RST Shadow Review – The quality budget option
The RST Shadow comes in as their lowest priced one piece suit and at a price that could classify it as a budget option. There are not many brand name one piece suits that come along at this sort of price range, not that are worthy contenders anyway. Being a close relation to the Tractech suit it shares a lot of its quality, for a few notes less. Let’s take a closer look at the feature list for this entry level suit.
The main construction of the RST Shadow is made up of 1.1mm to 1.2mm Premium grade cowhide, which is towards the lower end of the scale for thickness, but it is the same thickness as my RST Fusion suit and that has withstood two offs on track (one low speed, one high) with no issues, and apart from a few scuff marks the leather has held up very well. This leather suit is held together with double stitched bonded nylon, with triple stitching in areas where the suit is likely to take the full force of an impact, this is to minimise the chance of the suit bursting open in that area.
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The RST Shadow is fitted with CE approved armour in the shoulders, elbows and knees, and unlike a lot of suits on the market comes with a CE approved back protector built in. This is better than nothing but like I always say these small foam back protectors can’t do better than a stand alone good quality back protector that is made of much tougher materials and cover a lot more of the back.
You don’t get the aerodynamic race hump that we see fitted to the Tractech suit, but I can confidently say it will not be missed by 99% of riders wearing this suit. Schoeller Keprotec stretch panels have been fitted to areas where a lot of movement takes place, which serves two purposes. The first is to allow freedom of movement when moving around on and off the bike, and the second is to hold the suit tight to your body which is an important part of any motorbike leathers. Oh and eating pies to keep your suit tight to your body doesn’t count as an alternative.
From a comfort perspective the RST Shadow is fitted with neoprene lining around the collar and the cuff areas, this is to take away the hardness of the leather from your neck and wrists. Also leather patches on the front of the suit have been perforated to aid cooling. One minus point about the linings in the legs is that it’s a touch too baggy and it’s almost impossible to get your foot all the way through without getting it snagged on the lining when putting the suit on.
Other features worth mentioning are that Max zips are used on the arms and on the front of the suit, and also race compound knee sliders are supplied so you can go out ‘scratching’ straight away if the mood takes you.
Conclusion
The RST Shadow is billed as being a one piece leather suit for both road and track and it’s easy to see with its mix of safety and comfort features it would perform well at both. It may not have all the fancy features of big brand name suits, but the Shadow costs considerably less (read, more than half the price) than them too, yet still contains the core safety features we have come to expect from any brand name leathers. For those looking for an entry level suit to keep them safe, look no further than the RST Shadow.