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Motorcycle riding gear review: Rynox Cypher jacket & Viaterra gloves

19th June 2023, 15:48 by Rahul Nagaraj

No safety is skimped upon with CE Level 2 armours in the shoulders, back, and arms.

BHPian Malliketh recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Starting with Rynox Cypher Jacket

Reason for purchase - I own a Rynox Tornado, which is a textile jacket and has been my trusted jacket for a long time for any ride that had me leaving Mumbai's borders. However, for a while, I have been on the lookout for a 'city' riding jacket. My minimum safety gear regardless of distance is gloves + the gloves but because I use my KTM 390 Adventure for commuting to the office daily and the kind of riding I've seen around me I was seriously looking around to add protection of riding jacket which:

light
low-key in appearance. Not making me look like I'm about to leave for Ladakh after office
not skimp on the protection level

My research led me to Cypher GT. As I mentioned earlier on the thread before purchasing how little information/review is there on this jacket? I tried it on for myself in the store and purchased it just before the summers in Mumbai kicked in.

Key observations for anyone looking to purchase a jacket for a similar purpose

The jacket in black and blue are low-key. They can be worn without getting too much in notice the public eye, especially at the office. The black one rather looks like a smart additional layer when heading out in the evening. So that checked my first box. I've worn it to the office multiple times and while I do get a second glance for people to confirm what I am wearing, It's definitely much less distracting than what my Tornado would demand.
This jacket is light. As soon as you pick it up you'd feel a difference especially if you're used to a full textile jacket
No safety is skimped upon with CE Level 2 armours in the shoulders, back, and arms. Chest pads are foam by default but can be upgraded to L2 by paying another 1k. The armour is comfortable and fits perfectly if you've sized it right. For reference,
I am just over 5ft 7 inches with a relatively lean body and wear an S.
Rynox has added thoughtful additions for city users. The collar is short which makes the jacket less annoying in heat and city traffic. There is a zip pouch below the wrists on the left arm. I use it to carry change for parking and then to store the smart parking card from the office. This is easily operable with gloves on. This should be added to all jackets IMO.
Two girth adjusters are provided on the arm, this allows me to get just the perfect fit while riding. When it is too hot and stuck in traffic, with a flick I can loosen them to allow a gap between the jacket and my shirt. Again easily operable with gloves on.
Overall build quality is decent. No stitches jutting out. No chain issues (all YKK). The colour remains dark black with repeated usage and mild cleaning.
How does it perform in the mad heat of Mumbai with traffic - as well as it can? We cannot defy physics here. Regardless of how much mesh Rynox adds, you cannot engineer anything to make wind flow when stationary. So if you're in stop-and-go traffic - you.will.sweat. So while I do have a city jacket in my wardrobe now, I prefer reaching my office without bad odour while compromising on safety. My ownership of this jacket has solely been through the summers, so if it's too hot and if I am riding during the day - I am avoiding the jacket. To the jacket's credit - when I am riding back home in the evening with the jacket and traffic - it works as advertised. Well-ventilated and safe. I expect this jacket to be great in the monsoon (with my trusted Rynox Rain Jacket over it) and winters (or what we call 'not summer' in Mumbai).
A testament to usability - I recently travelled to Kovalam, Kerela for a team outing and had already made plans to rent a bike to visit Kanyakumari and back before the rest of the team arrived. I was able to carry the Rynox Cypher GT in my backpack without the back armour and comfortably use it for the journey. I barely added weight to my luggage and folded in well. Back armour separately went in my check-in luggage. This added versatility is appreciable.

Hope this helps to buy decisions for people looking at the jacket. Happy to address any specific queries.

Review for Viaterra Grid Gloves

I wanted to upgrade my gloves to the safest on the market within a decent budget. Just under a year back, I concluded it's the safest to get a full gauntlet glove and there are only two options - Viaterra Grid and Rynox Storm Evo. I did not particularly like the build quality of Storm Evo and heard good reviews of Viaterra's Grid (including Toll-Free Rider's on YoutTube). Decided to go with it and purchased it for Rs. 5,000.

Key observations

The glove did not take too long to well... fit like a glove. Very quickly I got used to clutch and brake action on my bike.
I hear people complaining about sweating in such gloves but I face no such issues in my experience.
Full-gauntlet - as I mentioned, I use these as my sole pair of gloves and they're on me every single time I turn on my bike. It is honestly one extra velcro to strap and takes 2 extra seconds. Comfort-wise - it does not impede on any kind of comfort except for blocking your watch/smartwatch if you wear one.
Compatibility with riding jacket- this fits perfectly well over my Rynox Tornado and Cypher GT. No issues. However, would always recommend you try gloves on with your jacket on before you buy it. That's what I did to ensure no regrets.
It has been just under a year of wearing it. The leather is held on really well (never exposed to the rain). I have conditioned them twice (I forget to) but reflects no sign of hardening or cracking. I do not exaggerate that they've been worn every single day for almost 8-9 months. So they have enough mileage on them. The latest photos are attached for reference.
It covers the basic safety requirement - CE-rated, large Knox sliders, Knuckle guards, pinky bridge (underrated; never hope to find out how useful).

Overall, extremely happy with my purchase and worth every penny spent. Would recommend.

Additional updates

With the monsoon approaching, this year I wanted to get proper 'waterproof' riding gloves as I use my bike as my primary mode of transport for work. Last year, I was almost dry with a helmet, rain jacket + pants and RE TCX Stelvio's. Hence to complete the ensemble of the madmen riding to work in the monsoon, I purchased the Rynox Dry Ice Gloves yesterday. Understand that they were launched yesterday itself. They felt very comfortable on the ride home and I hope they live up to the promise. Caveat, they have no CE rating or sliders but have knuckle protectors and abrasion-resistant material over the scaphoid area. Will add first impressions and review only post usage in monsoons (which are not far away).

I notice the thread is missing a discussion on women-specific riding safety gear. My partner has been my pillion for the past year and is now riding herself. Yesterday we finally finished her riding wardrobe upgrade with pants and gloves. Indian market is still highly lacking women-centric safety wear. I will sit with her and pen her experience of all of her riding gear in a further post. For now, listing down the current gears purchased for reference.

Helmet - Axor Apex Hunter. SMK and MT just did not fit her relatively smaller head size well. Been using it for a year. No complaints. Slightly heavy
Jacket - Raida Bolt - no complaints. Fits her 5 feet 2inch body perfectly.
Pants - Raida Rover - the only pant we could find in her size. Fit her perfectly. Purchased yesterday so no comments yet.
Gloves - Rynox Urban X - 'S' size fits her well. Purchased yesterday so no comments
Boots - RE TCX Klausen Lady WP. The only boots we could find were made specifically for women's feet. Fit her perfectly with a UK 5 size. Local brands have no size even close to this. You need to see it in person to realize how narrow and well designed it is for women's feet. The shoe will be tested in the upcoming monsoon rides. My TCX boots have been extremely comfortable to walk in all day long (literally) so I expect no different from her Ortholite sole.

Happy to answer any queries on any of the products. Ride safe everyone.