First, the good part; I recently got a Warm and Safe "Layer Shirt" and it's very, very nice under my winter riding jacket. It still has problems (why is the pocket so small that it BARELY holds the remote control?!), but it's better than the, well, basically entire Gerbing and California Heat closet of crap that I have.
Now.. The rant.
Why is so much heated gear such garbage!?!? Yes, it works, and it's warm. But allow me to break down some of the issues and how EASY it would be to fix them.
Let's start with the controller. First off, 12V powered or AA batteries with a read out for TEMPERATURE. Why on earth am I turning this knob up and down; put a thermostat in each piece of gear, let me set a temperature and figure out how much power to send to each area! We've had thermostats for a solid, IDK, 100 years now, and this stuff is right on your body, it would be trivial to put a small temp sensor in each piece.
Next, why am I wiring stuff in parallel and have 2 knobs (shouldn't have any knobs, as above, THERMOSTAT, but if you're not going to do that, 4 pieces of gear, 4 knobs!!) to control 4 heat areas?? Is there some radio frequency limit I'm not aware of that prevents sending that massive amount of data?? I mean, 30 years ago, sure, electronics were expensive; today?? Allow adjusting each piece independently, kind of seems obvious!
Round wires running against my body?? Someone please show Gerbring the "new fangled" flat cables that are available.. Well, everywhere.
Why on earth are we using a 4in combined plug to connect gloves to a jacket? Use a small connector that can tuck in easily guys, come on!
Armor! Calling a warm pair of gloves "Motorcycle" does not make them so. Where are the sliders, the Aramid, and the CE ratings on.. Well, all of it?!
I finally got my heated insoles comfortable in my boots, but, as an insole, it only heats the bottom. Collaborate with a company that makes boots and give me a good winter riding boot with integrated heat. Ski boots have had this for years, wrap the heat all the way around the foot inside the boot with an easy to access (and small) connector on the side. Again, ski boots have had this for years guys.
I have tons of heated gear, about 3 pairs of gloves, heated socks (GARBAGE), insoles (actually, I'm pretty happy with these, but they should be integrated into the boot), several jackets (all garbage), a liner I just got from Warm and Safe (MUCH better, but should have integrated armor pockets and a pocket big enough to comfortably hold the controller).
When I pick up most nice motorcycle gear, a good jacket for example, it takes me 30 minutes to just even see and understand all the nice things it offers, they are so well designed (from all the major/high end brands today); they are all good, it's more a style and comfort question. When I pick up heated gear, it takes me 30 seconds to figure out "yeah, this isn't well engineered" or "who can even use these" (heated socks come to mind).
Yesterday I was riding with my liner and gloves on one knob, my pants and feet on the other knob. I was about to pour water into my boot to cool off, legs were cold, body warm, hands on fire (I actually just pulled the plug to the gloves). This is SUCH a stupid problem, and it's not rocket science to figure it out and fix it. Go up the mountain, every 5 mins turning the heat up, down the mountain, every 5 minutes turning it down.
I mean, this could be so nice. Add some sensors, get on the bike, plug in and just ride comfortable. I feel like heated gear is stuck in the 80s (my Gerbring liner jacket looks like someone stole it from a ~1990 baseball team; 3 in elastic cuffs... Who does that anymore?!?).
<sigh>
Anyway, to add some value to this post, the stuff that I have that does work well:
Warm and Safe Heated Layer Shirt (don't even consider Gerbring here, if you want one, send me an IM and pay for shipping, I'll send you mine. You'll still feel ripped off when you get it).
https://www.warmnsafe.com/collections/12v-for-motorcycling-power-sports/products/mens-12v-heatlayer
Gerbring Hero Gloves:
https://gerbing.com/collections/12v...-gloves-12v-motorcycle?variant=44879385395491
These aren't bad. The wire needs to be flat, and needs better sliders, but it's not awful. Avoid the any of the California Heat gloves except their lightest model, I have them all, all but the lightest ones are pretty awful)
Gerbring Heated Insoles:
https://gerbing.com/collections/hea...orcycle-heated-insoles?variant=44879379759395
These are pretty good, but are thicker than a regular insole, if your boot is tight, you're gonna suffer. I eventually just bought another pair of boots, up a size, to make them work. No heat on the top, which means the boots need to be pretty heavy to keep warm (I use Daytonas).
Pants:
None, I have 2 pairs, they are both awful.
I just don't understand how there's been about 0 innovation in this space. I know I'm not the only idiot who rides in the 30's, please, someone, give us a full collection of good, armored heated gear and think a little outside the box!
<end rant>
Now.. The rant.
Why is so much heated gear such garbage!?!? Yes, it works, and it's warm. But allow me to break down some of the issues and how EASY it would be to fix them.
Let's start with the controller. First off, 12V powered or AA batteries with a read out for TEMPERATURE. Why on earth am I turning this knob up and down; put a thermostat in each piece of gear, let me set a temperature and figure out how much power to send to each area! We've had thermostats for a solid, IDK, 100 years now, and this stuff is right on your body, it would be trivial to put a small temp sensor in each piece.
Next, why am I wiring stuff in parallel and have 2 knobs (shouldn't have any knobs, as above, THERMOSTAT, but if you're not going to do that, 4 pieces of gear, 4 knobs!!) to control 4 heat areas?? Is there some radio frequency limit I'm not aware of that prevents sending that massive amount of data?? I mean, 30 years ago, sure, electronics were expensive; today?? Allow adjusting each piece independently, kind of seems obvious!
Round wires running against my body?? Someone please show Gerbring the "new fangled" flat cables that are available.. Well, everywhere.
Why on earth are we using a 4in combined plug to connect gloves to a jacket? Use a small connector that can tuck in easily guys, come on!
Armor! Calling a warm pair of gloves "Motorcycle" does not make them so. Where are the sliders, the Aramid, and the CE ratings on.. Well, all of it?!
I finally got my heated insoles comfortable in my boots, but, as an insole, it only heats the bottom. Collaborate with a company that makes boots and give me a good winter riding boot with integrated heat. Ski boots have had this for years, wrap the heat all the way around the foot inside the boot with an easy to access (and small) connector on the side. Again, ski boots have had this for years guys.
I have tons of heated gear, about 3 pairs of gloves, heated socks (GARBAGE), insoles (actually, I'm pretty happy with these, but they should be integrated into the boot), several jackets (all garbage), a liner I just got from Warm and Safe (MUCH better, but should have integrated armor pockets and a pocket big enough to comfortably hold the controller).
When I pick up most nice motorcycle gear, a good jacket for example, it takes me 30 minutes to just even see and understand all the nice things it offers, they are so well designed (from all the major/high end brands today); they are all good, it's more a style and comfort question. When I pick up heated gear, it takes me 30 seconds to figure out "yeah, this isn't well engineered" or "who can even use these" (heated socks come to mind).
Yesterday I was riding with my liner and gloves on one knob, my pants and feet on the other knob. I was about to pour water into my boot to cool off, legs were cold, body warm, hands on fire (I actually just pulled the plug to the gloves). This is SUCH a stupid problem, and it's not rocket science to figure it out and fix it. Go up the mountain, every 5 mins turning the heat up, down the mountain, every 5 minutes turning it down.
I mean, this could be so nice. Add some sensors, get on the bike, plug in and just ride comfortable. I feel like heated gear is stuck in the 80s (my Gerbring liner jacket looks like someone stole it from a ~1990 baseball team; 3 in elastic cuffs... Who does that anymore?!?).
<sigh>
Anyway, to add some value to this post, the stuff that I have that does work well:
Warm and Safe Heated Layer Shirt (don't even consider Gerbring here, if you want one, send me an IM and pay for shipping, I'll send you mine. You'll still feel ripped off when you get it).
https://www.warmnsafe.com/collections/12v-for-motorcycling-power-sports/products/mens-12v-heatlayer
Gerbring Hero Gloves:
https://gerbing.com/collections/12v...-gloves-12v-motorcycle?variant=44879385395491
These aren't bad. The wire needs to be flat, and needs better sliders, but it's not awful. Avoid the any of the California Heat gloves except their lightest model, I have them all, all but the lightest ones are pretty awful)
Gerbring Heated Insoles:
https://gerbing.com/collections/hea...orcycle-heated-insoles?variant=44879379759395
These are pretty good, but are thicker than a regular insole, if your boot is tight, you're gonna suffer. I eventually just bought another pair of boots, up a size, to make them work. No heat on the top, which means the boots need to be pretty heavy to keep warm (I use Daytonas).
Pants:
None, I have 2 pairs, they are both awful.
I just don't understand how there's been about 0 innovation in this space. I know I'm not the only idiot who rides in the 30's, please, someone, give us a full collection of good, armored heated gear and think a little outside the box!
<end rant>