RST Tractech Evo-2 one-piece leather suit review

RST Tractech Evo-2 one-piece leather suit review | £449.99 | www.rst-moto.com | Tested by: Carli Ann Smith

Take a look around the race paddock and you’ll see no end of racers in RST suits – with plenty of styles and colours to choose from at different price points and badging service available too – they are the brand of choice for many aspiring racers, track day nuts and road riders.

I’ve had the same one-piece leathers since I was 19 and that was five years ago. Knowing what I know now, frankly they aren’t the most protective things that I could wear whilst razzing around a track so I looked for something which would protect me properly and the RST’s stood out.

Priced at £449.99, the Tractech Evo-2 suit is the middle of the range suit from the brand – the R-14 is priced at £299.99 and the Pro Series CPX-C is £599.99 – it’s made from 1.1-1.3mm cowhide leather with perforated panels for air circulation and a fixed mesh lining for breathability (it also makes sure your suit doesn’t stick to you on hot days).

Importantly there is CE approved armour at the shoulders, elbows, knees and a back protector comes as standard. There are TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethane – basically an abrasion resistant plastic) shoulder sliders, RST branded knee sliders and nice big zips so you can get hold of them easily with gloves on.

With it being a suit for men, obviously it isn’t cut in a biased way for the additional curves that ladies have but I didn’t find that a problem. I found it was cute quite short in the front of the body – obviously so there isn’t too much material once you’ve tucked in tight on the bike and got one of the guys to try it on in the office who said the same.

The stretch panels come in handy and allow you to move freely on the bike. I thought that they’d take a lot of time to bed in and feel comfortable – but they didn’t. Straight off the peg they felt OK and then once I’d worn them once I was impressed at how quickly I felt like they were mine.

I really like the neoprene collar and cuffs that have been added for comfort as it means they don’t rub uncomfortably.

There’s double layer leather on your bum and double and triple stitched seams on the key impact zones for strength so they should protect you in the event of parting company with your bike accidently – I haven’t fallen off in them – luckily – so can’t tell you what they’d be like in a crash but log onto the RST website and there are plenty of testimonials on there from those that have. But from my point of view, this suit has more than lived up to the hype and has surpassed many of my expectations.