Ixon Pioneer Leather Jacket - Brown / Black

I must admit this jacket was not my first choice although it was my husband's and he has got his own way now! See my review for the Ixon Ladies Torque jacket and why I decided to exchange to the Ixon Ladies Pioneer jacket. This fits me perfectly although both jackets were the same size. It is the elasticated shoulders and hips which make the big difference although the bust area is slightly more generous too.

The pros are:
It is made from thick supple hide. It has a complete inner detachable thermal lining. It has a belt loop that you can secure round a belt to stop the jacket riding up if you have that sort of problem. It has two decent outer pockets and good inside pockets. The fit and finish is excellent and it is a nice change from the usual black jackets. It still looks great with black jeans etc.

The cons are: the standard supplied armour is a little on the hard side and not very flexible (I have swapped over to some flexible D30 ghost armour and it is now the most comfortable jacket). It also lacks a back protector as many jackets do these days. The collar fastening for some reason is designed as if for a man's jacket which I thought would be annoying but it isn't.

Just waiting for the warmer weather and then I can show it off!!

This is a superbly well made high quality French jacket. The build quality is superb and the leather is excellent, all panels look very consistent in grain and thickness. The fit is true to size. I am generally a large in a jacket and it is a decent fit with enough room for its liner to be worn and an extra medium layer if necessary. The stretch panels under the arms and around the hips work really well with the ones on the hips keeping the jacket snug with no draughty gaps. The jacket feels as if it does not require any bedding in and is lovely and supple from the get go without feeling flimsy.

There are a couple of areas for improvement, one of which is a back protector could have been included as standard. I know this is the norm for most jackets these days. The armour supplied is quite stiff and hard and not very flexible. Not a problem for me as I will swap these out for some much more comfortable and higher spec D30 armour.

The other grey area is whether this jacket is AA rated as I have read elsewhere that the French motorcycle clothing companies could not wait for the latest EC ratings. They asked for a special dispensation from the Standards Commission and thus French companies seem to use their own equivalent standard. There is no information about this on Sportsbikeshop's description which is rather disappointing and for this it drops one star.

Roll on summer when I can give this a proper try out.