What We Wear: The Held 'Aerosec' 2-in-1 textile outfit

Held's 'The Stan' has owned his Held Aerosec 2-in-1textile suit for a couple of years now and has recently been pushing the boundaries, riding in it during the cold weather. How's he been getting on? Let's find out..

Held's Aerosec jacket- photographed without the flash as the Scotchlite reflectors lit up...

The Aerosec is really a three-season suit that can be added to by way of extra Held clip-in thermal top and base, which niftily attach using the blue clips inside the suit- look for the blue clips on the photos! That said, I wanted to see how the suit stood up to the cold, so I ventured out in just shorts and a t-shirt under it, outside temperature being 4 degrees and EXTREMELY windy.

I ride a Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled- which has plenty of grunt for cutting through the wind (aided by my Dart flyscreen). It's also perfect for muddy, potholed rural roads. The question was, would I be cold?

Ducati's Desert Sled- happy with the mud, stones and potholes

What I like about the Aerosec is, as the 2-in-1 label suggests, most definitely two textile outfits, in one. The photo below shows the jacket with the 'breezy chamber'- for warm day riding. The warm, windproof, waterproof bit gets zipped up and sits behind your back and you pop your arms into the sleeve as indicated by the arrow below. The jacket has plenty of zip vents for Summer, making it super cool to wear. 

How the jacket looks for warm day riding

Then, if it rains, or is cold, simply pull down the central zip (as in the photo below), and the waterproof, windproof, warm and breathable chamber is revealed...

Beginning to transform from a Summer jacket to a rainy / colder weather jacket

Once the zip is all the way down - tada! Ready for rain, wind, cold - and still breathable. Simply slip your arm in to the chamber as indicated and zip up the central zip again, this time with you inside it! 

The trousers perform in much the same way too- see the photo sequence below: 

The Held Aerosec trousers - 'breezy chamber' mode

Let the unzipping commence - waterproof, windproof, dry and breathable chamber revealed

There we go! Ready for what Mother Nature has in store

So, that's how it all works - but did it do the job? Four degrees centigrade and very, very windy was an ample test for the suit. I elected to wear just a t-shirt and shorts underneath. Cruising along at 60mph I could feel the wind hitting me, but none was making it through the suit. I was comfortable. One tip with this suit - make sure ALL the Summer zip vents are done up, one on the side of the trousers was half undone, and I had to pull over to adjust and thus remove the slightly cold feeling..

Thirty miles later and I was a little cooler, but still ok to carry on riding. To add perfection to the test conditions rain was needed, I was not disappointed as heavy drizzle began. I've worn Held for years so wasn't concerned about the waterproofness. The gear as predicted kept me dry. 

The ride came to an end after a short stop at the post office - I arrived home not hot, but certainly not cold - if that makes sense. As it's a three-season suit, I had no clip in thermals and I was wearing hardly anything underneath I was very impressed. I'll add another layer next time, and I know that will do the trick. In Summer it was also amazing - in the breezy chambers with the vents open it was a joy.  What a super suit! 

ENDS

The Held Aerosec now comes with a Gore-Tex 2-in-1 membrane (Stan's is the pre- Gore-Tex model) and the jacket retails for £483.99, trousers for £351.99. Bearing in mind this suit is like two suits in one and comes with a guarantee that you can extend online FREE for 5 years it makes a superb investment. 

You can follow Stan on Instagram - @scramblerstan - give him a follow and say hi!