These clothes were made for riding

Icon’s notorious for tackling the problem of squids not using safety gear with loud, obnoxious products that look more at home in comic books than they do outside the world where chin strap beards and denim shorts are acceptable clothes for an adult to wear in public. And they’ve done that, providing an affordable, quality, safe range of products that now adorn wannabe Ruffryderz everywhere. Now, they’re targeting another emerging demographic of riders equally disdainful of safety — young people living in cities. And they’re doing so not with skulls and klowns and tribal graphics, but with some of the most credible, technically innovative, stylish riding gear ever seen. It’s called the One Thousand collection and it’s about to utterly reverse what you think of the brand.

Photos: Grant Ray :continue:

Wes Siler. March 14th, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (142)

D3O impact protection explained

Made from a patented polymer who’s molecules flow freely at rest, yet lock together when impacted, D3O is one of the most exciting innovations in protective gear in the last decade. First used at the winter olympics in 2006, it’s only just begun appearing in motorcycle gear, most notably in Klim adventure touring suits and in Icon Stryker Field Armor. Its unique properties allow it to be unprecedentedly slim and flexible while still offering CE-certified protection, which we thought would make it perfect for our little project to make ourselves stylish, yet safe motorcycle jackets. :continue:

Wes Siler. May 10th, 2011 - Permalink - Comments (27)

Why can’t we look good when we ride bikes?

Conventional motorcycling wisdom states, “Dress for the crash, not the ride.” But why does being safe have to involve dressing up like a DayGlo sausage, a European hairdresser or a large nylon pillow? Why can Dainese make an airbag racing suit that can tell the difference between a high and low-side crash using a GPS sensor, three gyroscopes and three accelerometers, but not offer a jacket I’d be seen dead in?

You know what, screw it, we’re going to show people that it’s possible. :continue:

Wes Siler. April 12th, 2011 - Permalink - Comments (226)

The most wonderfully over-the-top adventure suit ever

Turns out we were wrong when we said the Icon Field Armor Stryker was the first widely-available, mass-market use of d3o armor in motorcycle gear. Klim got in touch to tell us they’ve been using it for a while in their Adventure Rally jacket and pants. That suit is almost ridiculous in the amount of technology it employs to keep you safe, comfortable and dry. d3o is just the beginning and the suit’s been updated for 2011. And you laughed at all the gear I wore through Labrador. :continue:

Wes Siler. February 17th, 2011 - Permalink - Comments (20)

Icon Field Armor Stryker series: d3o!

Icon’s new Stryker Field Armor is the first mass-market, commercially available motorcycle armor we’re aware of that incorporates d3o — a new impact-absorbing polymer which stiffens on impact, deflecting impact energy to the sides. d3o is exciting not only because it provides full CE-level protection, but because it does so in an incredibly slim, flexible package. Impressively, Icon didn’t stop there with this new series of back protectors, elbow and knee armor, also including supplementary foam padding to further absorb impact forces and even Kevlar for abrasion resistance. :continue: