they spent their money on a wedding.
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The Tuzo TZG-4 gloves are budget Winter gloves. They retail at around £15 ($25) so I wasn’t expecting a lot from them in the first place, but I am pleasantly surprised. They have surpassed my expectations by a large amount and have held up after 2000 miles of winter riding, an accident and general rough treatment.
COMFORT [4/5]
The first time I put them on they were extremely thick and I was slightly afraid of riding with them as I didn’t have much throttle control. However after a couple of hours wearing and riding with them they were broke in well enough for my heart rate to drop a little. The gloves are very comfy and have moulded to my hand quite well. The lining is soft and warm (Thinsulate) and the adjusters work quite well too. Unfortunately they do not fit under my jacket as the gloves are on the large side; although they are perfectly fine over the top (even with heavy rain) as the draw string does an amazing job. One thing I did notice though was that in hot or even mild weather they get sticky quite fast.
WEATHER RESISTANCE [4/5]
As far as water resistance goes they are excellent. My hands are always dry whatever the amount of rainfall. They do get soggy if your handlebars are wet before you ride but this can be expected from any pairs of gloves. The warmth factor is not that great, once the gloves are broken in the lining becomes quite thin and after about 20 minutes of riding at an average of around 35 MPH (some 70 MPH in there though) your fingers become cold. The rest of my hands are fine but anymore than 35 minutes of riding at outer city speeds and my fingers will start to feel it quite badly. These are at an air temperature of around 0C (36F) however and not that many people will be riding in conditions colder than that for longer than that. I found that a pair of inner gloves works wonders but this jacks the price up to around £30 ($55) so why not just buy a more expensive pair in the first place you may be thinking?
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As the company i review for has limited stock due to the holidays I decided to take it upon myself to review some of my own purchases. Namely the Akito Desert jacket and Pants (or trousers if you’re English). The Desert suit is an all weather, all condition touring suit designed to handle anything that nature or the avid motorcyclist can throw at it. I managed to pick the full suit up for around £200 ($350) at a dealer near my house who shipped them in for me. The Akito brand is Japanese and as such, the sizing is a little different. I found that ordering a size up was best for me (as with most of my gear actually… now I feel insecure).
I bought both parts sometime around early October as the weather in England was starting to get a little chilly. Both items do zip together however I found that I hardly ever use this as I normally wear the suit on my commute. In the 2 months that I have had these I have done around 1500 miles in ALL WEATHER! Snow, frost, severe flood causing rain, heat and whatever else nature would like to toss my way.
Both pieces of the suit have the same setup in which they have a resistant, windproof outer layer (textile), a fully waterproof liner and inside that a thermal layer. For the most part I have had all layers zipped in.
The Akito Desert suit in its natural habitat (Me)
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