Background
November, 2009 - Hard to believe it's Thanksgiving time,
November of 2009 already! This is the time of year
when the motorcycle clothing manufacturers announce next
year's new products, to give the distribution chain a
chance to place their orders and make room for the new
gear.
Rev'it won't be attending the Indianapolis Dealer
Expo in 2010, and by time that show takes place in
February the new gear would have already been ordered
anyway.
So when they asked if I'd like to visit their New
York showroom to take a look at the 2010 gear and, of
course, I jumped at the offer! (Full disclosure: the
trip was funded by webBikeWorld, not Rev'it and Rev'it
bought me lunch at a local café!).
It just so happens that the Rev'it USA office is
located in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New
York -- not too far from my childhood stomping grounds
in what is now called East New York.
Red Hook is a very interesting neighborhood that now
looks something like a cross between Popeye's home town,
Woodstock and a set from "On the Waterfront". It
wasn't always that way; let's just say that at one time,
Red Hook was probably the last place in the world you'd
want to find yourself at night with a flat tire...
Actually, Red Hook is one of the most historic
districts in the U.S. It was first settled by the
Dutch in the early 1600's as a landing point for goods,
and the many docks, marine supply firms, warehouses and
the sea-faring atmosphere that still exists attests to
that heritage
It is said that the first child born to the Dutch
settlers in America was born in Red Hook; her name was
Sarah Rapelje and the Rapelje family lived in the area
for many generations.
So what's a company like Rev'it doing in a place like
Red Hook? Actually, it makes a lot of sense.
The area is now known as a sort of haven for artists and
design firms and it's close to many clothing and styling
resources in what is probably the capital of the
garment, textile and apparel industry in Manhattan.
And it just so happens that the area is popular with
motorcyclists. I probably saw a larger
concentration of motorcycles, scooters and bicycles in
the 6 or so blocks around the Rev'it headquarters than I
have anywhere else I can think of.
Cool bikes too, and parked right outside on the
street. They included a BMW R90S, a newer F650GS
Dakar, a Ducati 1098, a tricked-out Honda café racer of
some vintage and old and new Vespas, among others.
And by the way, lane splitting is regnant, although
illegal. But who's going to stop you in the
wall-to-wall traffic on the Gowanus Expressway? If
you've got the guts (cast iron helps) and narrow
handlebars, go for it.
Rev'it is located in a beautifully restored old
building, said to be the original New York Port
Authority offices. The view from up top is
mind-boggling; a deck on the roof offers a grandstand
seat to view the Manhattan skyline, lower Manhattan,
Governor's Island, the Statue of Liberty, a sweeping
view of the Upper Bay with ships coming and going and
even the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
In fact, I was so awestruck by the view, I forgot to
take photos! I did make a quick sweep with the
videocam though, along with a short take of the Rev'it
showroom, and I'll include that below.
Rev'it 2010 Overview OK, so what's new in the Rev'it lineup for
2010? While not as extensive and radical as their
2009 announcement,
there's still plenty to talk about.
This article will describe the major new Rev'it
releases for 2010, but there will be more coming; Rev'it
promised the release of a major new product in 2010 and
we'll bring you details of that as soon as possible.
Rev'it was also able to institute a new pricing
strategy due to increased sales volumes and
relationships with suppliers. The price of the new
Sand jacket, the new CR line of clothing and some of the
gloves are very competitive and indeed lower than many
lesser-quality items we've seen recently.
So one sure bet is that some of the other motorcycle
clothing manufacturers are going to have to re-think
they're 2010 pricing!
I'm a big Rev'it fan, mostly because the company has
such an intense focus on the performance of their
products through the use of technology and also because
they offer such an extensive "one stop shop" lineup.
Continuous improvement is a passion at Rev'it, and
anything that makes a better, longer-lasting,
harder-wearing and safer garment is always under
consideration.
I've mentioned this before, but it's the very tiny
details that make the difference with Rev'it clothing.
Sometimes, these details don't get noticed in the
showroom, but if you see as much motorcycle gear as we
do, you definitely notice the differences.
2010 Rev'it "Victory" Leather Race
Suit
For example, Rev'it has a new top-of-the-line one-piece
leather racing suit for 2010 called the Victory.
The suit, developed on the track with riders like
Randy de Puniet and Karl Harris (British Superbike) is acting as a testbed for some advanced Rev'it
technologies which are then incorporated into the rest
of the Rev'it clothing line.
An example of the Rev'it attention to detail can be
found right on the front of the Victory suit.
The suit has some tiny little black holes peppered in
the front and rear of the leather. The black holes
on the chest are laid out in small triangles, and at
first they look like a painted-on styling flourish.
Here's the suit:
2010 Rev'it Victory One-Piece Leather Racing Suit
In reality, the tiny black dots are
actually perforations, made with a laser. The
holes are so perfectly round that even on very close
inspection it was difficult to tell that they were
actually holes, until I held the leather up to the
light.
Here's a close-up:
Above and below: Laser-cut ventilation holes in the
Victory suit
Using a CNC-controlled laser to make these dots not
only improves the ventilation in the leather suit but
the use of the laser means that the holes are cauterized
by the laser, and they have less of a tendency to tear
as they would with punched holes.
The holes are also located on the back and sides of
the suit for ventilation.
By the way, the suit also looks fantastic, and it
incorporates stretch Kevlar material in the sides of the legs
and the arms (seen as the narrow red V-shaped sections
in the photo above). The stretch material at the
bend points should make it much more comfortable than a
"normal" one-piece leather suit.
Rev'it "3D"
Mesh Lining
Rev'it has also designed a new "3D" mesh lining that
is used in the Victory suit and other 2010 Rev'it
garments, like the new
Sand jacket.
The 3D mesh is one of those "Why didn't I think of
that?" ideas.
It has highly perforated mesh fabric on either side,
but the best part is the squishy folded ribbed material
in the center. It keeps the outer leather or
textile shell away from the skin, allowing lots of air
to pass between the rider's hide and the outer
protective layers.
Here's a photo of the 3D Mesh in the back of the
Victory suit:
New Rev'it 3D mesh lining (above) and close-up (below.
The Victory suit also has a ventilated hump in the
back, which forces air down through a grid on the top of
the hump and out the bottom, through the rear of the
suit and through the 3D mesh to keep the rider cool.
Air flows in the top and out the bottom of the
Ventilated hump on the Victory race suit.
Another new feature to help make the suit more
flexible and easy to wear (besides the stretch panels in
the exterior) is a new process for pleating a single
piece of leather to make it more flexible in the elbows
and knees, as seen in the next photo:
One-piece leather accordion pleats on the Victory suit.
And finally, the Victory suit has an extra zipper at
the bottom of the leg, which can be opened to make the
suit easier to put on and take off, a problem in most
leather suits, especially when the rider is sweaty.
Here's a photo showing the opening zipper and the
additional release zipper:
Extra zipper in the leg of the Victory suit provides
ease of entry and exit.
Anyone who has worn a one-piece leather
suit will immediately recognize these features as a big
advancement towards comfort and flexibility. Maybe
this will encourage more street riders to take advantage
of the protective features of one-piece leathers also?
The 2010 Rev'it Victory suit will be
available in three colors: the red, white, black and
gold shown here; a white and blue "BMW-ish" color scheme
and a more subdued mostly black suit.
The Revi't 2010 CR
Collection
Also new for 2010 is the "CR" line of clothing.
The CR clothing has "modern retro" styling and features
that are perfect for the street.
The CR line consists of jackets and a
selection of one-piece suits that feature styling and a
cut oriented more towards the street.
CR jackets are perfect for street use,
but they should also become popular with owners of retro
bikes such as the
Ducati GT1000; the new
Triumph Bonneville and its variants; the
Moto Guzzi V7 Classic; the Harley-Davidson XR1200
and others.
Even cruiser owners will like the CR
jackets and Rev'it also has a new and superb-looking
(and feeling) black leather modern-retro jacket called
the "Hawk" for 2010 that should appeal to everyone (more
on that below).
The CR jackets are available in either
leather or textile and in men's sizes and women's
specific sizes; the textile versions have a looser fit
suitable for commuting.
Our own "S.G." has her eyes on the
women's CR and we'll plan on a review just as soon as we
can after the 2010 clothing line is released in February
of 2010.
Here are a couple of photos of the CR
leather jackets. The black jacket below is the
men's and the cream-colored jacket on the right is the
women's cut:
2010 Rev'it CR leather jackets. Men's on left and
women's on right.
2010 Rev'it CR Textile
Jackets
The CR jackets are also available in a textile version
in either red or black (the red is designed to match
Ducati red). They're designed for spring and fall
weather and they can even be worn around town for a cool
look.
The outer shell is water-resistant with
sealed seams and the CR textile jackets have a removable
insulating vest. The price for the textile CR
jackets is very reasonable at a list of $220.00.
Here's a photo of the red and black CR
textile jackets:
2010 Rev'it CR textile jackets
The CR line also has a one-piece suit with more
subdued styling than the Victory and it also isn't quite
as pre-formed in the legs, arms and back as the full
race suits can be. Here's a look:
Rev'it CR leather one-piece suit with more relaxed
construction.
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2010 Rev'it "Hawk" Jacket The 2010 Rev'it collection includes this
fantastic-looking "American style" black leather jacket
with special Elk-skin soft leather that feels silky soft
and smooth.
The jacket has French-style stitching in front and
rows of contrasting stitching on the shoulders and
elbows. The stitching on the production version of
the Hawk jacket which will be darker and in double rows,
rather than the single stitches shown on this
pre-production version.
The jacket has a removable insulating vest and
although I don't have a photo, the lower "tail" in the
rear just below the hem is made from quilted leather for
that retro '50's look.
The jacket will list for $499.00, which is very
reasonable for an Elk-skin leather jacket of this
quality with full armor. The sizing for this
jacket will be different from the other Rev'it gear,
since this jacket will be sold only in the U.S.
Here's a photo and a detail of the arm:
2010 Rev'it Hawk jacket is made from Elk leather.
2010 Rev'it Hawk jacket details.
2010 Rev'it "Union" Jackets
Rev'it is also releasing a line of slightly more basic
leather jackets with a removable liner and a lower price
point, the jackets will be $350.00 list and the men's
jacket will come in an expanded sizing range from
European 48 to 62 (U.S. size 52).
The jackets also have very discreet Rev'it logos, one
on the front and what I call the Rev'it "Trimus Circum
Circulus" logo on the back. The Union jacket is
still in development so I didn't take a photo of the
mock-ups.
2010 Rev'it Bronx and Brighton
Jackets Last but not least, Rev'it has a couple of
nice commuting or scooter or "lifestyle" jackets for
2010.
The Bronx (left in photo below) and the Brighton have
water-resistant (Rev'it says waterproof) outer shells
and full armor, but the armor can be removed and the
jackets can be worn on the street also.
The jackets have removable insulation and the collars
can also be removed. The idea was to deliberately
make a jacket that did not look like a motorcycle
jacket.
The jackets will retail for around $220.00.
2010 Rev'it Bronx and Brighton jackets
wBW
Video: Quick tour of the New York skyline and the
Rev'it showroom.
Conclusion The Rev'it lineup continues to improve with
some great-looking clothing and an aggressive pricing
strategy. We can't wait to try the new Sand jacket
and pants, the CR jackets and more.
