i'll echo what everyone else said... textile jacket or perferated leather.

And it's really only hot when you are sitting still so it's not bad.

 

What do you guys do about the SWEAT?



Just go faster!! j/k

 

ok, so what i'm hearing is, its not as hot as it looks right? Because it looks unbearable, but i've never had the gear on so iunno.

 

Actually beyond wearing suitable attire ... if it is *that* hot and you still want protection then you just have to sweat, sometimes there's just nothing you can do about it ... I have been known to unzip my jacket down to my chest which allows the wind to get in and circulate, that really can be cooling ... obviously a leather jacket is safest zipped fully up but like I siad if I am so hot I will unzip and ride accordingly

 

ya, i just deal with it. i sweat, it's really hot at the stop lights, but i LOVE riding, so i dont care. i have a textile jacket, so that helps. but just deal with. pack a backpack and take a fresh pair of clothes with you to where you're going. carry some deoderant or some axe too. drink some water.

 

Probably gonna sound like an a$$, and don't mean to, but how many 100+ degree days do you have in the UK? I have family that live in Leicester and have been there several times, and at different times of the year - and in July/August even, and honestly, it was warm... but nothing like South Texas or Louisiana. Even where I live, in Oklahoma, for that matter.

As far as sweating... sometimes it's just freaking HOT out, and you know - even with shorts and a t-shirt you're gonna sweat some. Up to you how well protected you want to be. May be that you sweat more, even with the 'summer' gear over a shorts/t-shirt combo, but I would rather go down in summer gear and just be a little sweatier than go down and... well, I think you get the decision you have to make.

 

We have been having a heat wave here the last few weeks, every single day is hot and sweaty just now ..lol ... also yes, we can get grotty summers but it doesn't have to be 100 degrees plus to sweat on a bike ... I find temperatures in the high 80's make me hot in all my gear especially if I have to stop start in traffic ... usually on those days when I feel hot being out in the country I can simply unzip the jacket a little and instantly be cooled by the air flow around me


Jules

 

Yeah, I just re-read my post and didn't mean to sound so, well, dick!sh. And one thing about the UK, it can be 85F and rain at six different times in an eight-hour period. LOL!! That would suck.

 

Oh no, I knew you were not being a d*** ... it can be seriously grotty here at times when it should be gorgeous ... but we have had a pattern of lovely warm springs lately, followed by summers being a mixed bag ..but those days it is sunny it can still be very hot, I tend to love spring and autumn riding here as then it's so comfortable to ride and when you stop you can just let the more gentle sun warm you

Lately though they have been talking drout here with the lack of rain, driest period in 70 odd years or something ........


Jules

 

Wearing gear is actually better than not so long as it is the right gear. When you sweat, it is intended to evaporate and in the process you are cooled through evaporative cooling. Anyone who has ever seen a swamp cooler - same principle. If you wear a t-shirt and shorts and sweat at a stop light, when you go the sweat will blow off almost instantly. You will have a burst of cooling right then but from then on your sweat will blow off too quick and you'll actually be hot in the hot sun.

If you have gear that flows air through it (mesh, perf. leather, etc) you will get constant airflow and your sweat will constantly evaporate and you stay at a nice temperature. Now that said, when you do stop the bike and walk around without a 30+mph wind there's no helping the fact that you're wearing a jacket and gloves in the summer. You learn to take that stuff off quick when you stop.

I wear a perf. leather jacket and full gauntlet gloves plus riding jeans and riding boots when I ride. I've done three 150mi-250mi trips in the last month in 95+deg temps and I am just fine. I also sweat a TON and dehydrate easily by my nature so if I can do it, anyone can.