Thermotex Heated Suit And Glove Liners
THERMOTEX HEATED SUIT AND GLOVE LINERS
EVALUATION
NOT-SO-HOT COUTURE
OFTEN AS NOT, COLD-WEATHER RIDing is strictly a losing proposition, especially when it comes to body heat. Even fortified with a cold-weather suit that would do an eskimo proud, a draw’s about the best you can hope for, because wind blast mercilessly strips away body heat almost as quickly as you can generate it. Insulation can only do so much when it's facing wind-chill temperatures of double-digit-minus figures.
Electrically heated clothing—a vest, for example—offers an elegant, straightforward solution to that chilling problem. But if a vest is the fast track to warmth for cold-weather riding, a full-coverage electric suit would seem to be the all-time hot setup. And Centurion Ltd. (6646 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91405; 180Ó-852-0800) hasjust the item: the Thermotex one-piece heated suit. Centurion also sells heated glove liners, as well as Thermotex’s temperature controller, which allows the rider to adjust the power output to the suit and liners, and, thus, the amount of heat they put out.
Available in sizes Small through Extra-Large, the suit itself resembles a baggy union suit, but with a singlepull zipper up the front of a blue nylon shell, backed by quilted polyester and a black nylon lining, with zippered pockets on the left breast and right hip. The heating element—thin, Teflon-coated wire—runs throughout the suit and exits at the sleeve cuffs to plug into the thin, nylon/polyimide glove liners (one size fits all). A fused, 26-inch-long wire connects to the bike’s battery and to the temperature controller, which plugs into a lead in the suit's hip pocket. Thermotex also includes an extra 25-inch piece of wire, allowing some 4 feet of movement from the bike without having to disconnect the suit. But, since none of the leads are coiled, it’s simpler just to pull the plug when you dismount. Otherwise, that 4 feet of wire has to be stuffed in a pocket.
Crank the temperature control to “Max,” though, and the memory of that inconvenience rapidly melts away. The suit heats quickly, taking less than a minute for its warmth to reach you and keep you out of cold’s icy clutches. In fact, we wore the suit over street clothes, under an insulated touring-style jacket, and felt comfortable even while riding in near-freezing temperatures; the same performance holds true for the glove liners, too. The temperature control seems superfluous, though; the Thermotex suit and liners are extreme measures for extreme conditions, and if it's cold enough to wear them, it’s cold enough to use full power.
But while the Thermotex gear provides the hot line to staying warm, it comes up short in other respects. The cut of the suit, for example, makes it less than ideal for motorcyclists. Just swinging a leg over a saddle will hike the pant cuffs up over most riders' boot tops, and in a seated position the baggy midsection bunches up annoyingly. Add in the blousy sleeves, and the suit becomes uncomfortably
bulky when worn under a jacket. And despite Centurion’s claims that the suit can be worn as an outer garment, a jacket is mandatory.-Otherwise, air pours up the loose-fitting sleeves and down the collar, inflating the suit like a balloon and peeling away warmth. In addition, our suit heated unevenly, leaving one rider with welts on his belly and inner thigh.
Moreover, the Thermotex gear’s warmth—and the shortcomings that accompany it—come at a dear price: $159.95 for the suit, $29.95 for the controller, and $37.45 for the glove liners. For some riders, those prices put the Thermotex equipment out in the cold, especially when they learn that most electric vests (including Thermotex's) cost only about half as much. Undeniably, the suit and glove liners fulfill their basic mission: They make the wearer a winner in the race to stay warm. Unfortunately, though, he might feel like an also-ran.
