First Look: Viaterra Miller Mesh Motorcycle Riding Jacket

I've been looking for a good textile mesh jacket because Pune in summers are dry and windless. My Icon Overlord jacket is good, but the old jacket is now saggy and it's grossly under protected for highway stints. As a road-tester for Zig, I'm out on the bike a lot more than I am in the office under the air conditioner. Mornings are pleasant, and it's when we finish up our performance tests. But in order to extract fuel efficiency figures, both in the city and out on the highway, we're out under the sun from 10am - 5pm. This is where the discomfort begins and the need for a new jacket comes up.

I've got my hands on Viaterra's Miller mesh jacket, which will become my primary, and I'll be reviewing it periodically to see how it performs over time and miles. First let's look at the Miller's features and have a quick glance over stuff like fit, finish and convenience.

Price: Rs 7,999

Features: 

The Miller is positioned as a road-riding mesh jacket with 600D (heavyweight polyester fabric) textile in abrasion prone areas like outer sleeves, shoulders and hips. It's loaded with impact protection - level 2 Back, elbow, shoulder and chest. The CE rated armour used is Viaterra's own - PowerTector and it feels like soft and malleable rubber and isn't as slim and bendy like D3O. But it's thick AF and looks more than capable of absorbing a fair amount of impact. This should do well for our performance tests where speed is the job description.

Fit:

Viaterra insists on measuring your dimensions before purchase. I did and the fit really impressed me. I normally try before buying and that process can be pretty 'hit or miss'. India's gear market is not organised and with massive duty on imported gear, sizes and options are limited. I've walked into many stores, liked a piece of gear and there's only one size available - the one that doesn't fit.

The Miller was my first online sourced jacket and the size chart put me in the far end of a size S in the Miller range. And it fits snug. Even with the chunky armour the jacket doesn't feel heavy or suffocating. You get velcro straps around the bicep, forearm, wrists and hips to further get that flush fit. Range of movement is good, strech panels under the arm and back allow that uninhibitedly. 

Finish:

It's available in three colours and I chose the one with the green accents. What I like the most about this jacket is that the design isn't too over the top. It's mostly a black and grey jacket with splashes of colour. The main zipper is sturdy and operates without any restrictions. The zips for two pockets on the outside however could be better. Heavy duty zippers are hard to operate with one hand when the garment is wrinkled or folded which happens when you're seated on the bike. I would have liked heat seam zippers with pull tabs there, they're better. Gear makers should look at mountaineering gear for inspiration and solutions. 

Convenience: 

External pockets! I missed that the most on my Icon which only had internal sacks for storage and one chest pocket. The storage is enough for a full sized smartphone, keys and a wallet but like we discussed, accessing the pocket isn't the easiest when you're seated on the bike. The few times I've worn it and needed my phone at a stop light, putting it back in is never easy and the zippers don't help either. Besides that, there's a healthy distribution of reflective panels for safety during night commutes/rides.