Belstaff Stealth Crosby wax cotton jacket in black

The Crosby has long been our favourite Belstaff wax-cotton jacket. It works so well on the bike. The Brooklands/Mojave is too short. It leaves your back exposed, and allows rain to run into your pants. The Belstaff Trialmaster, by contrast, is too long, too heavy, and just a tad fiddly. The Crosby is just right.

 

This new version, the ‘Stealth’, is a bit of marketing nonsense. The fashion world loves to describe anything that is all black as ‘stealth’. But this is really just the Crosby in black with black buttons and zips.

 

There is one thing, however. For years, Belstaff’s motorcycle jackets have been classified as A under EN 17092, even though everyone knew they would pass at the AA level. The issue was that Belstaff didn’t think it was important, so never tested for AA. Well, because the jacket has a new lining it had to be re-tested, and it passed at AA. That is good, although it’s still really the same jacket as all the other colourways.

 

The new lining, by the way, is a mesh one which is going to make the jacket nicer to wear in warmer weather. All the other stuff is unchanged. Eight ounce British Millerain wax cotton. D3O in the elbows and shoulders. A fixed, waterproof membrane. Loads of adjusters. Rubberised buttons. And so on.