Race-ready leathers from one of Italy’s finest
I LIKE MY leathers like I like my wine, women, food, bikes and art – from Italy.
I can’t help it - there’s something about Italian kit that gets my juices going because more often than not, it just looks so damn fine, plus if you ride as slowly as me, you might has well look good doing it.
That’s why I’ve spent the past two month’s riding in Spidi’s latest, greatest set of one-piece leathers - the Tronik Wind Pro suit.
Style-wise, it ticks all the boxes thanks to the Spidi logos stitched into the arms, legs and chest with simple, tasteful design and a range of colours on offer including good old black and white, blue and a couple of fluro yellow options.
Once on, the Tronik feels as good as it looks. It took a couple of rides to feel like it had really broken in but thanks to the supple leather, abrasive resitant stretch panels and accordion pieces of leather at the lower back, knees and shoulder blades, freedom and range of movement is up there with the best. Being an Italian race suit, you might not be surprised to find out that the fit is close – I like that because it means that there’s no excess material or bunching and at high speed, I’m never aware of the Tronik flapping about in the wind.
Small pieces of neoprene at the wrists and back of the collar allow the suit to sit snugly and comfortably against the skin in those areas but it’s the neoprene ankle cuffs that really stand out for me because it means the Tronik’s legs are super comfortable and snug no matter what boots I’m wearing.
Top comfort is matched by all the protection you’d expect from a premium suit. The Cowhide leather is between 1.1 and 1.3mm-thick, underneath it sits CE-certified armour at the shoulders, knees and elbows. Externally, there’s also shoulder armour and optional elbow sliders, which don’t come with the suit as standard. That’s disappointing because without the elbow sliders in place, the elbows of the Tronik have large patches of Velcro which look like the elbow patches on an old man’s tweed blazer – not cool, Spidi. There’s also armour at the hips; having never used leather with hip armour before, it’s a touch that made the Tronik Wind Pro feel particularly reassuring the first few times I stuck it on.
In the name of er… deliberate testing I can even attest to some of the Tronik’s crashability thanks to a little mishap on the road; I slid off a bike on a right-hand bend and came down on my right side before sliding into a ditch. The only minor damage I had was a sore hand for a few days – the hip armour on the right side and the elbow armour did a stellar job of absorbing the impact. A few scuffs on the right arm and arse area were the suit’s only scars.
As with most decent modern suits, the Tronik sports a back hump, but this one can take Spidi Hydroback drinks reservoir for when it’s roasting. I haven’t felt the need to use it, but on track in the savage heat of Qatar, I could feel the Tronik’s highly-perforated front panels giving me some much-needed ventilation and airflow.
Finally, the lining is easily removable and, shock horror, doesn’t snag and detach every time I put the Tronik on/take it off. It’s got an internal pocket that does up with poppers, and a couple of spaces for a chest protector.
As trick-looking, well specced one-piece leathers go, these are faultless and offer the kind of premium protection, comfort, ride feel and dash of styling I expect from one of Italy’s finest.
Tested: Spidi Tronik Wind Pro one-piece leather suit
Price: £1,099.99
Sizes: 46 – 58
