gilx
11th October 2005, 04:11
Initial review of Gerbing jacket liner, gloves and temperature controller:
Overall, the first impression of all three are very positive. Form and fit are what you would expect of any high quality product. The jacket liner was more expensive than other brand’s vests. The advantage is the heated arms. The jacket liner was $205, the gloves $140 and the controller $80. Gerbing jacket liners come prewired for their electric gloves and pants. The connectors for the gloves are contained in a zipper pocket by each arm cuff. The connector for the pants and for the main electrical power are inside the jacket near the lower edge on the inside, and are color coded.
The first thing I noticed on first use were the quality of the electrical connectors. They look like the barrel connector plugs for most cell phone chargers, only much larger. I was particularly impressed with how well they fit. The male plug entered into the female receptacle smoothly with a firmness that almost felt lubricated. The fit was tight but not overly so (OK guys quit it! Kath, take a cold shower! http://www.xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/images/smilies/devildance.gif ). There was no question good electrical contact was made and would stay connected until deliberately pulled apart. All the connectors needed were included with both the jacket liner and the gloves. I ended up getting two sets of connectors and an extension cord. Connecting to the battery was no problem. Simply unscrew the battery bracket, pull the battery out, unscrew the battery bolts, put the Gerbing connector on and screw the battery bolts back in. The Gerbing connector even included an inline 15A fuse.
The jacket liner is made of a wind breaker-like material. Their web site says it is a Teflon coated soft nylon. It is slick enough that when you put the jacket liner on first, it slides easily into whatever coat you will wear over top. The suggested way to use the jacket liner is to wear a long sleeve turtle neck “T” shirt next to your skin, then the jacket liner, then the coat.
Here is what the jacket liner itself looks like:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0775.jpg
The connectors for the gloves are really handy. The jacket liner has two zippered pockets in the sleeves that hold the connectors when not in use. When wearing the gloves, the connectors come out of the pockets and plug into the gloves...no extra wires dangling about :)
First you don't see them:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0779.jpg
then you do:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0780.jpg
The gloves look and feel top of the line. They are luxuriously soft and well fitting.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0782.jpg
There must be some wind resistant membrane layer because when I was testing with and without heat, my hands never did get cold.
The controller appears well made…it ought to be, the damn thing cost $80!!! It has a rotary switch and a red light emitting diode. The more the light is on, the more the jacket and gloves are heating. It goes from what looks like flickering, to even on and off at mid range, to full on at full rotation of the switch. I also got a little leather pouch with a belt clip to hold the controller to position it where it can easily be reached.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0783.jpg
My testing: I bought the clothes this past Saturday and went on a 200 mile ride Sunday. Temperatures were between 35-43F. My ride took me along an interstate at the base of the Wasatch mountains for about 30 miles. I then turned onto another highway that took me up over a 10 mile pass into a higher valley where the temps dropped to the low range of my ride. I remained in this valley for the next 100 miles or so riding from one end to the other. I exited this valley by a different route, hitting the interstate for a 40 mile ride back home. I wore a long sleeve “T” shirt, the Gerbing jacket liner and my unlined, mid weight classic styled leather jacket. Chaps completed by Harley ensamble :laugh I rode without my detachable wind screen as I wanted to ride as cold as possible.
I started off with the controller set to mid range. It immediately heated up. Further timing showed that any change in the heat range became noticeable after about 10 seconds and took full effect within about a minute. Riding at speed on the interstate in the low 40s with no windshield, mid range felt about right. One prob which I solved later was my leather jacket had two small vent holes in each arm pit. This resulted in a slightly uncomfortable draft along my sides. In the higher valley, the temperature dropped about 5 degrees or so. This made riding as I was dressed slightly uncomfortable. However, sacrificing myself for the benefit of the XL Forum, I decided to turn the heat off to get a “baseline” reading. I rode for the next 5 minutes without any heat. Went from slightly uncomfortable to freezing my butt off! I then turned the heat to full. Within 10 seconds I could feel the heat and within several more I was toasty warm. A particularly nice feature of the jacket liner is the heated turtle neck. It really felt good heating the back of my neck. The heated sleeves were really nice as the warmth extended all the way down the arm to the cuff. By now I had come to a fairly large town and had to slow down to around 30mph. This was too slow for the wind to take the heat away and I had to turn the heat down. Right as I was turning the heat down I passed by a bank that had a time and temperature sign that said it was 33 degrees F. I doubt it was really that cold, but it was humorous to have to turn the heat down just then. When I finally got back on the interstate and headed home, I cranked the heat back up to full again. It felt just like being in a car with the heater on…warm and cozy, to the point of making me drowsy. I had to turn it back down again, it was too comfortable!
I had an excuse Sunday night to take about a 50 mile ride around midnight. Temperature was in the high 30s. This time I wore my winter coat, a “Kilimanjaro” by First Gear. This coat is impervious to the wind and had a thick fleece liner of it’s own. This time I had on the long sleeve “T” shirt. Over top of that I had a thermal weave cotton cardigan shirt. Then the Gerbing jacket liner, then the Kilimanjaro. Half range of the controller was as much heat as I could stand. Although I was wearing both a “T” and another shirt under the jacket liner, the heat was held in by the fleece liner and the wind impervious shell of the coat. I think this is certainly acceptable for short trips…like to work or the stor, but I think having the jacket liner closer to the skin is much more efficient. I want to try the layer of “me”, “T”, jacket liner, shirt, and then coat. I think having the jacket liner closer to the skin and covered with a shirt would more fully contain the heat.
All in all, even though the whole Gerbing set was a little pricy, I’m well pleased with initial tests. I fully expect I will be riding down into the single digit temps here in Utah this winter. Last winter I took a longish ride in the teens and was pretty miserable. I look forward to trying the same trip this year with the Gerbings. When it really gets cold here and I have a few trips to report on I’ll post a follow up.
Overall, the first impression of all three are very positive. Form and fit are what you would expect of any high quality product. The jacket liner was more expensive than other brand’s vests. The advantage is the heated arms. The jacket liner was $205, the gloves $140 and the controller $80. Gerbing jacket liners come prewired for their electric gloves and pants. The connectors for the gloves are contained in a zipper pocket by each arm cuff. The connector for the pants and for the main electrical power are inside the jacket near the lower edge on the inside, and are color coded.
The first thing I noticed on first use were the quality of the electrical connectors. They look like the barrel connector plugs for most cell phone chargers, only much larger. I was particularly impressed with how well they fit. The male plug entered into the female receptacle smoothly with a firmness that almost felt lubricated. The fit was tight but not overly so (OK guys quit it! Kath, take a cold shower! http://www.xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/images/smilies/devildance.gif ). There was no question good electrical contact was made and would stay connected until deliberately pulled apart. All the connectors needed were included with both the jacket liner and the gloves. I ended up getting two sets of connectors and an extension cord. Connecting to the battery was no problem. Simply unscrew the battery bracket, pull the battery out, unscrew the battery bolts, put the Gerbing connector on and screw the battery bolts back in. The Gerbing connector even included an inline 15A fuse.
The jacket liner is made of a wind breaker-like material. Their web site says it is a Teflon coated soft nylon. It is slick enough that when you put the jacket liner on first, it slides easily into whatever coat you will wear over top. The suggested way to use the jacket liner is to wear a long sleeve turtle neck “T” shirt next to your skin, then the jacket liner, then the coat.
Here is what the jacket liner itself looks like:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0775.jpg
The connectors for the gloves are really handy. The jacket liner has two zippered pockets in the sleeves that hold the connectors when not in use. When wearing the gloves, the connectors come out of the pockets and plug into the gloves...no extra wires dangling about :)
First you don't see them:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0779.jpg
then you do:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0780.jpg
The gloves look and feel top of the line. They are luxuriously soft and well fitting.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0782.jpg
There must be some wind resistant membrane layer because when I was testing with and without heat, my hands never did get cold.
The controller appears well made…it ought to be, the damn thing cost $80!!! It has a rotary switch and a red light emitting diode. The more the light is on, the more the jacket and gloves are heating. It goes from what looks like flickering, to even on and off at mid range, to full on at full rotation of the switch. I also got a little leather pouch with a belt clip to hold the controller to position it where it can easily be reached.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b48/gilx/IMG_0783.jpg
My testing: I bought the clothes this past Saturday and went on a 200 mile ride Sunday. Temperatures were between 35-43F. My ride took me along an interstate at the base of the Wasatch mountains for about 30 miles. I then turned onto another highway that took me up over a 10 mile pass into a higher valley where the temps dropped to the low range of my ride. I remained in this valley for the next 100 miles or so riding from one end to the other. I exited this valley by a different route, hitting the interstate for a 40 mile ride back home. I wore a long sleeve “T” shirt, the Gerbing jacket liner and my unlined, mid weight classic styled leather jacket. Chaps completed by Harley ensamble :laugh I rode without my detachable wind screen as I wanted to ride as cold as possible.
I started off with the controller set to mid range. It immediately heated up. Further timing showed that any change in the heat range became noticeable after about 10 seconds and took full effect within about a minute. Riding at speed on the interstate in the low 40s with no windshield, mid range felt about right. One prob which I solved later was my leather jacket had two small vent holes in each arm pit. This resulted in a slightly uncomfortable draft along my sides. In the higher valley, the temperature dropped about 5 degrees or so. This made riding as I was dressed slightly uncomfortable. However, sacrificing myself for the benefit of the XL Forum, I decided to turn the heat off to get a “baseline” reading. I rode for the next 5 minutes without any heat. Went from slightly uncomfortable to freezing my butt off! I then turned the heat to full. Within 10 seconds I could feel the heat and within several more I was toasty warm. A particularly nice feature of the jacket liner is the heated turtle neck. It really felt good heating the back of my neck. The heated sleeves were really nice as the warmth extended all the way down the arm to the cuff. By now I had come to a fairly large town and had to slow down to around 30mph. This was too slow for the wind to take the heat away and I had to turn the heat down. Right as I was turning the heat down I passed by a bank that had a time and temperature sign that said it was 33 degrees F. I doubt it was really that cold, but it was humorous to have to turn the heat down just then. When I finally got back on the interstate and headed home, I cranked the heat back up to full again. It felt just like being in a car with the heater on…warm and cozy, to the point of making me drowsy. I had to turn it back down again, it was too comfortable!
I had an excuse Sunday night to take about a 50 mile ride around midnight. Temperature was in the high 30s. This time I wore my winter coat, a “Kilimanjaro” by First Gear. This coat is impervious to the wind and had a thick fleece liner of it’s own. This time I had on the long sleeve “T” shirt. Over top of that I had a thermal weave cotton cardigan shirt. Then the Gerbing jacket liner, then the Kilimanjaro. Half range of the controller was as much heat as I could stand. Although I was wearing both a “T” and another shirt under the jacket liner, the heat was held in by the fleece liner and the wind impervious shell of the coat. I think this is certainly acceptable for short trips…like to work or the stor, but I think having the jacket liner closer to the skin is much more efficient. I want to try the layer of “me”, “T”, jacket liner, shirt, and then coat. I think having the jacket liner closer to the skin and covered with a shirt would more fully contain the heat.
All in all, even though the whole Gerbing set was a little pricy, I’m well pleased with initial tests. I fully expect I will be riding down into the single digit temps here in Utah this winter. Last winter I took a longish ride in the teens and was pretty miserable. I look forward to trying the same trip this year with the Gerbings. When it really gets cold here and I have a few trips to report on I’ll post a follow up.