Mountain Biking Apparel for Larger Riders?

[Head Over Handlebars]

Yesterday was Christmas, and some of us will be excitedly waddling out to the trails, weighed down with too much food, to try out our fancy new parts and winter clothing. And some of us, like myself, will be returning all the stuff that didn’t fit.

I made the mistake of picking out a Leatt dbx 5.0 jacket and matching shorts only to find that they didn’t fit. I’ll be sending them back and likely exchanging the shorts for a larger size, but the jacket is out of stock in the size I need. This brings me to my question: do any of you have suggestions for a windproof/waterproof shell, suitable for mountain biking, that has a looser fit and is cut for larger riders. I’m 6’1″ and 215 lb, and quite tall from waist to shoulder. I also have very broad shoulders and my torso doesn’t taper much towards my waist. I’m a little overweight, but still fairly fit. I typically wear tall XL shirts, as I both need and prefer a longer cut.

I’ve been looking pretty hard at this jacket, so if anyone has one please let me know what you think of it. It’s very frustrating to keep finding out that most of this stuff doesn’t really fit me. The Leatt jacket and shorts seemed like really well made pieces of kit, but I could barely reach the back vent zippers on the jacket, and I couldn’t even button the shorts. (both were size XL)

Sorry for the long question, and thank you for any suggestions.

[ZipHead ✓ supporter]

Last one left:

https://www.jensonusa.com/Sugoi-Zap-Bike-Jacket-1

[Alvin Mullen]

I generally wear a large in most clothes, but in biking clothes I usually go a size up, road bike clothes sometimes two sizes.

[Framebreaker]

I’m a bigger dude too – 6,4 about 250lbs give or take :). My advice is for general fit regarding the common apparel makers: Pearl Izumi xxl works for me (bottoms and tops). Pearl stuff is just top-notch quality and fit for me. For cold I actually wear a Marmot insulated shell, XL. The key issue for tops for me is the arm reach. Marmot and in fact Mountain Hardware seem to have extra give and length in the shoulder and arms.

Related tip: Icebreaker, maker of Merino-based clothes fit me well but the price points are really high but they seem like they will last long though. Related, related: the now-out-of-business Ibex wool clothier jerseys fit me very well and last FOREVER. AND Amazon still has some available.

Ok I forgot one other: Kuhl fits and wears well too.

Ok there’s more: Zoic shorts fit me well even though I prefer the stretchy Lycra Pearl chammy shorts for comfort and cooling.

Hope this stuff helps.

Framebreaker

[sarahnguyen]

You can get some tips to Just Not Sports at https://justnotsports.com

[Head Over Handlebars]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks!

Framebreaker: thank you for the recommendation for Pearl Izumi. I got an mtb barrier jacket from them in XXL and it fits great. Plenty of room to layer underneath. I got the Leatt shorts in XXL and they also fit quite well (I wear a 36in waist in most jeans).

[Framebreaker]

Glad it helps. C u on the trail.

Framebreaker

[Author]

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