My Latitude Jacket and Pant combo arrived yesterday. With only a few short rides with the new gear on I'll throw in my 2 cents.
1= Quality construction. Double stitching everywhere. The garment feels very robust and the 850 Cordura is stiff, as the gear is new.
2= The suit has a general tailored fit to it. Not too bulky nor does it have too much of a tapered european cut either. Sizing seems to run true. The pants don't have the loose baggy fit that my Dakars have. And as others have said, not really suited to wear over other pants. The shoulders have a generous cut to them. Adequate room for armor.
3= I am hoping the pants and jacket do "soften" a bit, as right now they seem a tad restrictive. Not terribly bad, but they don't feel like a comfy old pair of boots yet.
4= Some have commented on the stiff, tall collar. My personal opinion is I like the taller height, it is going to make for better thermal/wind protection around the neck on cooler rides. I think it reduces noise in the helmet to some degree. It is stiff as it's new, as others have said.
5= I took out the armor that came with the jacket as I prefer to wear my Forcefield Adventure Extreme Harness for upper body protection. The Jacket fit very good with the Forcefield armor on. I'm thinking in cold weather when I add insulating layers I may have to put the factory armor back in so the jacket doesn't get to restrictive.
6= An advertising billboard? Well Maybe, But a night I'll bet you can see me a 1/2 mile away. That's a good thing isn't it? (note the brilliant reflection from the camera flash)
The Latitude is not an enduro suit in my opinion. The fit seems to restrictive for that kind of riding. But for Adv/Touring I think it's going to be great gear. I am average height, 5'9" and a bit chubby @ 190lbs with a 30" inseam. The Large jacket fits perfectly and the size 36 britches, aren't as long in the length as my Dakars. I was expecting them to actually fit kind of like the Dakars, but they are a very different cut.
I can't comment on the waterproofness of the Latitude, but this morning it was a cool 55 degrees on my way to work, with just a long sleeve T under the jacket and only skivvies on under the pants, the ride in was comfortable. If you don't have the cash for the Klim Rally or Badlands kit this is a pretty good second choice. I'm pretty satisfied with the Latitude.
WJR
