Vegan Riding Gear (Under Construction Valid Links are Red)
| This entire website was inspired by the great work of Carl Olsen who created the first and only vegan riding gear list as well as creating the Vegan-MC mailing list at Yahoo Groups. He rarely updates his page, so I desired to create a newer list that I will try and update regularly. |
Vegan Gear Guide
Helmets |
| A few disclaimers and opinions before we go onto the gear. I feel that for a product to be truly vegan, it has to not only not contain any animal products in it, but it also needs to be produced as environmentally friendly as possible, as well as being cruelty-free to the people who are making it. Since I do not have the resources to check each companies production facility, and due to the very limited amount of vegan gear I am including all products that do not contain animal products in them, and calling them vegan. | |
| I have not tried all of the gear on the guide but when I have used it, or have other users opinions I will state them. I am not a safety expert, nor can I tell you what will protect you in the event of a fall. I am providing you with links to products, but not endorsing them, or telling you what to wear, only you can decide what you think is safe and will protect you. One thing I can tell you is when I ride, I ride ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time). To me this means, a quality full-face helmet, heavy cordura, or Kevlar jacket with shoulder and elbow amour, spine protection, cordura or Kevlar pants, knee and hip pads, and strong riding boots, as well as high-quality gloves. I have bounced along the pavement at over 120 mph (on a race track) and I know the dangers of not having the right gear. |
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Helmets Unless a helmet is covered in leather or obviously not vegan, as far as I know all of them are vegan. Personally I wear an Arai Signet, which I am looking to replace. Most likely with another Arai since they seem to fit me well and have protected me in the past. I always recommend a good quality full-face helmet and I prefer helmets with a one-piece shell and do not like to wear flip-up helmets. |
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| Gloves | |
| Gloves may be the hardest piece of vegan motorcycle gear to find. Luckily more and more manufacturers are using non-leather materials on gloves. This list is a definite work in progress. Unless I can find a direct link to the glove, or the manufacturer or a distributor confirms the gloves exist I am not putting them on here. | |
| Motoport currently makes two vegan gloves, though one is in preproduction. I have been testing a pair of their new vegan racing gloves since last fall and I like them a lot. Luckily I have not "tested" them by crashing, but they should do a decent job in a crash. Since my gloves are preproduction I am not sure if there will be any changes, but I like them so far. The glove that is available is their Polar AX glove, this is a heavy-duty winter glove which I have not tried. |
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| Olympia responded to an email saying they make three vegan gloves, the 760-Air Force Gel, which is a fully vented summer glove, the 757-Fingerless Air Force Gel a fingerless version of the 760 and a 765-Ladies Air Force Gel, I cannot find this glove on their webpage but I am assuming it is a woman's cut of the 760. | |
| Aerostitch makes two gloves that are vegan, and they are even smart enough to call them vegan and they have a little blurb about vegan gloves in their 2007 catalog. My only complaint is they do not mention the ethical reasons for wearing vegan gloves, but kudos for them even mentioning the word vegan. They offer the 3-Season Vegan #433, which looks to be exactly what is called, a lightly insulted three season glove, their other alternative is their Summer Vegan #435 which is just as they say a nicely vented gauntless summer glove. | |
| Joe Rocket makes a handful of vegan gloves, they are all summer gloves, or mechanics gloves, this is not a bad thing, but I wish they made some heavier-duty gloves. They did write an email as a reply to an inquiry stating "Synthetic gloves are always a compromise in the area of safety.... In past years we had more synthetic gloves however I was not impressed with the durability." I cannot completely disagree but it is a chance I am willing to take. They gloves the do make are as follows, Joe Rocket Crew, Corona Race Prep, Rocket Nation, Power Trip Diablo, Honda Supersport.. | |
| Spidi confirmed they currently make two vegan gloves in an email, the Striker H2Out glove and the Staff glove. I have not seen these gloves in person, but most of the Spidi stuff is of very high quality. | |
| Alpinestars discontinued their Drystar ST-1 gloves, I own a pair and I think if you look around there still might have some available. These gloves are a pretty good, waterproof three-season glove that are also low cost. Though I am not sure they offer much in terms of crash protection. Currently Alpinestars does not make any vegan gloves or boots but according to an email I received from them "We understand this is an important issue so it is possible that there will be leather-free gloves in boots in the near future." | |
| Mechanix Wear makes a lot of vegan, gloves. They are not riding gloves, but some of their gloves feel like they may be better built then some of the motorcycle specific vented riding gloves. I wear a pair of M-Pact gloves for some summer use, and they feel pretty good for that style glove. I have had good luck finding them in most of the big chain U.S. auto part stores (eg. Pep Boys, Autozone, Napa, etc.) | |
| Motocross/Off-road Gloves from what I have seen most of the higher-end gloves do not use leather. Because most of the manufactures of MX gloves change styles of gloves so often your best bet is to go to their webpage directly. | |
| Glove Liners are used for two things, for warmth there are a million choices, jus make sure they are not wool or silk, I bought mine from a local REI, for protection there are a lot of Kevlar glove liners. I know some people use them as gloves, but personally I wouldn't, but they should add a bit of protection in the event of a get-off under some lightweight gloves. Aerostitch sells some nice liners, one I really like on paper is this one, Moose Racing also sells some Kevlar glove liners. If you do a web search you'll find lots of Kevlar liners. | |
| Others? In my opinion I feel gloves are the hardest thing to find and also the one area that vegan gear is a safety compromise. It is one I am willing to make, but I would love to learn about more choices. If you know of any other vegan gloves please send me a link and I will put them up here. | |
| Boots | |
| Alpinestars currently does not make nay vegan boots, but in an email they acknowledged "We understand this is an important issue so it is possible that there will be leather-free gloves in boots in the near future." If they do change their lineup I will post it here. | |
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Sidi
makes a lot of vegan boots made
from Lorica, though most of their vegan boots are more of a
racer, than a cruiser style. The following boots are vegan
Strada Evo Te-Por,
Strada Evo-Air,
Sport
Te-Por (bit less racy looking),
Way Te-Por,
Way Te-Por
Mega (available in wide sizes),
Scorpion Air (short sneaker style boot),
Champion Air,
their entire line of racing boots are vegan and can be seen here
http://www.motonation.com/sidistreetracing.htm. Amazingly
Sidi also make two vegan bots designed and sized for women
Jasmine Te-Por,
and the B2
Ladies. The 2006 Sidi Force SRS are vegan and a high quality MX boot. They are still available from a few sources, I just purchased mine from Rocky Moto. |
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| Joe Rocket currently does not make any vegan boots | |
| Oxtar appears to make some vegan boots, but have not replied to my email to confirm they do yet. | |
| Setup boots are supposed to be made at the same factory as Sidi but are a lower cost alternative. They d make a few vegan boots and may be the highest quality lower cost motorcycle boot line out there. There Vision is a nice no frills race boot, and their Sunrise boot is a nice all-around riding/touring boot. | |
| Alt-berg is a U.K. boot maker who makes custom boots that are supposed to be of a very high quality. Though they do not offer the protection of some of the motorcycle specific boots, they appear to be very sturdy. According to their website they make vegan boots for an additional 25%. Click here for a list of their motorcycle boots. | |
| Vegetarian Shoes makes a 14 Eye Boot, an Engineer boot, and a Paraboot which are all available from Mooshoes in the U.S. I do not recommend any of these for riding protection, they will offer minimal protection but I would count them as true motorcycle boots. | |
| Scottvegan motocross boot Scott Genius. They often some serious protection and do so at a high dollar cost. | |
| Jackets | |
| Jackets may be one of he easiest things to find as a vegan, there are all kinds of Cordura, Kevlar, Ballistic Nylons, etc. out there which will do a nice job of protecting you. Almost every manufacturer carries synthetic jackets, therefore I am only going to post a few but look around to see what is out there. I have no affiliation with them but New Enough has probably the most detailed listing and descriptions of products on the net. You can search for textile and mesh gear and find what works for you. I am only listing a few manufacturers below, these are companies I am very familiar with or own. | |
| Motoport has a complete line of synthetic clothing, actually other than gloves they do not make any leather clothing. They claim that their clothing is stronger and safer than leather, I only own their gloves and I have not test crashed any of their gear. They also make the only vegan racing suit that is approved by almost every sanctioning body. | |
| Olympia Motorsports makes real high quality stuff that is more inexpensive than some of their competitors. As a bonus all of their clothing (excluding gloves) are vegan. I wear their AST jacket in Hi-Vis yellow (safety first) | |
| Aerostitch was one of the first manufacturers to make well designed synthetic clothing, that happened to be vegan. Many still consider it the best stuff on the market. | |
| Joe Rocket makes a lot of textile, vegan jackets. In my opinion I think their stuff is a bit below the above companies in terms of quality, but their prices are great. I have an Alter Ego jacket and I love it for summer riding. I have tested it at about thirty miles and hour and walked away unscathed, though I put better spine protection in it. | |
| First Gear makes some high-quality vegan jackets and have made them for a long time. | |
| Pants and Chaps | |
| Vegan pants are another thing that are very easy to find, you can also use New Enough as a source for info. all of the companies listed in the jackets make pants. I do not wear them, but I have heard chaps are a challenge to find but there are companies out there that offer them. | |
| Colorado Chaps Company makes vegan chaps, there are a few different styles and they do custom work, which is a bonus. Here is a link to their motorcycle chaps. | |
| Motoport has a complete line of synthetic clothing, actually other than gloves they do not make any leather clothing. They claim that their clothing is stronger and safer than leather, I only own their gloves and I have not test crashed any of their gear. They also make the only vegan racing suit that is approved by almost every sanctioning body. | |
| Olympia Motorsports makes real high quality stuff that is more inexpensive than some of their competitors. As a bonus all of their clothing (excluding gloves) are vegan. Some of their stuff is also styled so it does not look that obnoxious when off the bike. | |
| Aerostitch was one of the first manufacturers to make well designed synthetic clothing, that happened to be vegan. Many still consider it the best stuff on the market. | |
| Joe Rocket makes a lot of textile, vegan pants. In my opinion I think their stuff is a bit below the above companies in terms of quality, but their prices are great. I | |
| First Gear makes some high-quality vegan pants and have made them for a long time. I have a pair of First Gear HT Overpants and I like them a lot though they are a bit warm in the summer. | |