Bilt Alder leather jacket

Hello All!

I've been in the market for a casual riding jacket for a while now. The goal was to find something with a classic, minimalist, almost cafe-race look that I could wear on short rides to hang with the guys at the neighborhood pub for trivia nights (no drinking for me), or even out for casual dates with my wife and friends. A jacket that could cross the barriers between riding gear and everyday wear.

There are plenty of options available on the market that come close to this goal, but few that really make the grade when you consider wearing them in a non-motorcycle environment. In addition, this is something that is meant as a 3rd or 4th jacket, so it's not something that most of us would like to dig $500 into if we can avoid it. So, for me, the search went on for a while.

Today, I happened to be at my local CycleGear location when I spotted this jacket. It's produced under the Bilt name that is one of their in-house brands. The model is called the Alder, and it comes in both a blue/grey/green swede and a brown leather. Although the swede is a beautiful material, it just didn't have the classic, timeless cafe style I was looking for. The brown however, had a very clean and classic look with good lines.

Size was a factor as I don't want another loose fitting jacket that is meant to allow fitment of added layers when the temperatures drop. This is supposed to make the wife glad she's on my arm after all. At 5'8" 190lbs with a 34" waist and 48" chest, I'm a short, inverted-V of a fella. The cut of this jacket is generous and I found that a size 42 fits pretty well with the insulated vest liner zipped in and just a enough room around the chest for mobility and maybe even a very thin sweater.

The stitching on the jacket is single row on slightly heavier than fashion grade leather and the armor in the elbows and back are light weight foam. None of this is surprising and in my mind fully acceptable for the missing this jacket is being assigned. Add this to some draggin' jeans and a nice shirt and you would be reasonably equipped for a short jaunt to the local eatery to join the guys.

The price of this light cosmetic jacket was right in line with what I was looking to spend as well. At $159.00 ($40 off normal price) the jacket was in my budget and filled the niche I was looking for.

If you are in the market for this type of jacket to add to your closet, I think this is a good price for a reasonable jacket that seems fairly well made.

Be safe everybody!

Bilt Alder Leather Jacket