Users Of Olympia Airglide

Uncle Phil

Uncle Phil

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Joined
Feb 26, 2007
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11,141
Age
72
Location
In The Holler West Of Nashville, Tennessee
Bike
4 ST1100(s)
2025 Miles
004365
I'm looking at new riding gear as my First Gear Air Kilo jacket and trousers are getting kind of ratty and the jackets are not in production any more. The Olympia Airglide looks like the 'closest' to it (mesh with windproof/waterproof liners if I understand correctly). I know about all the other options (Motoport, AeroStich, etc.), so I am interested in replies from folks that have this particular gear as to how well it has held up and functioned - especially the zippers. And how does it 'size'? Thanks.
 
I bought the Olympia Dakar jacket. It is virtually identical to the Airglide except it is a 3/4 length, rather than the shorter version like the Airglide.

Zippers on all my Olympia gear have been great. No issues at all. I use mine daily and the zipper pull broke on my older AST2 twice. I contacted them and they sent new zipper pulls at no charge. Yeah, a minor thing, but the owner of the company is the one who answered my email and made sure it happened. I was willing to pay for the shipping, but they shipped it free.

I find the quality of their gear to be great and well thought out. Zippers are great. Snaps too. The neck detail is good. Comfortable. It secures well to close it, or to store the neck flap out of the way. Sleeve closures are done well too. Comfortable and they close well. The Airglide will allow a lot of air to flow through. With the waterproof windbreaker and the insulated liner, you could almost make this a four-season jacket, depending on where you live.

Even though my Dakar is the old, lousy, out-of-date, obsolete Dakar and not the new and improved Dakar II, I was able to use the waterproof windbreaker as they advertise on the outside of the jacket. The waterproof windbreaker is really a great feature. It works as it should. When you get to your destination, you have a nice jacket to wear. You might even say it is stylish. That may be stretching it. ;) And you can wear it on the inside of another jacket if you like to be a lightweight liner layer. Or to add a waterproof layer to what you're wearing.

I haven't used the quilted liner on the Dakar. Normally, when it gets that cold, I just move to my heated liner.

Sizing on the Olympia gear seems right. I normally wear a large in gear from other manufacturers and I do in Olympia gear. There's generous sizing in the body...and also some ability to cinch it up so you don't feel like you're wearing a tent that flaps in the wind.

You should be able to find Olympia gear offered in your local area, so you can look at it first hand and try it on for sizing. You generally won't find any discounts, unless you find a closeout. CycleGear will sell it to you and if you qualify for a military discount, they'll give you 10% off.

I didn't start as a die-hard Olympia fan, but when I got my first Olympia jacket, I was extremely impressed with the features it had compared to my TourMaster jacket I had at the time. I had the Olympia AST2 for several years. It saw daily use in all kinds of weather. The only thing besides the zipper pulls I mentioned above is that the velcro got a little weak over time. The only reason I sold it, was that the Olympia Ranger was on closeout and I couldn't beat the price. The Ranger was the successor to the AST2. If I had to buy more riding gear, I'd probably just go back to Olympia. It's hard to beat the quality for the price.

Chris
 
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Ditto all that.. except I should take an XL but wear 2XL in Olympia. I have the Dakar now, like the 3/4 length. Olympia's collar is best I've had, arms are prebent so they fit very naturally. I have an older Airglide in neon yellow, 2XL if you'd think it fits. Try on some Olympia in your area and you'll get an idea of the sizing.
 
The weak point on my Olymia jackets are the zipper pulls and the odd snap comes apart. I got both of mine second hand and they have given me excellent service. I also have the mesh pants with a waterproof liner.
Ovwerall I think they are of good value. I wear XL
 
I really like my Olympia gear has held up well for about 10 years only had a zipper pull break and was replaced . My hi viz jacket has faded in areas but still looks good after a wash just not as brilliant .
 
gmtech94 said:
I really like my Olympia gear has held up well for about 10 years only had a zipper pull break and was replaced
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I had that same problem with my 'stich, zipper pulls were always breaking, and to replace them I recall you had to destroy the zipper end to get the old slider off and put the new one on, so it wasn't like it was no big deal. (or has that process improved over the years, I haven't had to replace one for quite a few years because I don't ride much anymore)

You'd think that a company like Aerostich, or any other who knows their gear will be worn by hard-core riders many days during the year, would use heavier gauge zippers and pulls, I assume such things are available.
 
I have a Airglide 4 I believe. I've had it for about 4-5 years now. It has been a great jacket that has held up very well. It is mainly my summer jacket and pants though so I don't wear it with the liners much. My riding buddy has a Airglide 3 that he wears all year long. After 5 years he as to decided to move to the newest version.

I have liked mine enough that I bought a 3/4 length Olympia jacket for cold weather riding.

Sent using Tapatalk
 
Uncle Phil said:
Then is the new Dakar II(?) a 3/4 mesh jacket with liner? Also, which trousers are mesh with a liner to go with it? Thanks for the responses so far.
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Phil, yes, the Dakar II is a 3/4 length mesh jacket.

I have the old version of the Olympia X Moto 2 Pants, https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/olympia-x-moto-2-pants. I don't think there is much difference between what I have and what the current ones are. It seems like Olympia makes a few minor tweaks on some already good gear, then does a closeout on the old gear. I've been lucky to get the Dakar, Ranger and pants on closeout and saved a lot of $$$.

Olympia makes an Airglide pant and a Dakar Dual Sport pant as well.

What do I like about them? A lot. I don't even bother with my Tourmaster mesh pants any more. These work well from temps in the 20s to over 100F.

On other pants I've had, they had the rainproof liner sewn into the outer pants layer. It seems like that would be the way to go, but what happens is your boots catch on the liner repeatedly and stretch the stitching where the rainproof liner comes together...like in the crotch. The result in a short time is your crotch gets soaked. It's okay as long as you're wearing dark pants to work that day. You just feel very cool and refreshed...

The Olympia pants use a separate rain liner. It slips over your boots with no problems at all. No drag, no fuss. Even if you take the liner off with the pants, it still slips on easily. The net result is they have never leaked on me.

A big advantage I also see in this design, is that if something ever happened to that rain liner, you could simply go to your local outdoor store like Cabella's or REI and buy a pair of breathable rain pants and use those.

Another advantage is that when you don't need the rain liner...you leave them off. If it is just cool weather, then just wear the outer riding pants as is. If it gets warm enough, unzip the "mega" panels in the thighs to get more air through. The panels store in the lower part of the leg and you never notice them.

Chris
 
I really appreciate the replies. I am much more interested in hearing from folks who have 'lived' with gear for a while like this rather than a sales pitch. My Firstgear stuff is mesh with zip in liners and that system works really well when you are going cross country and into all sorts of temperature swings. On one ride, we were near Yosemite in the early morning and it was 33 F. By lunch time we were at Badwater in Death Valley and it was close to 120 F. So the ability to change the 'coverage' without a lot of hassle is a 'necessary' for me on the long trips I get to take.
 
I like the fact that you can roll up the liners into a small bundle and they don’t take up much room in the panniers,so that you always have them with you when required.
 
I'm looking at new riding gear as my First Gear Air Kilo jacket and trousers are getting kind of ratty and the jackets are not in production any more.
I just bought a new one last June? I really like the jacket. It doesn't come with a liner but I use a waterproof Columbia one. It breathes really well and is very waterproof. I've used it in temps from mid eighties to low 30's (with fleece and a down vest).
 
I've had mine now for 5 years (Airglide 3 maybe 2). I really like it. It has the wind/water liner as well as the quilted Thermal liner. S/W Ontario runs 80+ degrees all summer with high humidity. When stopped it gets warm, sweaty warm. You are wearing a jacket in the summer and I ATGATT. When moving the air flows through it excellently and I'd guess as cool as no jacket, but with sun shade, so maybe better. It has seen me through two get offs, the first one left no visible marks (was stopped, knocked off my bike). The second one was me sliding out (lowside) pulling away from stop across gravel on road (funny how fast that happens). Anyway a small abrasion and the cover of one of the cinch strap buttons came off (most people can't tell anything).

I wear it with no liner in the summer. From below 70 I put on the wind liner, below 50-55 the thermal layer (depends on the sun and where riding though too). I infrequently wear the thermal though as I park my bike most times by those temperatures, or wear a thinner reflective long sleeve heat layer underneath for shorter rides.

I compare it to my older enduro jacket that just had vents and there is no comparison, this is way better. I can't compare to the other makes, which are no doubt good products, but I would not hesitate to say it is an excellent product.

I wear a XL (maybe it's 2XL) and it fits generously in the chest and waist (48 and 40 inches respectively) weight about 240 pounds. No issue with the zippers YKK pulls and for the smaller, finer, inner layer zippers you need no gloves to manipulate (or thin ones), but no issues in using them, no breakage. Velcro seems to hold up really well over time as does the colour, has faded a bit.

I did my first real wash of it just this year and removed all the road grime and crud. I looks almost new but Hi-Viz a little less intense. I used the recommend cleaning solution (Simple Green) and their directions from the website, and it work flawlessly. Hosed off and left to dry, riding later that day.

I'll update if I think of more.
 
feejer said:
Uncle Phil I'm sure you are aware of these guys but just in case they carry the Olympia gear. They are close by so I can drop in for a fit. Good folks and they run some good specials.

http://www.motorcyclegear.com/

Good luck with your choice.
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I remember when they were 'New Enough'. They are probably where I will buy it when I pull the trigger.
 
The BMW dealer in Nashville used to carry Olympia gear; you can try on jackets and pants there. I have an Airglide 3 in High Viz, good summer Spring, Summer, Fall jacket. I wear it most of the time for day rides and weekend trips. I wear my Darien in the winter and for long trips because it allows me to keep moving without having to stop to install the waterproof liner.
 
Indian Express said:
The BMW dealer in Nashville used to carry Olympia gear; you can try on jackets and pants there. I have an Airglide 3 in High Viz, good summer Spring, Summer, Fall jacket. I wear it most of the time for day rides and weekend trips. I wear my Darien in the winter and for long trips because it allows me to keep moving without having to stop to install the waterproof liner.
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Ah, Mr. Bloodworth - I know him far too well. ;) One of the main reasons I'm not riding a BMW today.
 
Well, I ordered the Olympia Dakar Jacket and the Airglide trousers in my 'usual' size that I use for other brands. Even checked the 'sizing' charts to be sure. Evidently, Olympia's version of sizes is about 2 sizes too small for me or the Chinese factory they were made in has less than 12 inches in their foot. I couldn't even come close to zipping the jacket though it supposedly the proper size and the same 'size' as my old First Gear Jacket. The trousers were about the same - I'd need to add about 4 inches to the waist in size for a comfortable fit. So this brings me to another question -

Anybody have any experience with Tourmaster Gear? I'm now looking at Venture 2.0 Air Jacket and the Sonora Air trousers.
All input on Tourmaster Gear would be appreciated.
 
feejer said:
Uncle Phil I'm sure you are aware of these guys but just in case they carry the Olympia gear. They are close by so I can drop in for a fit. Good folks and they run some good specials.

http://www.motorcyclegear.com/

Good luck with your choice.
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Didn't know they were still out there, but with the bike gone I never thought about it. Good people and Shallowater is a big city. LOL!
 
If the gear has the features and quality you want, why not just exchange them for the correct size?
 
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