After 12 years of sterling service, my Gerbing heated waistcoat finally gave out last month. As I seem to recall it’s got a lifetime guarantee on the wiring, I decided not to buy a straight replacement (at least until I’ve found out whether they will repair it).
I had a hunt around to see what was on offer and partly because I don’t ride to quite the same extent in really cold weather as I used to, partly because my back does stiffen up on occasion, and partly because it looked easier to pack in the limited carry space on the bike, I settled for the inexpensive Exo2 Heatwave Heated Back Support.
This is basically a heated kidney belt. It’s somewhat complex in construction, with stretchy panels either side of the heating element and several bits of velcro to hold all the stretchy bits in place, apart from the main velcro closure, which means you tend to try pulling the wrong bit apart when fastening and unfastening, but it does seem to work in terms of comfort – you can’t really feel you’re wearing it.
As I planned to run it off the “mains”, I didn’t order the 12v battery pack which is available with charger for £50. The belt has a neat little pocket for the battery pack, but when riding I’m not sure I would particularly want a solid lump sitting round my kidneys. However, it would be useful for time spent off the bike – CBT instructing would have been pleasantly warm with one of these.
On the move, the heat output is only moderate. I appreciate that this belt doesn’t give the overall coverage of a vest, but the element gets nowhere near as hot as the Gerbing, which was too hot to be worn next to the skin and thus generated enough heat to be useful at serious subzero temps.
Worn under a tee shirt, the back support is sufficient to keep the worst shivers at bay on a chilly spring day with temps around 8-9 C but it would be useless at much lower temperatures, although as I’ve already mentioned this isn’t what it’s intended for, and not what I bought it for either. Just bear that in mind if ordering one.
My main complaint is that the wiring is ridiculously short. A fly lead emerges from the element and terminates in a plug to connect to the fused cable from the battery, but with only around 10cm or so of flex available, it’s not nearly long enough. Whilst this is ample to reach the battery pack in the pocket, given that the battery pocket sits over your hip, the lead needs to be long enough to run out of the front of your jacket, without having to rearrange your clothing every time you want to plug or unplug. It fails to do so, and is a major inconvenience. I ended up wearing mine upside down to get the flex down nearer the bottom of the top half of my two piece suit.
Whilst on the subject of the wiring, what you can see on the outside of the belt is not very “meaty” either – the cable supplied for the bike is pretty thin stuff and I’m already looking at where it is likely to wear through the insulation, or flex and break internally due to the strain of the short fly lead. I very much doubt it’ll last the 12 years that my Gerbing achieved without needing replacement. A one year guarantee isn’t that inspiring, given that many riders will only use something like this half a dozen times a year.
Still at £49.99 plus P&P, it’s a decent price for a piece of kit that will be quite useful in spring and autumn, if not the depths of winter.
Qualified thumbs up!
