Trials clothing + gear for women

Trials clothing + gear for women

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Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/2/2010 9:58:51 PM

samandkmberly

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Lucky me -I'm going down to the Trials Training Center with the family for a few days of training/riding in April! This will be an attempt for me to actually learn enough to get competent in Sr B, a chance for my 8yo to ride a LOT, and my wife's 2nd intro to dirt riding and first to trials. She's got her M/C license, she's done the MSF off road class down in Plymouth, but she's not very comfortable riding, mainly, I think, because the hasn't gotten much riding time at all. My hope is that this will be the relaxed environment where she can do just that.

I think decent gear will be paramount to her enjoying the sport. My son, Elliott and I are fine making due with whatever we need to be safe, but I want to make sure she feels comfortable and at home on the bike, so I want to gear her up properly before we go. I have to balance that with the fact that it's likely she's going to end up being only an occasional rider that doesn't need state of the art bling - just good, basic comfortable gear. Mail order isn't really an option - she has curves and is not easy to fit; I need to find a place where she can try on a lot of stuff, either local (I live in eastern MA) or on the way to TTC, I suppose. We'd make a trip anywhere in southern New England if there was a particularly good place.

So - any suggestions, either on good brands, or good places to shop? I'm posting to the trials forum because this is the forum I lurk on and I'm not looking for hard core MX stuff. Aside from neutral experiences at Sky Cycle, or whatever they call themselves now, I'm relatively unexposed to the local dirt bike shops.

Boots, helmet, and gloves are the minimum she'll need, of course. I prefer trials boots, but MX or even more secure street boots may be an option because they'll work OK for limited trail riding, and can cost a lot less, but again, fit is important.

Thoughts?

Thanks, Sam

< Message edited by samandkmberly -- 3/2/2010 10:01:02 PM >

Post #: 1

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/2/2010 10:11:30 PM

Manray

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From: Westford MA
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Try Brockton Cycle!

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Post #: 2

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/2/2010 11:31:26 PM

sherco_339

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You could also try Kevins Cycle in Norton on 123. I would check out the website and maybe give them a call asking if they have womens gear in stock.
I think I saw some womens Fox gear at Brockton Cycle last week. Bettencourts is only a couple miles from Brockton Cycle. All three of these shops are in a 30 minute radius.

Post #: 3

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/4/2010 10:04:24 PM

samandkmberly

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Thanks for the input; looks like a trip to the greater Brockton area is in order. I've been to Brockton Cycle & Bettencourts but not for years; Kevin's cycle is new to me.

Sam

Post #: 4

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/5/2010 5:17:49 AM

motofire

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Where do you live? There's a few other decent shops in eastern MA.

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Post #: 5

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/5/2010 7:03:06 AM

samandkmberly

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I'm in Littleton, not too far from Moto Market, which is primarily street stuff. Then there's Central Mass Power Sports over in Lunenberg; I don't have anything against them but their selection/prices are not tremendous. Boston, Worcester are both within easy range.

Post #: 6

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/5/2010 7:38:00 AM

1863Bill

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I got my cycle gear at Cycle Gear in Manchester, CT. They are a bit of a drive for you, but they have a much bigger selection of off road pants, jerseys, helmets, and boots, including women's stuff, than the typical shop that sells and services motorcycles. You can shop on-line at www.cyclegear.com, then if you find something you like, call the store and make sure they have it in stock so that you can try it on. That's my two cents, and no, I don't work for them, I'm just trying to help some fellow riders....Bill

Post #: 7

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/5/2010 6:13:13 PM

samandkmberly

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That's actually not so bad for me - I have family in Glastonbury, one town south of Manchester, that I visit often. I'll add them to the list.

Sam

Post #: 8

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/6/2010 2:17:03 PM

laser1

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Make sure you get her a light helmet or she will have a sore neck. Some of the full face downhill bicycle helmets might be a consideration.

Post #: 9

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/6/2010 3:59:49 PM

motofire

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Worcester has a decent shop called Gabriel Racing.

Also if you go to the 1st event of the year you can meet up with Moto Connection. Hes at all the all the trials events and supports us well.

One other thing, you may want to look into joining a club. The Springfield MC is a great,family oriented club with a good amount of trials riders. They have available private land to ride on. Not too far from you.

Let me know if you want more info.

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Post #: 10

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/8/2010 11:08:17 AM

blackduc98

Posts: 190
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From: metro Boston
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quote:

ORIGINAL: laser1
Make sure you get her a light helmet or she will have a sore neck. Some of the full face downhill bicycle helmets might be a consideration.

Trebor, that's a very good point. I have an accurate digital food scale at home, and for the heck of it decided to weigh all my helmets. My ON-OFF carbon fiber trials helmet was the lightest of the bunch (I think it was less than 900 grams). My MX helmet was around 1200 grams, and my Arai street helmet was around 1300 grams. I can tell you first-hand that the difference between my MX helmet and my trials helmet is very noticeable after a day of riding. MX helmet gives me a very sore neck, but my ON-OFF feels good at the end of the day. In the summer I remove the ear pieces and get extra cooling, and the removable washable liner is a must. Unfortunately I don't know any place in New England that has trials helmets in stock for you to try. But Sam is heading to TTC, so he can probably try some stuff out of Ryan Young's inventory.

BTW, I was disappointed with the weight of the Shiro trials helmet that I got for my son - it weighs around 1100 grams, but my son is very happy with it so we'll stick with it for now.

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Post #: 11

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/8/2010 8:44:02 PM

samandkmberly

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Out of curiosity, I just did a quick spreadsheet calculation:

Mass of male head - ~5000g
Pivot point of head ~ vertebrae C3
Approximate distance of center of mass of head from C3 - 200mm
Mass moment of inertia, or the resistance to rotation of bare head = 2000 kg cm^2
Add to that the mmi of a 900g helmet, center of mass a little farther away @ 250mm and you get 2,562.5 kg cm^2, a 28% increase over bare head!
But add to that 200g more mmi and you get 2687 kg cm^2, or only about a 34% difference from a bare head.

That's a much more noticable difference than I expected, though probably overall fit and cooling are still more important. For me, the hard part of riding with an MX helmet in trials was temperature control and peripheral vision - I'm leaned over more standing on my trials bike than sitting on a dirt bike and so spent a lot of time with my head craned back. I think this, not the helmet weight made my neck hurt.

There's a bunch of reasons I think a real trials helmet is a good idea, but the jury is out on that one. Definitely a MC helmet though.
Sam

Post #: 12

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/8/2010 8:49:16 PM

motofire

Posts: 807
Joined: 8/16/2002
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quote:

ORIGINAL: samandkmberly

Out of curiosity, I just did a quick spreadsheet calculation:

Mass of male head - ~5000g
Pivot point of head ~ vertebrae C3
Approximate distance of center of mass of head from C3 - 200mm
Mass moment of inertia, or the resistance to rotation of bare head = 2000 kg cm^2
Add to that the mmi of a 900g helmet, center of mass a little farther away @ 250mm and you get 2,562.5 kg cm^2, a 28% increase over bare head!
But add to that 200g more mmi and you get 2687 kg cm^2, or only about a 34% difference from a bare head.

That's a much more noticable difference than I expected, though probably overall fit and cooling are still more important. For me, the hard part of riding with an MX helmet in trials was temperature control and peripheral vision - I'm leaned over more standing on my trials bike than sitting on a dirt bike and so spent a lot of time with my head craned back. I think this, not the helmet weight made my neck hurt.

There's a bunch of reasons I think a real trials helmet is a good idea, but the jury is out on that one. Definitely a MC helmet though.
Sam

Yup...your a trials rider!

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Post #: 13

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/8/2010 8:52:19 PM

samandkmberly

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Joined: 4/20/2009
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quote:

ORIGINAL: motofire
One other thing, you may want to look into joining a club. The Springfield MC is a great,family oriented club with a good amount of trials riders. They have available private land to ride on. Not too far from you.

Elliott and I already compete in NETA, so we belong to that. If I joined a local club I'd be inclined to join one in NH, primarily because technically it's illegal for my 8yo son to ride anywhere in the state of MA, even in my yard. Pisses me off. But also, we're very close to the NH border. That said, we used to live out Springfield way and I like the area, so who knows? First I need to convince Kimberly that trail riding is for her - we'll see how things look after TTC.

Sam

Post #: 14

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/19/2010 12:50:45 PM

Expert007

Posts: 757
Joined: 12/31/2006
From: A place far, far away from here. (Saco, Maine)
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quote:

ORIGINAL: samandkmberly

Out of curiosity, I just did a quick spreadsheet calculation:

Mass of male head - ~5000g
Pivot point of head ~ vertebrae C3
Approximate distance of center of mass of head from C3 - 200mm
Mass moment of inertia, or the resistance to rotation of bare head = 2000 kg cm^2
Add to that the mmi of a 900g helmet, center of mass a little farther away @ 250mm and you get 2,562.5 kg cm^2, a 28% increase over bare head!
But add to that 200g more mmi and you get 2687 kg cm^2, or only about a 34% difference from a bare head.

That's a much more noticable difference than I expected, though probably overall fit and cooling are still more important. For me, the hard part of riding with an MX helmet in trials was temperature control and peripheral vision - I'm leaned over more standing on my trials bike than sitting on a dirt bike and so spent a lot of time with my head craned back. I think this, not the helmet weight made my neck hurt.

There's a bunch of reasons I think a real trials helmet is a good idea, but the jury is out on that one. Definitely a MC helmet though.
Sam

WOW, what do you do in your spare time? Build rocket engines? Make nuclear fission energy safe? Pretty cool stuff!
Some guys I know are using full face MX helmets to protect their faces, but I think they're too hot and heavy. I'll stick with my open face. Or, I've been considering a bicycle style. At trials speeds, there's no reason I can think of why a bicycle helmet isn't just as good (that is, the right style with right coverage, not the silly looking clam-shell cap!)
Jareth

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RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/19/2010 7:44:35 PM

STEVEC

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[[/quote]

...I've been considering a bicycle style. At trials speeds, there's no reason I can think of why a bicycle helmet isn't just as good (that is, the right style with right coverage, not the silly looking clam-shell cap!)
Jareth
[/quote]

As a friendly reminder, only DOT (or better) motorcycle helmets are allowed at NETA events. From the rule book:

VI, D. HELMETS: Approved motorcycle helmets are required and must be worn on the head of all riders while riding any motorcycle at the site of all NETA sanctioned events. This includes, but is not limited to, practice before and/or after an event plus riding in the pit area. Non-compliance is
subject to disqualification and possible expulsion from the event site.

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RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/19/2010 7:53:07 PM

Expert007

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From: A place far, far away from here. (Saco, Maine)
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quote:

ORIGINAL: STEVEC

quote:

...I've been considering a bicycle style. At trials speeds, there's no reason I can think of why a bicycle helmet isn't just as good (that is, the right style with right coverage, not the silly looking clam-shell cap!)
Jareth

As a friendly reminder, only DOT (or better) motorcycle helmets are allowed at NETA events. From the rule book:

VI, D. HELMETS: Approved motorcycle helmets are required and must be worn on the head of all riders while riding any motorcycle at the site of all NETA sanctioned events. This includes, but is not limited to, practice before and/or after an event plus riding in the pit area. Non-compliance is
subject to disqualification and possible expulsion from the event site.

OK, smart guy, show me a DOT sticker on a trials helmet. You can't because they ain't got 'em! I know I can't use a bicycle helmet, but I can for practice.
Thanks for the heads up,
Rock on, or off,
Jareth
:o)

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RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/20/2010 10:13:05 AM

STEVEC

Posts: 22
Joined: 1/29/2007
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Expert007

quote:

ORIGINAL: STEVEC

quote:

...I've been considering a bicycle style. At trials speeds, there's no reason I can think of why a bicycle helmet isn't just as good (that is, the right style with right coverage, not the silly looking clam-shell cap!)
Jareth

As a friendly reminder, only DOT (or better) motorcycle helmets are allowed at NETA events. From the rule book:

VI, D. HELMETS: Approved motorcycle helmets are required and must be worn on the head of all riders while riding any motorcycle at the site of all NETA sanctioned events. This includes, but is not limited to, practice before and/or after an event plus riding in the pit area. Non-compliance is
subject to disqualification and possible expulsion from the event site.

OK, smart guy, show me a DOT sticker on a trials helmet. You can't because they ain't got 'em! I know I can't use a bicycle helmet, but I can for practice.
Thanks for the heads up,
Rock on, or off,
Jareth
:o)

Good point Jareth. It is hard to find a sticker on most. I knew you were aware of the rule but I didn't want new riders to show up at an event and not be able to ride because they only have a bicycle helmet.

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RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/21/2010 9:32:51 AM

samandkmberly

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The chart at the bottom of front page of the NETA website ( http://www.newenglandtrials.org/ ) pretty much says it all. I'd use a bicycle helmet everywhere else, but I have a son, and I want him to wear the right stuff. He has a high sensitivity to hypocrisy so I stick to MC helmet all the time. I don't want him even stepping on his bike w/o helmet, boots and gloves, so I have to do the same. He reminds me regularly. :-)

Back on the "gear for my wife" topic: it turns out TTC both sells gear, and rents it for 20 bucks a day. Perfect starting point!

Thanks everyone,

Sam

Post #: 19

RE: Trials clothing + gear for women - 3/23/2010 5:16:11 PM

Expert007

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From: A place far, far away from here. (Saco, Maine)
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quote:

ORIGINAL: samandkmberly

The chart at the bottom of front page of the NETA website ( http://www.newenglandtrials.org/ ) pretty much says it all. I'd use a bicycle helmet everywhere else, but I have a son, and I want him to wear the right stuff. He has a high sensitivity to hypocrisy so I stick to MC helmet all the time. I don't want him even stepping on his bike w/o helmet, boots and gloves, so I have to do the same. He reminds me regularly. :-)

Back on the "gear for my wife" topic: it turns out TTC both sells gear, and rents it for 20 bucks a day. Perfect starting point!

Thanks everyone,

Sam

I want to get a Darth Vader helmet and see who says what at an event.....