At the end of the MCN show I came away with the boots on order they've been received now and all is good.
The textile hunt continued and at the end of the day I came across the Spidi X-Tour Jacket on the Infinity Stand. They didn't have trousers for a proper test but confirmed the show price and the warehouse price would be the same next week.. I liked the jacket and intended to try it again with the trousers last Sunday when I went to Infinity, Camberley after GetGeared, Leatherhead.
GetGeared were great help, I tried on about 12 combinations of textiles, changing sizes and brands trying to find a good fit. They told me that laminate was the thing to look out for with a waterproof jacket, a laminate doesn't really get well like cheaper waterproofing. Dry time for laminate is about an hour and other textiles could be 8hrs in a room at normal temps. For a multi day tour which could be very wet I could see the benefit of spending the extra. But at ?500+ for the cheapest from HELD, I felt it best to think about it all and move on. Best fitting jacket of those I tried on was the HELD IMOLA 2, but I couldn't find the right HELD trousers in the shop to match. The Imola 2 had so much freedom of movement without being loose. The Rev It Horizon 2 was a surprise, the fit was much better than everything except the Imola because the adjustability was brilliant. Wasn't sold on the looks in black but overall it was a good setup. It would have been my choice if they'd had one in the right colours there and then.
Whilst they lacked in examples of the colours I'd want, I did get from GetGeared is my textile sizings sorted. Trousers, I need a Large with short leg as it allows for more errr volume in the hip area. And the jacket can be M-XL depending on the cut and how many layers/armour pieces I was to wear with it. L is fine for 99% of the time.
So I popped to Infinity Camberley, the warehouse and yep it's not impressive, bit of a mess in terms of stock display. Felt a bit like Primark when stuff is dumped all over the show. However there was the X-Tour and the cheaper Voyager 3...still no feckin' trousers. Turns out Spidi didn't supply Infinity many, which is odd. Asked at the counter what the difference was in the Voyager 3 and X-Tour as both are waterproof (H2OUT) and in fact I preferred the cheaper jacket's styling, 'is one of them Laminate?' I ask in far fetched hope... No they said. Damn...well why is one cheaper than the other? Sales Assistant goes to the internet...'oh...IT IS a Laminate', followed apologetically with 'they never told us!'. So the X-Tour was Lamintate and ?200 less that the Held Laminate and far better styled. Fit was good, but not as good as the Voyager 3. At this point I wandered around some more, no RST Adventure in either shop, Rukka all too much.
I knew at this point I was down to mail order whatever I wanted as Infinity didn't have the Spidi Trousers and GG didn't have the right Rev IT or Held in shop.
So at 1am that night I had my f**kit moment and ordered the Spidi set. Jacket ended up even cheaper at ?295, Thunder 'Pants'
?206
Spidi X-Tour H2OUT Jacket
Spidi Thunder H2OUT Trousers
Once they arrive I will test the fit and decide if I'm keeping them or not...