RST TracTech Evo 5 textile jacket review | It’s been the ideal commuting companion

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The RST TracTech Evo 5 is the most complete three season textile jacket I have ever used. It’s unlikely to be your go-to protection on the coldest of winter mornings, but from spring to autumn, it’s all the jacket you’re likely to need – using the same CE rated level 2 armour in the shoulders, elbows, and back as the leather TracTech Evo range.

In fact, this year I’ve ditched the leather jackets all together and used this for my every day commuting and weekend riding when I can’t be bothered with the hassle of putting on my leathers.

On top of the protection comes a removable thermal liner, zippable intake vents on the shoulders and exhausts ports on the back, internal and external pockets – plus plastic outer shoulder cups styled in the same way as their flagship V4.1 one piece leather suit.

I’m incredibly impressed with it – especially when you consider the price point – and have done the majority of my testing aboard my long-term Honda CBR600RR supersport bike.

Four colours are available, with the ability to be zipped together with either RST textile or leather trousers. It also works away from sporty riding too, looking and feeling just as at home aboard nakeds, retros, and adventure bikes – all genres I’ve found myself sampling this summer.

How comfortable is the RST TracTech Evo 5?

This is a very comfortable jacket as standard, with adjusters found on the arms, wrists, and waist to tweak to your preferred settings. Despite looking a bit baggy in the arms when I wear it (more time in the gym required), the armour sits exactly where it should, and I feel confident that I would be protected should the worst happen.

I have swapped out the standard back amour for a wraparound chest and back protector to up the safety levels, but that’s purely personal preference and the standard set-up works just fine if you’re happy with it.

Used mainly for commuting to work, I often wear my large Kriega R30 motorcycle backback over the top. This bag’s thick shoulder straps can sometimes dig into my shoulders during a ride, however the external hard armour and internal shoulder protection prevent this from happening here. In fact, I can’t even feel it on my back – despite having my laptop, lunch, and a change of clothes inside.

When I’m not wearing the bag, the jacket doesn’t ride up my back either – something I often experience with more traditional sporting leather designs.

It only loses a star from the comfort score because the cuffs can feel a little bulky to tuck inside some longer gauntlet-style gloves. On the warmest of days, it’s also still very sweaty inside – even if you remove the internal thermal liner and open the intake and exhaust ports.

There’s air on the move, but you’ll get uncomfortable quickly in slow traffic. This isn’t uncommon in textile jackets though.

Is the RST TracTech Evo 5 jacket practical?

It’s another high score here for the RST TracTech Evo 5, with two external front pockets big enough to take either a large mobile phone or wallet, plus four internal cubby holes – again large enough to store a handset.

Be warned, the front chest pocket can allow water ingress in rain, so don’t use it to stash your phone if it looks like heavens might open. Away from this pocket though, I rode 170 miles up the motorway to Liverpool in the rain, to catch the ferry to the Isle of Man TT and my clothes underneath stayed dry. 

The RST jacket will fend off pretty much any bout of drizzle, or passing shower, however the heavy rain and flash flooding at the end of September/early October this year have proved to be too strong – leaking heavily after around 30 minutes of riding.

Adjustments to the arms and waist can also be made with gloves on, and all of the zips feel sturdy and durable – a feeling I’ve not had with some RST products of old. Then there’s the liner, which is comfortable and soft, and can be removed and reinstalled in a matter of moments without having to consult an instruction manual.

Overall, it just feels like it will stand the test of time and if it wasn’t for the bug splats on the white shoulders of my jacket, you’d think it was still brand new.

This is despite being worn in all weathers – including the unseasonably cold snap at the beginning of September, where it remained toasty warm to as low as seven degrees with a jumper underneath and a buff around my neck. It’s very impressive.

Is it a good looking jacket?

I’ve got the Evo 5 in black and white, which is one of four colour options available. You can also have plain black or add licks of red or blue. Although a fairly conservative design when compared with some other RST garments, I think it’s bang on the money and gives a far more premium impression than its price tag would suggest.

In my view, the black and white is the best option to have, as it blends in with any colour of bike – ideal if you’re lucky enough to have more than one toy in the garage.

I also think the strips of white help with your visibility to other motorists, but that’s a tricky one to prove either way. In warmer weather, I like to pair the jacket with my white RST TracTech Evo 4 race gloves and Shoei X-SPR Pro helmet, which both work with the white accents on the jacket.

The Evo 4s are also one of the few sporty pairs of gloves I’ve tried that will successfully swallow the end of the jacket sleeve. Once hunched into position on my CBR600RR the arms don’t ride up either to leave exposed skin.

What’s the quality like?

It has to be five out of five once again. For less than 170 quid all in you get a AA safety rating and level two armour all round. There’s also water-resistance that works, a comfortable removable quilted lining, and a polyester outer, which looks as good as new after 5000 miles of use.

That is an awful lot of kit and performance for a genuinely affordable price point. It’s hugely impressive and sets a standard for many other brands to follow in the future – with no frayed stitching or damage to the Velcro yet to appear.

How good is the protection on the RST TracTech Evo 5?

As alluded to above, RST have pumped an awful lot of protection into this jacket. The textile outer features hard external shoulder protection pinched from their top spec racing leathers, with the internal protectors offering a level two CE safety rating.

As such, I’d recommend it as an option to anyone, and although I am planning to stay upright, it does feel like I could take a tumble in this product and stand a decent chance of not being seriously hurt. Not only this, but the armour feels like it would stay in the right place in the event of an accident too.

I’ve now swapped the standard back protector for an internal Spidi Defender chest and back protector vest to look after my ribs a little better, but it would be unfair to criticise a circa 170 quid jacket for not having chest protection as standard.

So what’s the verdict?

If you’ve made it this far, it should be pretty clear that I like the RST TracTech Evo 5 jacket a lot. It’s comfortable, well-specced, and has kept me dry on multiple sodden motorway runs.

That said, the harsh rain and flash flooding at the end of September did prove too much to cope with – leaking onto my clothes underneath after around 30 minutes. However, it’s also kept me warm in single digit temperatures and is bearable (if sweaty) in hot conditions.

It’s been the ideal commuting companion, and I’ve ditched the leather jackets this year in favour of just wearing this at the weekends. Afterall, it offers all the same benefits, except I also know it’ll keep my dry if the rain arrives. What’s not to like?

Of course, a sporty textile jacket cannot be used as part of a two-piece suit for trackdays in the same way that a leather option can, but I’m willing to overlook that downside here.

It also doesn’t ride up my back and is comfortable to wear off the bike. There’s no daft faux race humps to contend with either, helping it to fit in on a range of bike styles. There’s no doubt I’ll be using it into 2025, and I reckon it’s worth anyone’s consideration.