I recently had the wonderful opportunity from Motorcyclehouse.com to review a jacket made by Firstgear. As many of you already know, Firstgear is one of my very favorite gear companies for women’s gear. They not only think of amenities for all riders, but have a very good conceptual design for female bodies. This gear fits women of all sizes and the size chart is actually fairly accurate!

I wear Firstgear HT overpants so I like staying within one gear company so that my gear has the ability to zip together for a more secure ride, however when you purchase any Firstgear product, you get a zipper connection that can be sew into either a jacket of pants of another brand for the perfect fit. I must admit, that I have other gear, but choose to use my Firstgear most often. Partially this is due to the fact it fits comfortably and has excellent armor that doesn’t rub of chafe anywhere. Firstgear is definitively my number one choice.

Now back the the new Firstgear Contour Mesh Jacket. I had one of the original contour mesh jackets when they were first released. I adored the design, and wore it frequently in the hot summer months, but found oddly that it ran a bit small. I bought an XL jacket instead of my usual L and it even fit a bit tight so that I had to pick and choose what i wore underneath. This new jacket is more true to Firstgear sizing. I got a L and it fits perfectly. All the armor in correctly placed and as a safety requirement, the jacket fits snugly so that the armor stays in place as it should.

Backview with armor…you can buy better spine armor if desired.

The specifics on this jacket at least the ones notable for me are obviously the fit, the excellent armor and the fact it’s mesh for summer.

Fit: Sleek feminine cut that actually takes boobs into consideration! There are bands at both sides that adjust the fit around the waist.

Windproof/waterproof Liner: I don’t love the liner, since it can’t be worn as a stand alone jacket. I don’t know why they skimp on this, when they could certainly make one that could be used off the bike as well and waterproof, like a windbreaker. This liner zips into the jacket at both front sides and secures via snaps in the sleeves, neckline and sides. It fits nicely, but I’d rather see a stand alone liner.

Pockets and storage: There are more than enough pockets in this jacket. Even the liner has matching pockets. There is a long zipper on the right inside that would be good for a cellphone and easy to get to using your clutch hand. There are other pockets as well, but this one is my favorite.

Durability: The YKK zippers are heavy duty as is the 250-denier poly-mesh exterior shell that is used. I also remove the armor and throw the entire jacket into the wash and hang it to dry. I hate having my jackets covered by bugs so this to me is a real plus. You can also see on this new model that the back is longer than the front. This is a vast improvement over my older contour mesh since it would slip up my back when in a riding position unless i zipped it to my pants. I advise zipping, but there are times we simply forget!

Armor: CE-approved that is adjustable to some degree.

Air Flow: This mesh allows total airflow to keep you cool on the warmest days, however keep in mind there are two school of thoughts regarding this. One sez airflow is awesome the other sez it drys out your skin and dehydrates you. If it’s over 90, I general wear a evaporative cooling vest with this jacket. I probably stop once an hour to rehydrate the cooling vest. I am quite comfortable traveling like this. Others are completely content simply ingesting lots of water and wearing the jacket just like it comes. It’s purely an individual choice, but remember if it’s hot to hydrate!!

All in all this is an awesome jacket especially given the price point. On Motorcyclehouse.com the price of the jacket is right around $145 for a size L after selecting from the pull down menu. There are several color choices, yellow, white, silver, pink, blue and black but my favorite it either white, silver or black. I’m simply not into pink anything, but it looks great on others. 😉

If you are looking for a new jacket, this would be a very good three season jacket. Spring, summer and fall it could easily be used. I would want a heavier jacket for winter, but I am always freezing. Do yourself a favor, check out some Firstgear riding gear!

This is me in my old contour mesh. It’s seen alot of (s)miles and comfortable road miles. I imagine so will my new version!

Photo provided by Tyler Risk.