Thor Core Gear Info:

PRICE: $150 (Pants); $50 (Jersey); $35 (Gloves)

COLORS: Red, Concrete, Regal, Pinstripe, Black/tan, Spearmint, Navy, Pastrana, Reed, Burgundy, Red/Charcoal, and Black/white (Jersey and pants); Red, Concrete, Regal, Black/tan, Spearmint, Navy, Burgundy, Red/Charcoal, and Black/white (Gloves).

SIZES: 28-38 (Pants); S-XXL (Jersey); XS-XXL (Gloves)

MOTOCROSS.COM RATING:9

CONTACT: Visit www.thormx.com or call 619/448-8467

            With 40 years of experience, it’s no real surprise that in today’s competitive world of motocross apparel, Thor is easily one of the most recognizable companies. Over those 40 years, Thor has been at the forefront of technology when it comes to MX gear, and this year is no different.

            For 2008, Thor introduced some new interesting colorways for the consumers, but still stuck relatively close to their tried and true design for the Core gear line. Beginning with the jersey, Thor focused on keeping it comfortable, yet still durable and protective enough to stand up to the abuse of modern MX. The collar is a stair-step design that is cut lower to help keep it comfortable and increase airflow. While on the front of the jersey and under the arms, there is oval mesh to help improve the ventilation even more. As an added touch to the design, Thor included high-density printed logos on the shoulders, collar, and chest. Moving on to the pants—which aren’t drastically changed from last year—Thor added a few features to them, which in the end they hope will improve the overall fit and performance. The waist features a ratchet closure system, which helps to keep them in place during riding, while the front panel is designed specifically to form around the rider. At the knees, there are three accordion flex ballistic knee panels with Aramid stretch fabric inserts for improved comfort. Finally, like most modern MX pants, there is full-grain leather on the insides of each knee for added protection and grip on the bike. As for the gloves, they feature a Velcro wrist closure, direct inject TPR logos on the knuckles, mesh construction, padded palms for protection and durability, and silicone beaded finger tips for improved grip.

            When we first slipped into the Core gear, we knew that the quality, fit, and comfort were second to none. Both the pants and jersey fit remarkably true to size, while the gloves are surprisingly comfortable too. In previous gear reviews we have done, we have commented that we aren’t huge fans of gloves with lots of padding on the palms, but fortunately, the Core gloves don’t have too much. One thing that we did notice though, is that the pants seem to be cut pretty low, so they were pulled down when we seat bounced a jump or sat down in a turn. All it took to remedy this problem, however, were a few clicks of the ratcheting buckle system on the waist.

RATING

            When it was all said and done, we came away pleased with our experience with the Thor Core gear. And as for the different colorways Thor is offering this year, we like them too. In today’s world of fashion-conscious riders, Thor will definitely make an impact with their comfortable, durable, and good-looking Core line.