This week's gear Guide features new products from Lewis Leathers, waterproof gloves, cool denim, limited edition Ts and a fantastic women's biker jacket. PRODUCT REVIEW - CHURCHILL MAVERICK CTW CLASSIC THINSULATE GLOVES WITH SYMPATEX INSERT Churchill gloves are 100% US made motorcycle gloves that come in over thirty styles and seven colours, crafted with the best deerskin leather. As a company Churchill have been making deerskin gloves since 1897. Deerskin is an extremely strong yet soft and flexible leather, much tougher, more durable and abrasive resistant than cow leather. They offer a high level of protection and are very supple. In the eventuality of getting your gloves wet, these dry to their original soft condition. The Maverick CTW is styled in the tradition of the classic American work glove. A no- nonsense glove lined with 100 grams Thinsulate™, a soft lightweight liner than provided thermal insulation. A Sympatex® insert is sewn between the 100 gram Thinsulate™ and the leather to provide weatherproof and waterproof protection. The standard cuff has elastic at the wrist for a secure fit. These are an incredibly comfortable glove from the outset, soft and well fitting, particularly considering they’re waterproof. They give good feedback, and unlike many lined gloves, they don’t feel spongy. They are a colder weather glove, but anything short of 30 degrees in direct sunshine, these are a comfortable. I got these in natural, which already have developed a lovely patina. These are a handsome robust pair of gloves. If you only have one pair of riding gloves, these would be the ones you want. If you buy in the US you can order directly from the Churchill website, but if you order from outside you need to pay a hefty export fee, based on the fact that every pair of Deerskin gloves leaving the US must be inspected by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Department. If you’re based in the EU you can order from the guys at Foundry. http://www.foundrymotorcycle.co.uk http://www.feeltheride.com/ PRODUCT REVIEW - ODFU T-SHIRTS. ODFU is the brainchild of young designer and aspiring grease monkey Kevin Wilson, who produces an eclectic array of custom bike inspired T-shirts. “Combining a love of classic engineering and an unbridled spirit of adventure with every hand drawn design, we have created a brand that lives and breathes motorcycle culture.” Whilst at art school, Kev became interested in artists using T shirts as a medium to showcase their work. Inspired by bike culture, he started with a logo and a Twitter account, where his design proved to be insanely popular, and supply quickly outweighed demand. He created ODFU Clothing with the intention to be different and give people something more than just a t-shirt. He limits each print run and makes the packaging extra special. It’s the time and thought that goes into each order that makes ODFU different, from the string tied packaging to the nostalgic treats that are sneaked into orders. People often say, “The packaging is too nice to open” or “What a nice surprise to get a 1950s speedway programme in my order” according to Kev “... these are the reasons why I put the extra time and effort in, it’s what makes it interesting for me as well the customer”. ODFU (one down, four up) are constantly changing their stock, adding new designs to their staples. He has collaborated with Austin artist Denton Watts on the “Win or Lose” t-shirt featured. These are great t-shirts to wear under your leather jacket in the summer months. “ODFU products are like any good road beast, they are made to last and born to move.” http://www.odfu.co.uk/ BODA SKINS KAY MICHAELS QUILTED WOMENS BIKER JACKET The Boda biker jacket is a seriously cool womens leather that is both stylish and hard wearing and works equally well both on and off the bike. The tailored fit of the quilted body is reminiscent of the classic cafe racer jacket, whilst the zippers give the jacket a modern edge. It features sleeves crafted with Boda Skins signature tucking technique. The featured jacket is in oil black, but it’s available in an array of colours ranging from tan through dark brown to bright red, pink and white. Boda Skins design their jackets in Manchester and manufacture in the village of Sucati, in Southern Turkey. Under the direction of founder Nathan Alexander, the label has managed to marry great British design with quality Turkish craftsmanship. Committed to the use of traditional tanning methods, their skilled team of artisans expertly craft each of their jackets from butter-soft napa leather, with “...a commitment to stylistic integrity and quality without compromise”. Boda Skins have created a design that pays homage to the iconic Perfecto jacket, whilst being contemporary and paying attention to modern styles. A womens biker jacket in it’s own right, and not just an ill-fitting after-thought version of a man’s jacket. The Kay Michaels Quilted Womens Biker jacket is every bit as sexy as Old Empire’s Vulcan! http://bodaskins.com/ IRONHEART IH-666-UHR ULTRA HEAVY DEVIL’S FIT JEANS Our friends down at Iron Heart have just taken stock of their signature Slim Devil’s Fit five pocket jeans built out of loomstate 21/23oz indigo selvedge denim. It is very stiff, very warm and fades with amazing contrast. The heavy Raw 21oz shrinks to 23oz. Loomstate is a woven fabric that comes off the loom and has zero processing such as singing, anti-skewing, sanforising etc. performed to it. It’s about as pure a denim as you can get, and it will be hairy, will shrink and will twist. This is really raw. The build features a button fly and hidden rivets, lined rear pockets, and Polycotton constructional stitching. When washed, these will shrink to tagsize in the waist and approx 2 inch in the inseam, but after a month or two of wear will stretch back to approx pre-soak size. If requesting hemming, please allow for shrinkage and let Giles know what inseam you want pre-soak. Iron Heart is born from the collaboration of Shinichi Haraki and Giles Padmore, and they build tough, robust and over engineered jeans. “Ethically manufactured, beautiful and durable clothing”. They run a forum where all of their products are reviewed, and all things denim are discussed. Built for bikers, these things are as indestructable as denim can get. They don’t feature dedicated protective armour, but these will keep you warm and feeling secure on the bike, and looking pretty good too. http://www.ironheart.co.uk LEWIS LEATHERS X EFFECTOR AVIAKIT SUNGLASSES Lewis Leathers, the legendary UK leathers manufacturers, have teamed up with renowned Tokyo eye specialists Effector to create a range of robust and stylish shades - “for beatniks, spies, motorcyclists and rock 'n' rollers.” The Aviakit are named after Lewis Leathers iconic brand mark, and live up to the cafe racer tradition that’s so closely associated with Lewis Leathers. They have a contemporary retro style, that look equally at home on a Triton as on a tricked up Ducati Sport Classic. The sunglasses are hand made in Japan with a level of quality and attention to detail that is second to none. These are an exquisitely engineered shades that are more than capable of coping with the battering your typical biker will put them through. They fit well inside an open face lid, and a Biltwell/Ruby Castil style retro full face. They measure 146mm wide and 43mm high, with a 22mm bridge and temple width of 140m. These are currently only available online from Effector in Japan, or in store at the Lewis Leathers shop in London’s West End. http://www.lewisleathers.com http://effector-eyewear.com/