If you ride in hot weather, you know how hot even a ventilated jacket gets for adventure riding.
I always avoided wearing mesh jackets as the idea
of sliding down the road with such flimsy gear was not appealing.
But eight years ago, I was sick of sweating so settled on the Klim Induction jacket.
It's possibly the most ventilated jacket on the market,
but also comes with armour and abrasion-resistant materials.
These meet the seond highest standard CE rating...
very impressive for a mesh jacket.
Expensive. Yes.
Is it worth the money?
Lets find out with our Klim Induction mesh jacket long term review.
Here are the main claims to fame of the Klim Induction mesh jacket.
What is Rihno stitch technology?
It sounds impressive, but absolutely no explanation on what it actually is.
Try googling it.
There is zero information.
The ventilation on the Klim Induction mesh jacket?
Brilliant. There is so much mesh that even in first gear you feel air flowing through.
Very high quality zipper.
Heaps of reflective bits for safety.
Plenty of pockets.
Including this cool little pouch for your sunglasses.
The fleece-lined collar is very comfortable.
When so many jackets are coming in black only,
it's great to see Klim offering high visibility colour schemes.
There's a removable liner that is fully waterproof, even after all these years.
It's the armour and abrasion resistance I'm
really interested in, normally the downside of mesh jackets.
Abrasion resistance.
The mesh is Klim's Karbonite material,
they claim it is 750% more abrasion-resistant than normal mesh.
But there is no evidence of their testing, or explanation of how they tested it.
And against what.
So we have to take Klim's word for it.
But I did come across forums posts where guys said it held up well after sliding down the road.
And it has passed the AA standard for abrasion testing, the second highest rating possible.
The abrasion zones for elbows and shoulders.
These are rated to 840D.
It is enough?
Well most textile jackets rely on a 600 denier fabic which always fails in abrasion tests.
And again, the Klim Induction jacket has passed the AA standard for abrasion.
What about armour? The D30 EVO armor is soft and comfortable compared to most other options.
It's pretty advanced stuff.
Under impact, it suddenly stiffens to disperse the impact.
Nice.
Again it's good enough to reach the AA standard.
Another thing I liked, the Klim Induction mesh jacket is made in Vietnam,
a country with a very solid textile industry from French colonial days.
So much bike gear is now made in China where quality control isn't so good.
And given how China is acting on the world stage lately,
I would rather not support them until they behave a bit better.
So what's not good about this jacket?
Me? I have zero complaints so I searched the internet for criticisms.
Most were about the jacket not fitting correctly,
I ignored these there are plenty of overweight riders out there.
And you really should test the fit before buying it.
One rider said he didn't like the way the wrist cinches strap up.
But overall the user reviews average 4.7 to five out of five stars.
Conclusion?If you have the money, then this is probably the most ventilated jacket you can buy
that meets the second highest safety standards.
I had a quick look at the main competitors and they either aren't rated at all,
or meet the third standard at best.