Product Review - Joe Rocket Women's Velocity Jacket

Recently I ordered the Joe Rocket Women's Velocity Jacket from Motorcycle House. Of course I selected the hot pink and black to suit my style! It's getting hot in So Cal and I needed a summer jacket to get through a ride. Many riders believe that simply riding without a jacket will keep them cooler, but that's not really the case. Bare arms expose one to the sun and that sun will not only burn the skin of the rider, it will also raise the body's core temperature, thus making one feel hotter.

A summer jacket not only protects me from the sun and the other weather elements, it protects me from the pavement. People don't like to think about bad things happening so many ignore the dangers. But once a good friend of mine really talked with me about the repercussions of a bad accident, I realized I wanted to protect myself more. So now I make it a point to wear gear when I ride.

The Joe Rocket Velocity comes with few features, but everything important to a rider. I actually like low-tech! The less you have, the less that can go wrong.

The jacket comes with 6 points of adjustability to help it fit snugly, which it does. I can get it snug at the hips, chest and wrists with still plenty of movement around the shoulders and waist. The 2 hand pockets, 1 inside pocket keep it simple, which I appreciate. I'm always losing things if I have too many pockets. The Cooling FreeAir™ mesh shell works great and is made of a pretty solid construction.

When I'm thinking about protection, Rock Tex™ reinforced at the shoulders, ribs, elbows and forearms is important to me. The removable, contoured elbow and shoulder armor and dual density back pad were a disappointment though and were thusly removed. Perhaps I'm an armor snob now, but these pads just don't seem to have much to them. I replaced them with a set of D3O impact protectors - shoulders, elbows, back, which feel far more substantial and have a much higher crash rating.

I'm taking a 8-day ride with 3 friends in August from San Diego to the Redwoods. The entire ride will be around 2,500 miles and we will hit a variety of weather. I wanted a removable full sleeve waterproof liner, which I got in the Joe Rocket Velocity, so I only need to take one jacket. The liner and my hoodie should be all I need with my jacket for all of the weather situations we encounter. Mostly I expect blistering heat, in which case I'll wear my wet vest under my jacket.

I ordered the Viking Cycle Warlock Mesh Jacket for Steve for the summer as well. (No, that's not Steve in the photo.)

We created a video review of the jacket, which you'll see below. Unfortunately, in the video the jacket looks pink, but it is not. It's as red as the photo above. He really likes the jacket, although I don't think we do a good enough job in the video showing his enthusiasm. I guess you just have to know Steve to know THIS IS enthusiasm!



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