Review Leatt 3DF AirFit Shoulder Tee

[Zimmerframe]

Product name: Leatt 3DF AirFit Shoulder Tee
Price paid: €75
Score (out of 10): 8

Probably the most minimal armoured top you can buy.

A compression sock style t-shirt with shoulder protection and some additional soft foam upper arm protection.

Lightweight, well vented all over this gives quite a good option for a hot weather top or a base layer.

You might not like the full body protector tops or you might prefer the option to have or not wear elbow protection on the day. You might have a back protector you already like but would like some extra shoulders or you might wear one of the backpacks with inbuilt back protection and just want something to wear under that and gain some shoulder protection.

The only protection on this top - the shoulder area :

Visually and to feel, the shoulders seem pretty small, mainly because they're pre-shaped. Once you put the top on they feel they cover a reasonable area of shoulder. Compared to a D3O pad, when you squash them flat, they're the same width. The D3O is about 1.5cm's longer, but more tapered - so they're about the same overall coverage area.

The Leatt 3DF armour is, as usual, slightly stiffer by default than the D3O armour. I actually prefer this.

Edit : just noticed the shoulder armour pops out, thought it was stitched in :

Ideally the reactive armours would also have a slim flexible hard plastic outer skin to help spread impact loads from sharp impacts. The slightly stiffer Leatt armour seems to perform slightly better for me in those type of impacts compared to D3O.

The top is a compression type fit and requires a certain degree of gymnastics to remove once it's hot and stuck to you, but at least everything is help in place.

Available is sizes S-XXL which are based on chest size :

S : 80-90 cm
M : 90-100 cm
L : 100-110cm
XL : 110-120cm
XXL : 120-130cm

Pricing seems to vary, though amazon had the extra extra tubby ones on offer when I bought this.

As with all reactive armour products, it's hand wash only ... I've not noticed any degradation using the hand wash setting on the machine.

The fabric is supposedly anti-odor/antimicrobial fabric .. I'll let someone else test that.

If you do order from amazon, it wins the award for most incorrectly specified box for the product :

 

[Zimmerframe]

Just tried this with the TLD5955 over the top.

Normally I wear the TLD5955 against the skin and wear a bike shirt over the top - which restricts airflow.

This works really well as a base layer with the TLD5955 and no shirt . Good air flow, much cooler, comfortable and the shoulders fill the space nicely in conjunction with the 5955. @BAMBAMODA

 

[The Hodge]

I delivered Amazon for 2 years ..you arent the first to comment on the size of the packaging ..ridiculous at times

 

[Zimmerframe]

The fabric is supposedly anti-odor/antimicrobial fabric .. I'll let someone else test that.

Curiosity got the best of me.

Wore it for a fairly hard ride - flat out constantly.

Didn't wash it. Let it dry in the sun then left it hanging/brewing for a few days.

Wore it again and went flat out constantly. Even at the start of the ride I was already wondering who the smelly person was riding near me who I couldn't see .. By the end of the ride I was fairly sure I was being stalked by a hoard of unwashed Zombies.

If you're buying this so you can ride for a few days and get away without washing it ... don't ! Or ride alone and away from any other humans or sensitive animals.

 

[The Hodge]

If you're buying this so you can ride for a few days and get away without washing it ... don't ! Or ride alone and away from any other humans or sensitive animals.

Didnt know it was for sale to be honest ..could come in handy ..

 

[Giff]

View attachment 68286

Product name: Leatt 3DF AirFit Shoulder Tee
Price paid: €75
Score (out of 10): 8

Probably the most minimal armoured top you can buy.

A compression sock style t-shirt with shoulder protection and some additional soft foam upper arm protection.

Lightweight, well vented all over this gives quite a good option for a hot weather top or a base layer.

You might not like the full body protector tops or you might prefer the option to have or not wear elbow protection on the day. You might have a back protector you already like but would like some extra shoulders or you might wear one of the backpacks with inbuilt back protection and just want something to wear under that and gain some shoulder protection.

The only protection on this top - the shoulder area :

View attachment 68288

Visually and to feel, the shoulders seem pretty small, mainly because they're pre-shaped. Once you put the top on they feel they cover a reasonable area of shoulder. Compared to a D3O pad, when you squash them flat, they're the same width. The D3O is about 1.5cm's longer, but more tapered - so they're about the same overall coverage area.

View attachment 68290

The Leatt 3DF armour is, as usual, slightly stiffer by default than the D3O armour. I actually prefer this.

Edit : just noticed the shoulder armour pops out, thought it was stitched in :

View attachment 68401

Ideally the reactive armours would also have a slim flexible hard plastic outer skin to help spread impact loads from sharp impacts. The slightly stiffer Leatt armour seems to perform slightly better for me in those type of impacts compared to D3O.

The top is a compression type fit and requires a certain degree of gymnastics to remove once it's hot and stuck to you, but at least everything is help in place.

Available is sizes S-XXL which are based on chest size :

S : 80-90 cm
M : 90-100 cm
L : 100-110cm
XL : 110-120cm
XXL : 120-130cm

Pricing seems to vary, though amazon had the extra extra tubby ones on offer when I bought this.

As with all reactive armour products, it's hand wash only ... I've not noticed any degradation using the hand wash setting on the machine.

The fabric is supposedly anti-odor/antimicrobial fabric .. I'll let someone else test that.

If you do order from amazon, it wins the award for most incorrectly specified box for the product :

View attachment 68292

Thanks for the article/review. I suppose these are worn quite tight. Is the sizing on the large size or skinny size?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Thanks for the article/review. I suppose these are worn quite tight. Is the sizing on the large size or skinny size?

I can't actually remember what size I went for in the end. If I remember correctly I went for the measurement which would be "tight" and it was as I'd have expected. You don't really want it flapping about as the shoulders will move. I gave it away in the end as it didn't work with the other combinations that well as it had no elbows. Wearing elbows with it felt fussy and I wasn't really a fan of the leatt 5.0's as when you really went for it they felt like you had flabby arms ! I have kept them though, so some part of me likes the way they were made.

 

[Giff]

Thanks for that. I didn't think I needed any shoulder padding but had a crash on Monday...left shoulder and another Friday..right shoulder.
So I think I may give them a try.

 

[KnollyBro]

Thanks for that. I didn't think I needed any shoulder padding but had a crash on Monday...left shoulder and another Friday..right shoulder.
So I think I may give them a try.

After crashing so many times on most trails I have ever ridden, I am not sure I would find this product all that helpful. When i wear my full flak jacket style POC upper body armor, which has hard plastic shoulder pads, I feel confident it can take a shoulder/chest and back hit. I try to tuck and roll or slide on my elbow pads when I crash but I have taken many hard hits in this armor and walked away from it.
I have never trusted D3O armour. Long live good old ABS! Armor is like a wearing a condom, you are either protected or living on hopes and prayers.

There was this one time tho, 3 broken ribs and knocked out for close to 2 minutes coming off the ALine rock drop at full speed in dusty conditions. This is the what is left of the shoulder pad. My shoulder was ok!