Biking Brotherhood Gears shortly called as BBG, started selling custom jackets 4 years ago. The Ladhak is indeed one of their best and highest selling jackets. Biking Brotherhood Gears had recently launched their new series of jackets called the Navigator for a price tag of Rupees 8,000. We got the Navigator jacket for review and here are the findings. I have been owning the BBG Xplorer jacket for about 1 year, and let us also find out the upgrades the BBG have done to their products in this one year span. Looks and Design:
The Navigator looks very appealing with a unique design. It gets fancy fluorescent or red colored strips on the front, back and on the arms. I found the fluorescent color to be the most attractive one during the night times and the red to be attractive during the day time.
The mesh on the front, back and sides of the arm gets a slight grey color to it. Remaining bits are black in color. The jacket gets 3M reflector piping throughout the body. BBG have also added reflector design on the body as well, they look very appealing during the night times and also do a good job in reflecting light.
The jacket also gets a hydra-pack which is a smart move by the brand. The left arm gets a small secret pouch where the rider can store small things like his license or coins. It also gets two internal and external pockets with a water proof linings. The arms and the back get rubber BBG branding and the ones on the arms looked gorgeous.
The shoulder gets a Navigator rubber branding. The quality of the rubber is soft and good. A small feature that impressed me a lot is the rubber BBG branding that is added to the zipper for easier functioning. The Navigator comes in two colors Fluorescent and Red. I personally loved the fluorescent color.Protection:
The part that has to be emphasized the most on a riding jacket is the level of protection that is provided. The Navigator gets removable CE certified armors for the elbows, shoulder and the back. The armors feel softer and are made out of sturdy material to withstand more impact.
The armors feel a lot more softer than the ones on the Xplorer. The jacket gets detachable thermal and water protection liner. Something good that BBG have included to all the variants of their jacket. The reflectors do a great job during night time. Comfort and Ventilation:
The BBG Navigator jacket is made from textile material that can be used in any weather and terrain. Comfort provided by this jacket deserves an applause. The airflow through the meshes are very good. I had tested the jacket in the peak sunny days of Chennai and I hardly sweat under moving conditions. It was a little fuzzy under standing traffic conditions though.
Since it rained, I was able to test the waterproof liner also, it indeed did a great job from protecting my shirt and body from getting wet. The pockets saved my wallet and phone too. The jacket feels very soft and light to wear. The Navigator gets adjustable straps for the hips, tab at collar upper arm and cuffs. The jacket feels very light once both the liners are removed. The liners can be attached back with the help of zipper lines that are stitched on the inner surface of the jacket and the outer of the liners.
Post using the BBG Xplorer jacket for a year, I found that this jacket feels lighter to wear, the air flow has been improved drastically and more over the quality of materials used have been improved a lot. I can hardly find any faults with the jacket, the collar strap can get a little annoying at times. I am not exaggerating but the quality and features that the jacket is providing is top notch and is extremely worth the price that is paid for it. For a price tag of Rupees 8000, it is very hard to find a better product with similar comfort and safety.
Review By: Rishath Suresh
Photographs By: Yogesh