GEAR REVIEW: Alpinestars Stella GP Plus R Perforated Women's Jacket

 

Alpinestars Stella GP Plus R Perforated Women's Jacket

This review is based on having worn this jacket for a mix of approx 5000km of in town and hwy riding to date. Size: 42 (6)

I ordered the size as per the A* sizing chart and it is an exact fit & comfortable (wearing a thin to regular thickness shirt/thin jacket liner). If you are wanting to wear a thicker sweater or thicker jacket liner, definitely order a size up. I can manage to wear a medium thickness sweater or light wind liner underneath it but it makes it a bit of a tight fit, especially in the bust & arms. See comments below regarding the fit if you plan to upgrade the back armor. It seems to me the "bust area" of the jacket sits a bit low (? or I have quite a good push-up? lol). 

ARMOR & COVERAGE: Good armor quality although it does shift a tiny bit in the shoulder area when I am putting it on so I need to adjust it once I get settled into the jacket. The elbow armor felt a bit stiff until the jacket was worn in for a bit (about 8 rides). I upgraded the back armor to the A* Nuc. KR 2i back protector in size small and it is a great fit - makes the jacket a bit tighter though. The back lips down to cover a good amount - I do have a couple of pairs of A* riding pants (Stella Andes Drystar & Stella AST-1) with the zip connectors that I wear religiously with each ride (ATGATT!) so I have no complaints with the back coverage that this jacket provides when wearing the pants.

LEATHER: Very nice quality and thickness. Very pleased with this aspect of the the jacket.

ZIPS/CONNECTORS: The wrist zippers could be improved upon, as they do ride up a wee bit after doing them up. Remaining side velcro & front zipper are fine.

COLOR: Love the color. The red is a bit on the brighter side rather than a deep red color (exactly what I wanted).

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Great jacket for the price (Update: this jacket has gone up quite a bit in price this year as compared to last year's 2015 pricing but IMHO it is still quite a nice jacket even for the increased $). I would suggest to get the non-perf version if you are wanting to use this jacket for Spring/Fall riding (I wear a large shell jacket overtop for temps below about 18 degrees C otherwise I find it is a bit too chilly with the amount of ventilation it throws at speeds >60 km/hr). In town stop/go riding with temps >20C, jacket is a bit warm for me but completely doable. Keeping in mind, I am in a more central-northern area of BC so our summer temp season is pretty short :(.

I actually will probably also purchase a non-perf version of this jacket since I do like the quality and fit a lot. In retrospect, I do wish I had ordered the non-perforated version for my needs as outlined previously.

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