ELMC Roadster - Review

[HPA Rep]

Nice! I told you it was going to be a great fit on you!

It's weird how worn it is, either it was worn far more than 6-8 times, or maybe it was given the time worn treatment.
I think that for an extra £80 you can have any of their jackets time worn.

The Roadstar comes with subtle TimeWear at no extra cost and there is no option to not have TimeWear. TimeWear has evolved over time, even since the launching of the ELMC brand; the TW that we've been getting in about the last 7 months or so has been more subtle when compared to what is seen in the brand-supplied images on our website and their own.

The only ELMC jacket to not come with TW is the new J-100 cafe racer, which we are still waiting for ELMC to manufacture a full range of sizes of for deriving an understanding fit and product measures.

 

[HPA Rep]

I spoke to Charles from HPA about the ELMC Windward and inquired about the aging on that jacket. He said it is lightly "aged" and that it is very nicely done.

Absolutely correct. TimeWear is more subtle now than it ever was, which was not over the top, by any means, even when ELMC was launched two years ago.

 

[HPA Rep]

I recently picked up a lightly used ELMC Roadster in Walnut off eBay. The description said it had been worn 6-8 times but not sure how accurate that is but it certainly isn't old or well worn.
One of the main culprits is the sleeve zip. This is scratching the crap out of the waist/front of the jacket as I walk, even if I remember to lock the tab down. If I don't, the little spike scratches even more....maybe I'm too used to my j100 and board racer with the zip on the top of the forearm?

The Zips used are easily the worst part of the jacket. They have KWIK printed on the metal pulls. They just don't run that smoothly, maybe it is too new and they haven't broken in yet? But to me they don't seem to match the quality of then rest of the jacket.

The length is marginally shorter than the specifications listed, I definitely wouldn't want it shorter than it is. Overall I think it's a good length as a modern interpretation of an vintage short jacket to be worn with modern lower rise jeans.

Sleeves are very trim, especially moving down to the forearm and range of motion is great, aided by the shoulder gussets.

Overall I'm really happy with the purchas, but then again I got it at a great price. Full price of these off he rack is the same as a lot of the custom options out there. I'm just lucky this fits so well......at least I think it does lol

It's impossible to say from the images if you have an older version of TimeWear, which was a bit more aggressive than what is done now, or a newer one that's been worn more than 6-8 times; I suspect it is an older version due to characteristics I see in the leather, but that is not proof positive.

The zipper function usually does improve with time as the rougher parts (sort of like the excess flashing found on the edges of parts in model kits) will do this, but please also keep in mind that these are repro zippers. Zippers produced in the many millions during their original production 50 or more years ago were made in a way that was both higher in quality and more cost effective than a few thousand can be done affordably today. This is not to say that any of the high-end repro zippers and their respective makers aren't doing a good job, but to make zippers that have the precise look, production techniques, and metals as used during original production would require unjustifiable amounts of money (far, far more than the over-one-million dollars spent by Toyo developing their first Crown zipper copies); to make zippers that are absolutely identical in EVERY way to what was done all those years ago would take a full resumption of production in the many millions to be sold as zippers to the world in just about every mainstream supply shop we can think of. You would need to make Crown, Kwik, and Conmar copies, etc. become (resurrected) mainstream zippers in the way YKK is now.

We see infinitely few zipper failures from all brands we offer, but it's no surprise that the NOS zippers function better than some of the repro zippers, and it would be disingenuous and self-deluding to claim otherwise. As for the scratching of the locking pin, that's a fault of the Kwik original design vis-à-vis its employment in this style with sleeves zips designed and positioned as they are. You could file the ends down a bit, I suppose, but you'll likely risk losing the locking feature in the process.

The Roadstar fits you really, really well - about the same as it does on me and I'm 5' 9" with a 40" chest - I wouldn't change a thing. Brown is the best seller in this design, and those who give feedback say they like it because it looks less bikerish and is more subtle with the anodized black snaps.

Good score, and please enjoy in good health!

 

[ProteinNerd]

Thanks for the info Charles, particularly re the zipper....hopefully it will smooth out a bit more with use.

 

[HPA Rep]

Thanks for the info Charles, particularly re the zipper....hopefully it will smooth out a bit more with use.

You're most welcome. I'm glad this was helpful.

 

[Guppy]

There are currently a bunch of ELMC Roadstars on eBay at the moment, at what appears to be regular price. How much did you pay for yours, ProteinNerd?

 

[ProteinNerd]

The one I got was slightly used and I got a better price than the ones listed currently on eBay. Mine was US$680 plus shipping.

 

[nabottle]

The jacket looks amazing and it fits you perfectly! Thank you for such an impressive and informative review. I greatly appreciate that!