I've read multiple articles about this suit for the past year and a half and was chomping at the bit for this marvel of motorcycle gear technology.  There has been many different types of suits over the years and things have steadily progressed, but each of them have failed to be a "one stop" solution for one reason or another.  I recently plopped down the cash for one of these hoping that the product holds up to the hype.  So let's find out.

Ask any dedicated rider what the best all around suit is and you'll get mixed answers but you'll find that AeroStich tends to top that list.  There are several versions but the most common is the RoadCrafter which is a one or two piece suit that can easily be worn over street clothes.  It claims to be water proof and comes with ballistic armor.  But even the most dedicated 'Stich fan will tell you that it will leak after about 30-40 minutes and you'll wind up with a wet crotch.  Not something you want if you get caught out in the rain on  your way to a client's office, let me tell you!

At first I was taking all this waterproof talk with a grain of salt and I have to admit, that's very important for me.  I commute 30 miles every day to work and in the San Francisco Bay Area it rains a lot during the winter and on top of that it's cold.  The last thing I want is a wet body when it's 40 degrees out.  So while the suit hadn't been released yet, I was reading articles and trying to decide if it was worth the $1100 buy in.  The more I read , the more I finally decided, sure, let's take the plunge.  If worse comes to worse, I have a suit about like a 'Stich.

With the first look when I popped open the box, I was rather impressed.  The suit looked very well made. The stitches were clean, the material light and the zippers looked just like described as being sourced from a scuba dry suit. On the inside of the suit you can see the “heat welded” material covering every stitch improving all those potential weak spots.

I used the sizing chart on revzilla.com to guesstimate the proper size for me. I'm 6' tall and normally around 200-210 pounds. So I selected the XL which was to fit a maximum of 6' and 220. I chose this because I am actually planning on getting myself back down to 180 even though currently I'm at 230. Damn the holidays anyway! So when I tried the suit on, I expected it to be rather tight. I was surprised to find that it was a little tight at the shoulders but everywhere else it fit fairly well. I did have to even cinch in the waist a little. It did look like the extra material that was covering my belly was going to cause the suit to ride up just a hair when I was in the saddle but it should still adequately cover my boots.

The following morning I put on the suit all giddy with anticipation. Even though I had never put on a one piece suit like this before it only took me about 3 minutes to put it on in the wee hours of the morning even faster than the 5 minutes it took the night before with the try on. The morning was crisp in the low 40's but I wanted to try the warmth out of the suit. I was only wearing a pair of jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. I found the suit to be somewhat cool which is good for the summer months. When I say somewhat cool, most people might find it cold. I tend to be one of those people that put out a lot of body heat so keep that in mind, you may find you'll need more layers or heated gear around that temperature. I did find I was right that it is a little tight on me right now. I get a little pinch in the left shoulder/arm where it tugs and the legs do ride up a hair. I suspect that will go away when I get back down to my normal weight or lower.

With all said and done, the initial ride made me pretty pleased with the purchase. However, 2 day later I got to try out the waterproof claims. In the rain it usually takes me about 10-15 minutes longer to get to work meaning my commute ends up being 40-45 minutes instead of the normal 30. I have a 1 piece rain suit that I've been wearing over my body armor for a couple of years and it tends to leak right at the 30-35 minute mark. Due to the claims I was hoping this would last my commute without leaking.