Got a job offer in Phoenix. Wondering about commuting on the bike there. I've lived there before, so I know how hot it is, but I've never owned a street bike until I got my CBR last summer (I live in a cool area in Idaho right now). I'm an ATGATT person, so I have some questions:

1) Would you even consider commuting on your bike in Phoenix in the first place? Best guess is it would be ~40 miles one-way that I'll be commuting, and the workplace is in south-central Phoenix, very generally near the airport.

2) If you were going to commute there, what kind of gear would you wear? I expect I'll need something white or silver, to deal with the sun, but would you do perforated leather, or mesh?

For a perf'd leather jacket, I was thinking along the lines of a Cortech Latigo, Teknic Chicane, or maybe an Alps Indy (though that one's awfully expensive). For mesh, there are quite a few more options.

Pants are kind of a different matter. I have some Spidi Hurricanes right now, and maybe they'll do despite the fact that they're black. It's very hard for me to find riding pants in white or silver, but I think Cortech has some silver ones(?).

A third question:
3) Would you consider armored 'underwear' such as that available from Knox/Forcefield or others, in lieu of armor in the jacket and pants, or would that just add a layer of heat retention that I don't want?

Thanks for all help.

 

I can say when I ride in traffic here in Hawaii, it's the helmet that makes me hot more than jacket. I have wore textile mesh jacket for 2 years and I still got hot. I am thinking about going with perforated leather this summer. For summer time, I took change of clothes. I don't know anything about "underwear", but I would not ride without any armor jacket after minor crash I had. Phoenix might get hotter than hawaii though.

 

Phx is definitely going to be hotter than HI, it will probably push 115 quite a few days over the summer.

TBH, it's hard to ride during the top of the summer no matter what gear you're in. Perf leather is going to be WAY too hot, mesh will be better, but in the end you must realize that no gear is going to make it colder than the ambient temp.

Pads underneath the clothing will be even hotter than gear, because there's no real way for most of them to breath.

My suggestion, if you're not to be swayed from riding, is to wear a wet t shirt and shorts under mesh armor, and bring a change of clothing for when you get to work. Also, make sure to stay hydrated. People get so dehydrated/heat stroked that they cause accidents.

Ride safe.

 

I say perf leather. Mesh is a joke (oh look I didnt break my elbow but I got nylon melted into my road rash) and textile isnt any cooler.

 

Thanks for the feedback, yumoncbr and comodidit! It isn't that I'm not to be swayed from riding. If it's not a good idea (whether for traffic or heat or other reasons), then I won't do it. The probable 40 miles one-way commute is a major factor, as my bike gets ~50 mpg and my Subie gets ~20. Plus, the Subie needs premium in Phoenix.

I have come across a couple things searching this evening, and I think both of them are because of you, comodidit, at least indirectly:

Texas Cool Vest
LDComfort - Getting to the Bottom of Rider Comfort - Motorcycle Underwear

The texascoolvest seems like it has to work; I can't think of any way short of a chemical leak or failure or something that it can't. The LDComfort stuff may work. There's a Goldwinger in Tucson who seems to think a lot of it. That option would be slightly less expensive, but again the texascoolvest seems like a more sure thing.

No traffic concerns from anyone, so far?

 

I was typing/reading when you posted, PG. I am not at all ignoring the abrasion-protection differences here, although I have to be honest and say that I haven't been able to find ANY actual abrasion testing work published on the 'net. If I could get (and afford!) a particular leather man down in Blackfoot to make me some deerskin, or better yet elk skin, leathers, probably perforated and definitely with armor pockets, that's what I'd ride in. That's not likely, though.

Are you aware of any publicly-available, controlled abrasion testing a person can find on the 'net?

 

Only things I've seen are pix of the ppl/gear after a crash lol. We all know leather works, textile is the only other option IMO but I've been told its just as hot in it if not more so. IMO it all comes down to venting with breathable stretch panels in none critical areas. I've seen pix of mesh jackets after a low speed spill, and I'll pass lol, road rash is bad enough, can you imagine having nylon melted to you too lol


Oh and I highly recommend under armor heat n cold gear

 

The Texas cool vest looks nice, but the prices are pretty high. But, if it works and makes riding in phx in the summer doable and comfortable it would be worth it's weight in gold. The LDcomfort (unless I'm missing something) just seems like a good pair of shorts, but nothing about them seems to indicate that they'll actually cool your body down. In phx you won't have to worry so much about sweat/moisture, it will get sucked off of your body before you have a chance to worry about it. If you're looking for good shorts I've had good luck with underarmor, and it's about half the price.

As for traffic, phx can be a pain in the ***. The highway system was not designed for today's traffic volumes. Any route that takes you on the 101, 202, 10, 17, or 51 during commuting hours is going to be a lot of stop and go. Also, AZ does not have lane splitting(i'm not sure if wherever you're coming from does) so you're stuck sitting in traffic even though you could safely be out of there quickly. If you want to check out routes Google maps has live traffic data for most of the city. Check it during your commute times and it should show you what you're dealing with. Phoenix is working on improving the road situation, which is a double edged sword. Some day, the situation will be better, but for now there's a lot of road construction. Security can be a big problem in S. Phoenix, so invest in some good security measures for your bike at your office.

I'm actually from about 2 hours north, but I spend a bit of time down in Phoenix, so if there's anything I'm missing/wrong about phx locals feel free to correct me.

 

Underarmor compression shorts and shirts will keep you cooler.You may also use Kevlar pants.But sitting in traffic will still be hot no matter what you wear.It sucks you can't LANE SHARE in Arizona.White perforated leather jacket will help too.

 

I read a thing that got me thinking:

I'm a firefighter here (volunteer), and we enter burning buildings that are a couple to potentially even several times as hot as Phoenix summers. We have air tanks on that'll let us work for 15 - 45 minutes (depends a lot on how hard we're working and how good a shape a person is in) in that environment. When we go into a burning building, we don't have perforated, high-air-flow clothes on. We have what amount to multi-layer fire-resistant blankets on. We do this for a number of reasons, of course, but a primary one is that when the ambient temperature is above body temperature, anything more than just a little airflow (enough to help your sweat evaporate) is bad, not good. It just heats you up faster.

So to me, leather is making more sense the more I think about it. Perforated, perhaps, for the days it's below about 90 on the way home, but with one of the phase-change cooling vests on for the days it's above ~95. If the work schedule is what I think it will be, the morning portion of the commute shouldn't be above 90 except on the very hottest of days. Plus, I'll still have my Subie (w/AC) available for any days where riding just doesn't make sense.

PG, I agree with you-- My experience thus far is that my textile jacket is NOT cool at all; it's very hot in traffic even when the temps are only in the 70s to 80F.

Comodidit, thanks for the Google maps tip! I would expect my commute to be freeway, but it could include I-10, I-17, Loop 101, or maybe possibly potentially even the Squaw Peak Parkway (I forgot what they changed that road's name to now). I'm actually thinking that it'll be somewhat 'safer' to be on the freeways vs. tons of surface streets. People can still ram your invisible self, but at least it's a lot harder for them to pull out or turn left in front of you from a dead stop. lol

I'm gonna search the board here for some perf'd (and non-perf'd) leather reviews, and may start another info request thread on the topic of reasonably-priced, non-black leather pants w/CE armor all around.