We don’t get a lot of women’s jackets to review, which is really a sad thing considering the number of passionate female riders we know out there. One of our own female staff members rides just as hard (if not harder) than many of the people here, and we shower her with high fives all the time because of it.
With all that said, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of one of the best looking jackets to cross our paths in a long time. This is the Speed and Strength Black Widow women’s leather jacket. While pictures tell a thousand words, nothing except and in-person look at this jacket can really do it justice. The fit and finish is meticulous, while the jacket has been designed to shape your figure into this perfect, almost model-like posture.
That’s not to say this jacket is stiff, though. Far from it. The lather has been treated in a way that still gives you plenty of flexibility, even in the shoulder and elbow areas, which feature “Vault” C.E. approved armor protectors. Speed and Strength calls this jacket, “Beautifully Dangerous,” and we definitely agree. No matter which lady tried the Black Widow jacket on, all of them went from tame to tigress in the span of two arm holes and a zip up the chest. We loved the way the red zipper threadings on the chest and wrists gave a small but punctuated flash to the otherwise flat black front, and the red, “black widow” decal on the back was just small enough to not be gaudy, and just big enough to set the jacket apart from the thousands of other black leather jackets you’ll see out there in the riding world.
As beautiful as the jacket is, and as great as it makes you look, though, the function of this jacket is still the number one concern to Speed and Strength. The jacket features belt loops for attaching to a pair of riding pants, a “Lockdown” waist adjuster for preventing the jacket from riding up when you straddle your bike, and in addition to the aforementioned armor, there is also a “Vault” C.E. Approved spine protector running along the back. Right now the jacket is listed directly from Speed and Strength for $349.95, but a quick Google search shows that you can find the jacket for just a hair above $300 on some websites.
Overall this jacket for the serious rider ladies out there gets an overwhelming two thumbs up, and we can’t wait to see if S&S will expand this lineup in the future, as they have with other product lines like Wicked Garden and Killer Queen (look for our review of the new Killer Queen helmet coming soon). Overall, this is a fantastic jacket at a great price, and we have no qualms about recommending this to any lady who doesn’t just sit passenger, but demands to ride up front. Let us know what you think about the jacket in the comments below, and stay tuned for more Speed and Strength (and other) reviews coming soon!
