Last year I had an up coming trip to the Flinders Ranges approaching, and I wanted to buy a new jacket before leaving. Lucky for me I saw Adventure Moto Australia had an Easter sale for 20% off Klim gear which was only days before we leave. I'd been unhappy with the garbage Dri-rider gear I'd bought previously so I went up to try on a new jacket.
Looking at the Jackets I tried on the Carlsbad and it fit me perfectly. I did notice that the arm was slightly long. They had me sit on the bike and check the sleeve length, it sat exactly where it should whilst sitting on the bike. All the armour sat in the right spot straight off. This jacket just fit right from the get go.
Whilst there I decided to try on some pants to check for fit. I tried 34 but my fat guts got in the way of doing them up, even though they fitted everywhere else. 36 fitted and I tried them sitting on the bike. You can get them in a regular or short leg. I wanted to try the short leg but after trying the regular and sitting on the bike it was the perfect length. Any shorter it would pull half way up my boot.
I hadn't planned on buying jacket and pants but realised sooner or later I'd have to get the pants to match the jacket and with 20% off I may as well rip the band aid off once as they say. It was a rather large band aid. Ouch!!
The jacket and pants are made out of Corduroy and Gore-Tex and is extremely light weight. It has C2 hip and knee armour which is removable if you want to use knee braces.
How it perform in the real world?
Riding in cool morning conditions, just wearing a t-shirt underneath when the temperature drops below about 14°C you start to feel the cold. However if I wear a thermal under my t-shirt I can easily ride in temps around 5°C without feeling cold at all. Same for the pants, thermals in 5°C was no issue.
On the opposite side, once the temp rises above about 26°C you start to feel hot, there's a lot of vents that you can open on the jacket and pants to get airflow in, which really helps.
On a recent ride with my brother we rode through some heavy rain into Dorrigo and then all the way down waterfall way in torrential rain, and I didn't get a single drop of water inside the suit. Just make sure all the vents are fully zipped closed. Its great to not have to carry wet weather gear to put over your other gear, as it takes up valuable space on the bike with its bulk.
There's a plethora of pockets in the jacket(about 8) and the pants have 2 huge pockets so there's plenty of room to store things. I find I've been losing my stuff as I forget what pocket I put it in.
There's a small pocket on the left arm for medical details, I use that to store my bike key in so I know where it is, its just the right size to fit a key too.
I notice when I stand on the bike and then sit down the knee armour puts pressure on my knee, so I have to adjust it by moving it up as it seems to have slipped down slightly whilst standing and then its fine from that point. Other than that the armour isn't too invasive. There's armour in the elbows and back which you don't really notice, all removable.
I'm pretty happy with the Klim Carlsbad suite, it's night and day in comparison to the cheap Dri Rider gear that I've used in the past. Would I buy Klim again? It's expensive, but yes I would although I would wait until they have a 20% off sale like when I bought this suite. I'd hate to pay full freight.
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