Stunning, well made leathers on a budget. Not often we find a suit that appears this well made but is so easy on the pocket
Quality, affordable leathers in a wide range of styles
Initial thoughts
GP Leathers are set at a price point that few others can hope to match and as a result you would perhaps expect that the quality or finish would not be up to the mark of other, more expensive brands and their individual offerings, however I am happy to let you know that this is not the case from this particular brand and on first impression the 1 piece kit I received was very well put together indeed, across the set I found stitching quality to be high and the leather to be of a good quality - in fact it was very supple from the moment it was first put on.
Sizing
When ordering leathers it can be a veritable minefield to ensure you not only get the right protection but the right fit for your frame, manufacturers sizing can be wildly inaccurate leading you to buy from somewhere else simply because you cannot get the right fit, with GP Leathers I found no such problem, the sizing does actually seem to be a fair and accurate representation of the given dimensions. In terms of criticism (if it can be called that) I found the size ordered stretched quite a bit after a short while making them a touch on the baggy side and after a full 6 months of usage I feel the next size down would have been a better choice - however as a general rule it is said to buy a set of leathers that is too tight initially and allow the leather to give over time to the correct fit and this is certainly what I would recommend for the GP Leathers.
One other small grumble was that of the leg length and volume of padding around the knee armour, as most of you will wear your leathers tucked in to your boots you might find it to be a tight squeeze as the leathers come with a layer of foam padding built into the surround on the leather - not really an issue as such but as I prefer things to not feel crushed in it was decided to alter the bottoms and take a few inches off along with most of the foam, this has definitely helped with comfort as as a result the leathers have been worn for 13 months now as my main choice on a daily basis. If you are of the longer legged brand of human you should find these a perfect choice from the off.
Construction and Safety
The build quality of these leathers certainly goes a long way to peace of mind regarding safety, constructed from 1.2/1.3mm Cowhide they are as thick as you would want from a set of leathers, also fitted as standard is CE armour in the knee, elbow, shoulder, shin and forearm and a nice padded foam back protector is also included. Keprotech stretch panels are built in to the inner thigh sections and also along the calf, the knee section and lower back are constructed with a stretch panel to further aid natural movement - these are very comfortable indeed!
I am happy to tell you that these leathers crash well too, just another thing I do for my readers... Well if I am honest it was not planned but hey, it means they were tested where it matters. A 40mph(ish) crash caused me to snap my collarbone in a very nasty way after a 4x4 decided it would be fun to run me off the road - head on! On the leathers are a couple of very small grazes to the shoulder, knee and thigh, so small in fact that you cannot tell they have been damaged. There were no burst seams, or torn sections and in my opinion this showed the leathers to be as good as I could have hoped for, the only criticism I could really type for the construction is that there are no ventilated options with punched leather fronts and while they do have shoulder vents they can get a little on the warm side if your right wrist is not hard at work - I would say that anything over 30mph gets a decent breeze though.
