Last fall, after riding the Great Divide Trail, my little Super Sherpa made it to Florida for a winter rest. Ready to roll again this spring, I picked up a Revit Tornado II Women’s jacket and pants in silver.
The staff at Moncton’s Atlantic Motoplex were accommodating and helpful while finding a size to fit. I’m 5’8” and 160 lbs—after trying on several different Revit styles and sizes I decided on a jacket, size 44 ladies. This is a European size, 44 is a large (LG) in US sizes, about a 12 in dress size, 39-40 chest size and 32-34 waist. The pants are European 42 and 31-32 waist, 40-41 hips and length 31 (long).
My first impressions of this riding gear; it’s extremely light-weight and flexible. There is nothing stiff or bulky feeling about the Tornado II suit. It is light-weight, and the long pants put the knee armour exactly where it needs to go, covering from the top of my knee to below the top of my adventure boots in Seeflex level 2 CE protection at knees, and CE-level 1 protection at hip. The pants fit easily over my boots, with the detachable 2-in-1 thermal liner and membrane in.
I tend to run a bit cold, like my Sherpa, so I was concerned about being warm enough in the Tornado 2, but after stepping out of the Tampa airport air conditioning into 35C+ hot, humid weather, I was thankful for the wide-open mesh on both the jacket and pants.
I rode from Florida to North Carolina in the heat, feeling cool and comfortable and attracting some attention with the suit. I have never received so many comments about my riding attire as I have with this gear. Several gas station workers commented on how well-protected I looked (some sardonically), while riders commented on how cool the mesh must be.
The jacket has a great sliding fastener in the collar, making it easy to adjust for a balaclava or thicker clothes around your neck. The sleeves are a bit big for my wrists, and although that is great for the heat, I’m concerned about being able to cinch them in when it gets cooler and I want less air flow. The waist has cinching straps, but they don’t stay put. I stopped bothering to adjust them as they slid open moments after I start riding.
Riding a small bike puts me on back roads that frequently run through small towns, leaving the Sherpa and me at the mercy of traffic lights in the heat. I was genuinely cool in this suit, as even the smallest of breezes pass right through it, and the silver reflects the heat of the sun away from the body. I wonder how it will do with the liners in, in colder weather further north?
Speaking of liners, the waterproof membrane is laminated onto an insulated layer, so if it were to rain while in the heat, I’d have to put on insulated liners, in order to stay dry. I would like to see a separate, uninsulated waterproof/windproof layer instead of the combined liner. What I ended up doing was throwing a rain jacket on top instead.
For now, the liners for both the pants and jacket are stuffed in my panniers, ready to take on the cooler climate of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and eventually the Adirondacks and Appalachian Mountains, all the way up to Newfoundland and Labrador.
