Upper Body Armour

Hey there, well I made a deal with my wife and I have to buck up for some upper body armour for her. Her part of the deal is she has to buy her whistler season pass so I think its fair.

Here's my question, what brand is the best for women? She's not flat chested and that's my concern, not gigantic either but the regular armour all seems to be geared towards men.

Any advice?

Sorry to bud into the Ladies forum, but I just went through this with my wife.

She tried the Beastgear (not bad) Fox (fit ok, but really heavy) Troy Lee (1st runner up) and Dainese.

The Dainese fit the best and looked to offer the best protection without feeling constricted. I'm pretty sure it's the only one that was women's specific, all the others were just small mens. It's also the most expensive though, but sometimes you get what you pay for (except the their leg armour)

I'll second Dave's comments.

My wife also tried several, and nothing fits like Dainese. Kinda sucks, because it costs the most, but it is the number 1 product out there that everyone else is trying to compete with.

There is another product, that looks identical to Dainese, but it costs significantly less. I think it is called High Velocity Gear or something (do a search, it was on here somewhere in the gear forum I think). Supposed to fit the same as Dainese.

Like anything its all about fit…

I know Gordo designs the Beastgear stuff with women in mind. He has a new suit coming out in a few weeks that is dramatically better than his past offerings when it comes to ladies fit and I think it will even be available in pink.

So far in my experience selling armour to women the Daniese is really the only good fitting option in our store. We try the ladies in all the stuff on the floor but soon as they slip into a safety jacket they are comfy.

If your wife plans on wearing her chest armour all day make sure it isn't too "flattening". I really liked the way the 661 pressure suit fit in the store but after about 3 hours of squeezing and bouncing the "girls" down the mountain, I am ready to rip it the suit off. I swear the same guy who invented sports bras has been busy designing chest armour under the same design theory -- IF ALL ELSE FAILS JUST SQUISH'EM AGAINST THE BODY TILL THEY STOP MOVING -- Ouch!

That said I loved the price $90 US! I can't justify the $400 - $500 for the Daniese.

Can't wait to see how the new Beastgear will fit…

Also jumping in here…

My GF is petite but curvy, and found that the Beastgear - with some modifications - fit best.

Her problem was that even this armour rode up, and choked her. The solution was to sew some velcro onto the jacket and then onto the back side of the kidney belt. That held the jacket down.

She's quite happy with it now. BTW, she found the Dainese with the hard chest protector wasn't comfortable.

That's the biggest problem I find with any upper body armour, is that it continually rides up. I'm finding that I'm having to keep pulling it back down all the time throughout my ride.

I don't know why people keep saying that Dainese is women specific either. Maybe stick women with small breasts specific. But referring to heckler's better 1/2's comment about the squishing effect, I too can't wait to rip the suit off after a few hours. It's definitely constricting in the chest area and I'm not even large chested. I always thought Dainese was made for guys, or unisex at the best, but not women specific. Was I wrong?

That's the biggest problem I find with any upper body armour, is that it continually rides up. I'm finding that I'm having to keep pulling it back down all the time throughout my ride.

I don't know why people keep saying that Dainese is women specific either. Maybe stick women with small breasts specific. But referring to heckler's better 1/2's comment about the squishing effect, I too can't wait to rip the suit off after a few hours. It's definitely constricting in the chest area and I'm not even large chested. I always thought Dainese was made for guys, or unisex at the best, but not women specific. Was I wrong?

I only read one person saying it was women specific.

Everyone else who commented on it just said it seems to be the best fitting armour, which arguably, it is.

It might just seem to work well with women who are smaller framed than most guys because Dainese is the closest, most ergonomic fitting armour on the market. For smaller riders, or less broad shouldered riders, this is going to translate to a better fit.

It sucks to be "swimming" in your armour. It can be bulky, uncomfortable, and it looks awful. Proper fit is the key.

Have any of the ladies tried heating up the plastic protection on the front of the Dainese to buy yourself a little more room? I bet a heat gun to warm the plastic up until it is maliable, followed by a blast of cold water would work well in getting a more personal fit.

This thread isn't the first place I've heard that Dainese is women specific. I've been told this by other people in the past as well.

And it's true, the Dainese does seem to be the best fit so far. Even with the problem of riding up and chest squashing taken into consideration.

This thread isn't the first place I've heard that Dainese is women specific. I've been told this by other people in the past as well.

And it's true, the Dainese does seem to be the best fit so far. Even with the problem of riding up and chest squashing taken into consideration.

People must just be having wishful thinking :lol:

The ladies should try heating that stuff up and reshaping it a bit..might be the answer to any fit issues.

yeah…my 661 rides up too even when I have the kidney belt done up as tight as possible. The spine protector usually ends up gabbing into the base of my fullface helmet and/or digging into the back of my neck.

Sizing it bigger or smaller usually does not help. Somehow it needs to be designed to allow for space upfront yet remain snug in the shoulder area, since most are designed with the shoulder width being the same if not slightly larger than the chest, we girls (who are blessed with a little something up front) are always going to run into problems with fit… I went with the smaller fit which works but is far from a perfect fit.

For the ladies who are having problems with the jacket riding up, seriously - go get yourself a couple of inches of wide, industrial strength velcro, go to a shoe repair place, and have them sew it onto the jacket and kidney belt.

Makes a WORLD of difference, and prevents the jacket / chest protection from riding up. It'll cost you less than $20 and will be money well spent.

My girlfriend wears her jacket all day at Whistler, even in the middle of summer, and doesn't have a problem with it.

Maybe this is a hint for some one to make a model for women. Or to make a name for themselves modifying armour for women. Though that won't make all women happy as you can't fit them all. Kind of like bike shoes, they are made to fit everyone but you.