HELD Slade Leather Race Suit - Review Hot

German protection supremo's Held sent us their Slade suit which is their most popular one piece race suit to give a full working over and with a trip to Cartagena Circuit planned among other UK based rides we thought it would be the perfect time to get it tried, tested and reviewed to see if it is any good.

Initial Thoughts

Held are a company with a growing reputation for delivering quality goods into the mid to high end market, we got the offer to try out their top of the line one piece race suit earlier this year and headed off first of all to Southern Spain to Circuito Cartagena to give it a blast around the track. The first problem I had was that Cartagena was already booked prior to the suit arriving and the trip was intended to test out the offering from another European brand, the suit actually never arrived so Held UK stepped in to have their product available for us instead, first of all though we had 4 days prior to the trip and the suit was to come from Germany so it would be a tall ask - but trust those incredibly efficient Germans, it was here in 3...

The suit itself arrived with a day to go and with no breaking in time available I decided to head off around the peak district for a day, getting the Slade race suit out of the box gave a very good indication of what to expect, the suit is not the lightest suit in my size compared to others I have owned before but nor is it heavy, it is substantially made and the sheer amount of composite protectors on knees, elbows and shoulders along with the included Level 2 certified memory foam SAS Tec back protector meant that the weight was justified in terms of the level of protection you get.

Construction

The Slade suit from Held is constructed from 60% cowhide and 40% kangaroo in order to keep weight down where possible, the first thing I noticed was how supple the leather was right out of the box. I usually expect a touch of stiffness from a brand new suit but this was soft and flexible right away - this in itself is a winner as far as I am concerned as I had zero breaking in time, sizing wise I take a 60 to be comfortable and a 60 from HELD fits like a glove which is just lovely, other brands can be as much as 2 sizes on the small side if they offer a fit at all and as I carry a fair bit of weight with big shoulders (belly) and rugby players legs sizing is often hit and miss for me but also highlights when a product design takes in to account how different sized people are built.

On first wearing the suit my foot kept on finding the bottom of the lining which is incredibly elastic, standing up to get my legs in was not going to be an option to begin with at least, because the lining in so flexible you may find your toe hooks the bottom so just pull the lining up from the inside crotch and you get past that hurdle. The leg length on this suit is nigh on perfect too for racing boots and thankfully the larger suits do not increase the length of the arm and leg to suit tall, lanky riders - they have something mind boggling for that - wait for it... long and short leg options! While this may not seem groundbreaking to most buyers it really is a welcome addition for those of us that would not usually find a suit that fits quite as we would like, tall riders are still catered for as are shorties so everyone wins.

As I get the suit on further I notice the the elbow, knee and shoulder armour feels like it it protruding massively and looking in the mirror it confirmed as much, a bit of jostling was required to get all the pads and armours into the right position which will take you a few minutes of fine tuning but once in place you are cosseted and held into place nicely without being restricted, in actuality though it will take you a couple of rides for the suit to be fully broken in and all armour bedded into your shape and this should be expected with any leather item but especially so on race suits.

So off I toddle for a spin around the peaks, Sheffield to Buxton is always a nice run to start with and then Buxton onwards if the weather holds. The temperature barely exceeds 10 degrees centigrade which ordinarily would not suit a perforated race suit all that well but I noticed no real chill while riding but the climate held together quite nicely inside - I was wearing a nice base layer just in case though, the first noticeable thing is the flexibility around the thigh and crotch compared to almost all my other leather clothing, the Slade suit was almost undetectable that it was on and protecting me. You feel an incredible range of movement available to you in riding position and it all feels incredibly natural and unrestrictive, I have other leather items that are stunningly made and high spec but this suit blows them all into the water.

In less than 1 day of riding the suit had bedded in to my shape and size and was ready to use, this exceeded my expectations greatly as I had thought it would be uncomfortable for the warmer climes of Spain and the race circuit of Cartagena, where having flown to was approaching very quickly indeed. With the mercury showing 22 degrees centigrade it was such a polar opposite of the weather I had left that the Slade suit would get a good testing across different weather conditions, normally you would expect Southern Spain to remain hot and dry - not in this case though.

Sat in the pits in Cartagena we get the usual safety brief, and introduction to the circuit, during the morning we had a shower which in the UK would barely even register as being wet, but on sun baked Spanish roads we are told makes the going very greasy indeed. As we tentatively make our way round for the first warm up laps I have the nifty little inner zip closed up and the front zip open to allow airflow, this works very well and for really hot days out on track it brings a little respite from baking temperatures, not something to be used when riding at full pelt (keep fully zipped up) but put into context back out on the street it makes for a very useful safety and ventilation feature. The elastic and micro bubble lining keeps things inside the suit as cool as it can and works well with the large punched patches and perforated panels in moving the right amount of air to match your speed

As my day round the track comes to an end I realise that there has been no indication I have been wearing essentially a brand new suit, I never got hot and sweaty or even struggled to take it off at lunch which means that the Slade suit by Held does what it needs to do without restriction or interference and the overall fit and quality of the materials and construction gives you 100% confidence that should you need it to take a spill it will do so easily. At £750 the Held Slade out performs much higher priced suits by other manufacturers and I would say you probably get upwards of £1200-1300 worth of suit from other high end brands.  In high impact and critical areas Held have opted to use single panels of leather to negate the risk of seams blowing out, they only use Schoeller Keprotech and not cheaper imitations, small details such as the thin fabric round the wrist mean you do not have the usual bulk under your glove gauntlet.

The little details really add up to make an impressive race suit, dare I say it, the Slade is probably the finest suit I have ever had the luxury of squeezing my torso into and if I were looking for a high protection one piece leather motorcycle suit it would be incredibly high on my shopping list - along with a set of Titan Gloves from Held (coming soon - hopefully)

Specification

Art. 5012

1-piece leather suit

lining breathable, 3-dimensional foam material (100% polyester)

Comfortable, 100% polyester breathable net inner lining

outershell

mix of kangaroo and cowhide, approx. 40% kangaroo

comfort/features

2 inside pockets schoeller®-KEVLAR stretch panels at arm, crutch and back of the knee for maximum comfort stretch leather panels at knees, back and shoulders

perforated leather areas

back hump knee sliders

front AIR-VENT zipper

wristband made from schoeller®-KEPROTEC stretch material

safety EN 1621-1 certified SOFT height-adjustable protectors at knee EN 1621-1 certified SOFT protectors at shoulders, elbows and knees EN 1621-2 certified SAS-TEC back-protector titanium protectors at shoulder, elbow and knee detachable TEMPERFOAM padding at hips

upgradable hip protectors double stitched schoeller®-KEPROTEC stretch panels below arms, inside arms, crutch and calves Leather reinforcement at seat patch

Sizes 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 Slim only in black: 98, 102, 106, 110 Colours black 01 white-black 87 white-red 91