My new LW J23 arrrived!

[Lebowski]

I think Stuart approaches the what leather is quality question from a longevity point. Shinki is beautiful but will a jacket made from it still look in good shape five years down the road if it's actually worn more frequently than any of us wears their jackets? I'm not so sure about that one..

edit: atleast it's going to be much closer to being worn out than a LW.

IMHO, heavy and strong LW HH is good leather for MC riding and/or for wearing it during any hard weather circumstances (snow, downpours etc), it looks good for hard works when people are thinking of more important things than babying jackets they wear then, when people are concentrated on different important things.
Shinki seems to be one of the best ever for casual wearing. To each his own, these leathers are totally different and each has its own advantages.
From what I have seen Shinki looks gorgeous after several years of wearing, but it surely needs much more care and lots of love and good treatment than LW HH while wearing for years.
Both leathers are interesting to me.

 

[Blackadder]

I’m loving this jacket. I’ve been wearing it everyday and sleeping in it to break it in. View attachment 226937

Perfect fit. Congrats.

 

[Monitor]

I’m loving this jacket. I’ve been wearing it everyday and sleeping in it to break it in. View attachment 226937

And it shows! Looks badass, seriously.

 

[red devil]

Wow this thread went all over the place in such a short time lol

The "Shinki is lacking" argument needs some more context than what has been shown here. LW is making jackets that they want to be functional, as durable as possible and aesthetically striking.

Does Shinki fit the bill here?

- In terms of abrasion and water resistance, it is inferior to chrome tanned leather.
- In terms of durability, it is not at the same level as the LW hides.
- In terms of aesthetics? there are certainly some beautiful batches of shinki out there, but there is a lot of variability. I have been underwhelmed by quite a few I had seen as well.

So it is clearly lacking from the LW perspective, they wouldn't use Shinki as it is as it is not fit for their purpose.

The Lewis Leather HH, that we discussed in the other thread would also perform better than Shinki, but here we find it underwhelming in terms of aesthetics.

And finally, CXL as well is not that great in terms of abrasion resistance either.

I am one of those who annoyed Stuart with such a request. I would love to own a LW jacket, but I prefer mid-weight leathers (particularly because of my climate). I thought his deerskin might be the answer, but even that is rather heavy. Some have opined that Stuart's lightest offering is not dissimilar to a mid-weight leather, but my experience suggests otherwise. I will be banging down Stuart's door if he ever offers a true mid-weight leather. That said, I am not holding my breath.

I am not sure what you would call "true mid-weight leather" if the deerskin doesn't fit the bill... As mentionned earlier, my courrier peacoat, a longer coat, weighs 2075g / 4.57lb.

I'm curious as to why he'd say this (or at least how a person would say this without revealing the obvious vulnerability or insecurity). Is it the shininess he doesn't like, or the makers who use it, or the way it's tanned? Or is it a long-buried, media-sublimated Pearl Harbour trauma?

No need to go that far, Shinki or CXL for that matter is not fit for his purposes, always fun to read though

Another thing I've noticed is that LW customers are super forgiving. There are quite a few stories here and elsewhere about how LW messed up this or that but the jacket arrived so perfect that everyone was willing to overlook any shortcomings. Which is true, I suppose, the jackets are indeed that good, sure, but still, makes me wonder just how forgiving would people be if this was any other maker.

I am pretty forgiving in general, and especially with makers of my favourite items, as long as the mishaps are honest.

Overpriced? Definitely. Veg tanned leather takes longer and therefore costs more than chrome tanned. That goes for all the veg tanned hide like LL's veg tanned cowhide, the "very best" Italian veg tanned hide used by the maker that shall not be named, the Italian veg tanned hide used by Buzz Rickson's etc etc. They are all overpriced because a chrome tanned leather jacket costing less will not be "worse" than a veg tanned jacket as a piece of garment. But why target shiniki? Because of the rave? So some of us have to be the opposition and degrade it for balance sake?
That simple point can be made if say LW offers the shiniki at a USD1000 upcharge like Langlitz does with the HH and LL does with the veg tanned cowfide.

That's where you got it wrong, he is not targeting or singling Shinki, Veg tanned leather is not fit for his purposes. Nothing more to read into it.

 

[red devil]

I’m loving this jacket. I’ve been wearing it everyday and sleeping in it to break it in. View attachment 226937

You've got yourself an amazing jacket!

Now do us a favour and keep posting pics as it evolves, it will take time, but it is definitely worth it

 

[Harris HTM]

My gripe with Stu is his payment model. All up front. There is no pressure on him to provide a timely, as expected/ordered product. If he doesn’t... you have no recourse beyond his word, that you will be addressed and satisfied accordingly. To me that is not a risk his wares have shown to be worth taking.
I don’t think he makes many mistakes but he did with mine.
His opinion of his hides aside, his business model sucks and leaves all the risk with the buyer. For me, that’s a bridge too far. Take 1/2, show me what you did, then take the rest. Or offer a full return policy, no questions asked. Particularly on “stock” sizes/ patterns.
Now if you muck up the pattern or spec something outside stock. That’s your problem and not his.

sorry for derailing the thread further but: living in a country where EUR is the currency, I prefer paying upfront in a foreign currency. I personally found it great that Aero, a couple years ago, introduced the Pay Now option. Living in times of uncertainty the past 10 years (lehman brothers, eurocrisis, brexit, pandemics) has resulted in unpredictable (at least to a humble engineer as me) fluctuations in currency. The main reason I hadn't placed an order with Goodwear a couple of years ago was the uncertainty that a year later the price in EUR might have gone double. But I get your point, and in case these are luxury problems. Good health to everybody these strange times.

 

[roadking04]

I’m loving this jacket. I’ve been wearing it everyday and sleeping in it to break it in

That jacket is awesome. It has put a J23 back on the radar for me.

Just wondering, do you ride? If so, how is it on the bike?

Just got to say it again, the jacket looks great!

 

[Kris B]

That jacket is awesome. It has put a J23 back on the radar for me.

Just wondering, do you ride? If so, how is it on the bike?

Just got to say it again, the jacket looks great!

Yes, I ride 5/6 days a week. I’ve worn it on the bike the last 2 days in a row and it’s great. I ordered it with longer sleeves specifically for riding. The one option I didn’t think would make a difference but did is the inner keeper that snaps to the belt on your pants to hold the back of the jacket down. I’ve never used one before but I am using the one on this jacket now and it really works well. Very noticeable difference with wind that creeps up your back at freeway speeds.

 

[El Marro]

I am one of those who annoyed Stuart with such a request. I would love to own a LW jacket, but I prefer mid-weight leathers (particularly because of my climate). I thought his deerskin might be the answer, but even that is rather heavy. Some have opined that Stuart's lightest offering is not dissimilar to a mid-weight leather, but my experience suggests otherwise. I will be banging down Stuart's door if he ever offers a true mid-weight leather. That said, I am not holding my breath.

Super,
I am one who has opined this theory, and now with my new fishermans scale in hand I have some numbers to back me up.
My new LW Ryder weighs 4.79 pounds while my GW Ventura weighs 5.28 pounds. Now the Ventura is lined with a nice Harris Tweed throughout the body and rayon in the sleeves so this obviously adds a little weight when compared to the LW with its thin nylon lining throughout. At the end of the day though I think the jackets are quite close in weight and feel when wearing.
To the OP, my apologies for the sidetrack and my compliments again for your beautiful new J23!

 

[Superfluous]

Super,
I am one who has opined this theory, and now with my new fishermans scale in hand I have some numbers to back me up.
My new LW Ryder weighs 4.79 pounds while my GW Ventura weighs 5.28 pounds. Now the Ventura is lined with a nice Harris Tweed throughout the body and rayon in the sleeves so this obviously adds a little weight when compared to the LW with its thin nylon lining throughout. At the end of the day though I think the jackets are quite close in weight and feel when wearing.
To the OP, my apologies for the sidetrack and my compliments again for your beautiful new J23!

Thanks for the info. Given how infrequently I wear my existing leather jackets -- no more than 4-5 times per year each -- I am reluctant to add yet another. If I do, it might be a LW or Thedi.

 

[regius]

this is the grail, you only need this one, look no further!