Rev'It Paramount Gore-Tex suit review | Whatever the weather, this completely waterproof CE-rated suit has got you covered

The Rev’It Paramount (or onesie as it is affectionately known at MCN Towers) is an all-in-one, laminated textile riding suit. It features a main zip that runs all the way from the neck to the left ankle which makes it easy to step into and means you can wear your normal office clobber underneath and be ready to face the day in no time.

The overall effect is similar to the rubber suits used by the coastguard – but with the added features of CE level 2 armour at the elbows, shoulders and back and some low-profile level one inserts at the hips.

Several staff members had been recommending Aerostich suits to me since I joined the company as I commute through winter and often grumble about how long it takes to suit up or strip off all the layers it takes to beat the British weather. So, when Rev’It announced their own version, I jumped at the chance to give it a go.

Is the Rev’it Paramount suit comfortable to wear?

I don’t think a textile garment will ever match the comfort levels of a nicely fitting leather one, but this is the most comfortable I’ve been in GoreTex. The laminated fabric is a little stiff when you first pull the Paramount on but breaks in after a few hundred miles of use and you can almost forget you’re wearing it on the bike.

I used Rev’It’s sizing chart to order the suit because I couldn’t get hold of any to try on and the fit is spot-on. To give you an idea, I’m just under 6ft tall and voluptuous around the middle and I have the XXL Regular. This size gives me ample room for my civvies underneath plus a mid-layer without being baggy.

It’s also almost infinitely adjustable with straps you can tighten or slacken all over the place and Velcro manoeuvrability for all the armour except the back protector.

Off the bike, the experience is a little different. It’s still very comfortable, but the noise it makes as you walk is enough to make a full office turn around to see what is happening. Even when walking through the cavernous London Excel I was aware of how much noise I made as I shuffled through the halls.

The other slight issue is that the zip rucks up around the crotch and creates a rather flattering illusion of tumescence. Or to put it another way, you look a bit too pleased to see your bike… Handy cover story if you are, I suppose.

It’s also a little disappointing that there’s no option for a removable thermal liner. I have ridden through the winter months in the Paramount and have added my own mid-layer jacket to stay warm on the top half. Wearing jeans underneath has kept me warm enough this year as it’s been quite mild, but if temperatures were closer to zero you’d need to add base layers underneath your clothes and then lose a lot of the ‘ready for work’ practicality that attracted me in the first place.

While I’ve not had to face anything below five or six degrees, I’ve most definitely tested the Paramount’s waterproofing. Over one weekend, I rode two hours plus in driven rain and roads submerged in standing water at or around the national speed limit. I can report that despite plenty of previously trusted kit letting me down, the suit remained impervious.

And I mean completely, 100% bone-dry. Which is great because I stupidly didn’t carry any spare clothes.

The removeable storm collar is also excellent. It fastens with a hands-free mixture of Velcro and magnets and keeps the wind and rain off your throat without getting in the way of your chin strap. Genuinely excellent bit of design work.

I’m yet to test it out in hot conditions but the ventilation looks ample with huge squares of fabric that can be peeled away and fastened to reveal mesh beneath. I’ll update this review in summer when I’ve tried it out.

Is the Rev’it suit practical?

I’ve had to knock a star off here but only just. It could be me, but the suit isn’t as easy to put on as I had hoped. Here’s the sequence: with you boots already on, you step through the right leg of the suit (which has its own zip running from the ankle to the front of your hip) before pulling it up and putting both arms in just like a jacket. So far, so good.

Now you have to get the long zip started at the left ankle – which is a bit tricky because of how much rubberization there is and the epic scale of the teeth. Once you’ve got that started you snap a fastener below it before zipping down the right leg and snapping a similar fastener. By this point, by head is normally completely full of blood.

Now you can pull the main zip the rest of the way up, but the storm flap of fabric behind has a tendency to get caught, making the job take longer. There’s a third snap fastener at the throat and then you’re in.

The whole thing only takes a couple of minutes in total, but it’s fiddlier and more annoying than I expected. Maybe I’ll get better at it with time. Taking it off really is the work of seconds, though, and is a real time-saver in the morning.

If I’m really going to nit-pick, there could be more pockets on offer. There’s a small one inside that’s just big enough for your phone and then a huge one on the outside that does up with three snap fasteners and can swallow my wallet, several sets of keys, earplugs case with room to spare. You also get a sleeve pocket that will only fit a toll pass or contactless bank card (which would be handy in Europe but is on the wrong arm for the UK). But that’s it. I’m used to textile suits with at least four pockets on the front, two interior and sometimes a poacher’s pocket in the small of the back too, so two is a little disappointing.

As I said though, I’m nit-picking and think four stars is a fair practicality score overall.

How does the Rev’it Paramount look?

So far, I’ve had the suit referred to as overalls, a onesie and a romper suit. This isn’t the sexy end of the bike kit market. That said, I think it’s much better-looking than the equivalent versions from Aerostich or Klim. The navy blue is a subtle alternative to the khaki or safari beige you often get stuck with in the textile world and the red accents on the carry handle at the nape of the neck and the sleeve pocket are a classy touch.

What’s the quality like?

I may have been using the Paramount for a comparatively short time, but it gives the impression that it will last hundreds of thousands of miles. When you’ve handled and worn a lot of bike kit, you develop a sense of build quality and this suit definitely has it.

There’s not a single stitch out of place. No frayed hems hidden inside or wonky labels anywhere. Even the weight of it is reassuring, it has the heft of a high-quality garment. This is backed up by the waterproofing performance, too.

After 1000 miles, it doesn’t look like I’ve worn it at all and I’m not surprised. That’s probably less than 1% of the product’s lifetime.

Does the Rev’it Paramount offer a good level of protection?

AA is pretty par-for-the-course in the textile world with only a few very high-end garments making it to the highest AAA rating. That said, at £1600 I’d class this suit as high-end too so it would be nice if it hit AAA.

The CE level 2 armour in the Paramount sits exactly where you want thanks to the adjustability and the level 1 hip protectors are a nice touch, too. I wouldn’t worry about taking a tumble in it in commuter traffic or off road. Would I wear it for a track day? No, but that’s not what it’s for.

Is the Rev’it Paramount Gore-Tex suit good value for the money?

Four stars may seem high for a £1600 textile suit, but it really is astonishingly good quality. Not only that, but waterproofing you can really trust is worth its weight in gold.

To put it into context, an Aerostich R-3 one piece costs $1547 plus a few hundred for shipping from America. The last few Klim Hardanger suits are running out and the model is no longer in the range so once they’re gone, that’s it. They range from £1111.99 to £1500 depending on the colour.

That’s pretty much you’re lot in terms of textile one-piece options, but a top spec Rukka Nivala 2.0 jacket will set you back £1399.99 and then it’s nearly £900 more for the matching trousers!

The overall verdict?

I wouldn’t be without this textile one-piece in my biking wardrobe now and that’s not a statement I ever expected to make. The Paramount’s party piece – allowing you to shed your outer layer in seconds and be ready to crack on with your day – will never cease to impress and I’m willing to put up with a couple of minor shortcomings in exchange.

Yes, it needs more pockets and yes, you get cold if you don’t layer up underneath in winter, but the sheer quality, finish and convenience of the thing is hard to look past. And most of all, I absolutely know that whatever the weather throws at me, I’ll stay completely dry underneath for as long as I need to keep riding, and that’s priceless. Unfortunately, it’s very much not priceless. It’s rather priceful, in fact.

But given the cost of top-spec kit these days and the fact that this really does deliver on its promises, I believe it’s worth every penny.

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