Tell the legendary story Aerostich The riding suit is to tell a story about America. Its dreams, but also the perseverance needed to navigate its possibilities. Because running a successful small business in America today requires more than a clear vision and hard work. It requires sustained strength.
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Duluthian native Andy Goldfine committed to his dream of creating a small business long before he knew what product or service he could offer. Separately, their concept of a lightweight, armored, easy-to-use jacket to wear over their work and commute clothes was born out of a personal desire to own such an item. These two ambitions merged when Goldfine introduced the first Roadcrafter one-piece riding suit in 1983.
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Schott is leather and Belstaff is waxed cotton, Aerostich is a synthetic fabric used to create durable, high-performance motorcycle gear. The world is awash with it right now, but back in the early ’80s, people weren’t talking about things like breathability or tensile strength or resilient foam armor. Cordura and Gore-Tex are still weird. And so, without any kind of roadmap, Goldfine created a whole new kind of riding gear, and boy, did that suit show us what our leather gear was missing.
I (literally) stepped into my first Roadcrafter in 1986 while Goldfine was touring Rider office in California, and I’ve lived in these clothes ever since. Like so many motorcycle reporters of the day, I found the Roadcrafter not only the gold standard for commuting, it was magic for motorsports and touring. Newer designs (R-3 Darien and AD1) from the Aerostich factory in Duluth might be popular these days as well, but when I last visited the store I was on the hunt for a new two-piece Roadcrafter Classic to match his now middle-aged body. .
This is my first visit to Goldfine’s very Minnesotan three-story brick building – a former candy factory – and it’s clearly a great place for cyclists to relax. Once fitted with the new suit, I had a tour of the different floors and stations, where skilled craftsmen and women, a large number of racers among them, cut and assembled the different fabrics into “kits”, which are then assigned to a sewer specialist and finally a seam machine operator before each garment is inspected and prepared to meet its new owner .
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The handcrafted pieces of clothing are fun to watch, especially since everyone who works here – some of whom have worked with Goldfine for decades – seems to enjoy their craft very much. .
But one of the things that left me with the most impression was how aggressively this operation worked to remain “Made in the USA”. For example, Goldfine explains that, due to current trade policies, the import tax on fabrics from Asia is twice as high as on finished apparel. “It doesn’t seem like the United States wants commercial/industrial sewing done in this country,” he told me.
Supply chain problems caused by Covid have only deepened the challenge. Still, Goldfine stayed true to its standards, a rare example of a garment manufacturer not easily attracted to cheap manufacturing abroad, even if many consumers accepted the offer. sometimes unintentionally trade off quality for low prices on everyday goods.
While riding gear remains the mainstay of Aerostich offerings, Goldfine has created and collected a desirable range of apparel, accessories and extras to make riding “easy, safe and secure.” more comfortable”. It could be a heated middle layer, a unique tool, perfectly-fitting earplugs, anti-fouling socks, or a new tent you didn’t know you needed until you saw it on the website or in the favorites list that sometimes appear in the mail.
And while he finds satisfaction in curating his artful products and the affirmation of Aerostich loyalists, Goldfine’s core intentions are not fashion or even earning. money. His deeper motivation is to promote the physical, psychological and social benefits of riding a motorcycle every day. That’s why he created Ride to Work Day, to remind us of the Rx effect of riding a motorcycle, even for a short “useful” ride each day. He believes that riding makes us “better functioning, calmer, more informed” people and also provides economic, environmental and congestion-reducing benefits to our communities.
With these big thoughts in mind, I entered my new Roadcrafter a week later. How the hell can an equestrian suit feel at home? This one has. Whatever new riding outfit came into my life to test, the all-American Aerostich lasted.
For more information, visit aerostich.com.
