Leatt 3df update

I now have a few rides in with the body armor and its going pretty well. I wanted to make a few comments about how the Leatt armor performs.

Overall I’m really pleased with it. It’s very comfortable and wicks sweat away in reasonable fashion – keeping me cool enough to ride on hot days. It’s definitely hot to wear, but its a fair trade for good quality protection.

The shirt is cut long enough to tuck down into the pants securely so that the rear hem isn’t always riding up as I feared it might.

As I hoped, the big spine pad is easily removed allowing my Camelbak to fit properly. It is also easily returned to service when I’m not sporting the hydration pack.

There are little loops of elastic on the shoulders that are intended to be hooked over the “shoulder pads” of the Leatt neck brace, holding the brace down tight to the shoulders. Initially I didn’t think these were going to be very functional as they have to pass through the collar of a jersey to engage the neck brace. Once I got them properly situated (required a mirror to do this myself, an assistant would be a big help) they worked as advertised. Occasionally I am annoyed by a creeping brace, this seems to take care of the issue.

My one gripe has to do with the little “U”-shaped channel on the back that engages the portion of the neck brace which extends down the spine. It is made from soft rubber and attaches with Velcro, but not very securely. When I pull my jersey down over this piece it catches on the material and wads itself up 100% of the time. I’ve had to have somebody else pull the back of my jersey down over this thing to avoid extreme annoyance. [Addendum: turns out this little piece is supposed to be removed entirely when wearing a neck brace – I didn’t look closely at the little icon stamped right on it…]

Overall, I am quite pleased with the Leatt 3df armor. I think it will serve me well both here at home and over in Romania.