wczimmerman said:
Interesting...
I've actually been looking at an Olympia AST jacket, too. Would you mind giving a few details for ordering your list as you did?
I've had all of these jackets (Inc at least 4 different Joe Rocket models). The Roadgear is comparable to the Killamanjaro. I rated it higher because the Killamanjaro has waaaay toooo much velcro. It's a real ordeal to open anything. But, both are great jackets.
Last spring I bought tha Olympia Summer jacket with the lined waterproof liner. It worked great - very warm with the liner and cool without it.
Earlier this month four of us went to West Virginia for a week. I led since I had the GPS. All three of my friends kept telling me that I was almost invisible in front of them. The combination of the GS trunk and the back of the JR jacket being black
Two of them wear those safty vests (which I have two of in my closet) and the third has one of those BMW models that practically glows. I told them to "shut up and follow my brakelight".
A few days after we got home, I received a delivery to my office - one of those fancy BMW tail-light flashers. I decided my friends were serious; and I might better reconsider my thoughts of looking like a safety patrol geek in the vest. Better a geek than someone's hood ornament.
First step: I got out the vest and rigged it so that it attaches to my tail rack and slides up and over my trunk. Perfect! Easy to open the trunk and slides right back after closing.
I'm a genius! I can now be seen and I don't look like those other two geeks.
Second step: The Joe Rocket jacket I wore leaked badly, especially in the arms. I had the liner from my Summer Olympia, and it worked as advertised. I started reading all the reviews on the Olympia AST. All of them were very positive. I went to my local BMW dealer.and bought the "glow-in-the-dark" model with the pants.
Mini-review: I wore them Saturday for the first time. At 8AM it was 41 degrees and by 3PM it was 80 degrees. I am in love with both the jacket and pants. I think the jacket will be good for anything under 85-90 degrees. At 80, I only opened the two chest vents (which have pull-tabs that keep them open). It has two full length arm vents and two other front vents for warmer conditions. It was also very warm when the temp was in the 40's. This included some Interstate riding.
I am also very happy with the "glow-in-the-dark" color. After the initial "you're blinding me" joking
, I got nothing but positive comments; and two of my friends are getting one this week. The ONLY negative is that the price is pretty mush locked-in. I think Olympia must have a deal with BMW. I searched the Net and couldn't find any deals. Shipping vs. tax??? You decide.