Rukka Hybrid-R jacket review

The Hybrid-R suit from Rukka came on to the market in January 2025. You will find it in some shops, and on lots of websites. There you can check out the details. Some retailers have written blogs about it, and even produced videos about it. And in these they will undoubtedly have listed all the features of the new suit.

But what they won't have done is explain exactly what the Hybrid-R is, how it got its name, why Rukka produced it, what’s different about it, and who they produced it for. And so that's what we are going to do here.

Now Rukka already has some six different laminated suits in its line up. And frankly, even though they all sport different features, and hit different price points, they all do pretty much the same job. They are all touring/commuting suits. The kind of suit that makes sense for the high-mileage rider who does most of his or her riding here in the northern part of Europe. Whatever any one tells you, none of them is going to work anywhere near as well in southern Europe.

Which begs the question as to why Rukka has decided to introduce a seventh style into an already well stocked range?

We'll get to that.

The Hybrid-R will sit at the very top end of the Rukka range; right alongside the Nivala and the Kingsley. And these two suits, in a way, explain why the Hybrid has been produced.

Now our view has always been that the finest jacket/pant combination in this market is the Rukka Nivala. It's the most comfortable, 3-layer, Gore-Tex, laminated suit ever produced. There is simply nothing this competent that is as nice or cosseting to ride in. And that's largely down to the stretch built into the outer chassis.

But although it worries us not in the slightest, there have been people, often on social media, who have expressed disappointment that the Nivala is only single-A rated under EN 17092. Personally, I suspect that most of these critics were not in the market for a Rukka outfit, and have never tried one on.

The reason the A-rating doesn't bother ushere at Motolegends is because EN17092 is nothing more than an elaborate, abrasion test. It is in no way an indicator of a product's protective qualities. And with its 10 huge pieces of Level 2, D3O armour, the Rukka Nivala is, in the real world, going to be more protective than any ‘non-Rukka’ AA suit out there; and probably most of the AAA-rated ones too.

But large companies like the one that owns Rukka are sensitive to public criticism, regardless of the fact that, as in other fields, most of the unpleasantness and negativity on social media emanates from a tiny, usually ill-informed, but vocal, band of blow hards.

And so, even though the Nivala has proven to be the best-selling Rukka suit of all time, the company felt obliged to bring out an alternative to the Nivala, but with an AA rating. They did this a couple of years ago. That suit was the Kingsley. It is true that it found favour with those individuals that one might term 'box tickers'. But it never sold particularly well. Whenever we had anybody here in the shop asking for one, we would get them to try on a Nivala by way of a comparison. And, in 99% of cases, that was what they ended up walking out with. Tried on back-to-back it was kind of a no-contest.

To get the Kingsley to pass at the AA level, Rukka removed any stretch from the outer fabric, in the realisation that stretch materials don't perform well in the Darmstadt abrasion test. But in achieving the AA rating, the Kingsley missed out on the wearability of the Nivala. It simply wasn't as nice to wear.

And so, more recently, having realised that the Kingsley did not quite hit the spot, Rukka decided to have another go, and to try and make a suit that combined more of the comfort of the Nivala with the higher abrasion-resistance rating of the Kingsley. This was never going to be easy. If it were, Rukka would have made the Kingsley more comfortable in the first place.

Now the way Rukka has gone about the task is to introduce specific areas of stretch into the Hybrid-R, albeit only in those areas where the abrasion requirements are lower.

Under EN17092, there are three different zones on a jacket and pant that are tested for abrasion resistance. And so, with the Hybrid, they have reinforced the most important Zone 1 areas with extra Cordura, whilst adding stretch material into the lower risk Zone 3 areas, where the abrasion test parameters are less onerous. And in this way they have been able to meet the requirements for AA certification in a suit that is undoubtedly going to be more comfortable than the Kingsley.

And so the Rukka Hybrid-R is a suit that incorporates elements from the Kingsley alongside elements from the Nivala. And that is why some genius came up with the name: Hybrid. This suit is literally a hybrid of the other two. Of course, only time will tell whether, in this case, the new suit capture the relative strengths of both the existing suits. Or just their weaknesses!

Anyway, what we’re going to do now is talk through the new suit, and explain what it does, and doesn’t come with. We won’t really talk about the pricing, because the truth is that there’s not much of a difference between the three suits and at this, the upper end of the motorcycle apparel market, the cost difference is most unlikely to be a factor.

Now often when motorcycle magazines conduct a test comparing three similar bikes they seem unwilling ever to come to a meaningful conclusion, and declare a winner. Normally, this is because they don't want to upset advertisers. And so they will often cite the fact that all the bikes have competing virtues. Well, if it wasn’t so predictable, such determinations might be plausible. But we take a different view. There are three jackets here. Nobody is obliged to agree with us, but we will come up with a with a determination; and of course we’ll attempt to explain why we’ve chosen the suit we have.

The creation of the Hybrid jacket

First off, let's go through all of the basic stuff that you would expect to find on most Rukka jackets, and that all three of these suits have in common.

With all three jackets you get the same, 3-layer, Gore-Tex Pro, laminated membrane. So you are going to enjoy the motorcycle industry's highest levels of waterproofing and breathability. Being laminated, you won't suffer from 'wetting out'. And as the membrane is supplied by Gore, it will be guaranteed for life.

On all three you will get a five-year warranty, extendable to six years, provided you register before the ink on your till receipt has had time to dry.

You get Neoprene in the collar, and a storm collar sewn into the neck. Gore-Tex cuffs. Zips at the ends of the sleeves with Velcro flaps. A Velcro adjuster at the waist. Lots of reflective material. And loads of vents. Ten on the Hybrid. Eight on the Kingsley. And eight on the Nivala.

Well, all three jackets come with huge, highly-vented, Level 2 D3O in the elbows, shoulders and back. And the important word here is 'huge'. Made exclusively for Rukka by D3O, it is larger than the armour you'll find in any other brand, with the exception of Stadler perhaps.

Now the reason the size of the armour is so important is threefold. First, the larger the area, the greater the chance that, if you do hit something, that something will impact upon the armour. The second is that the larger the armour the greater the area over which the energy of an impact will be dissipated, lessening its direct force. And thirdly, because all armour is more abrasion resistant than any fabric from which a garment is constructed. And so the larger the armour, the greater will be a garment’s level of abrasion resistance.

Finally, in terms of chest protection, all three suits come with a Level 1 chest protector. (Level 2 chest protectors are just too thick for road riding). Out of interest, the way the chest protector attaches to the Hybrid is better and easier than it is with the other two jackets.

So let's start to look at some of the differences between the three jackets.

Now nothing to do with comfort, per se, but the Hybrid comes with the Rukka Lahti as a removable, thermal liner. The Lahti is a fine mid-layer, but it uses a hollow-form fibre to provide its insulating qualities. The other two come with a Down-X jacket. Being filled with real down, the Rukka Down-X will be warmer both on and off the bike.

Does this mean that the Hybrid jacket will be less warm than the Nivala and the Kingsley? Well not necessarily because like the Hybrid also has a fixed Outlast lining.

Now we are never massively keen on a fixed Outlast lining in a laminated jacket, because it will impede the direct-to-body airflow when the vents are open. So does this mean that the Hybrid will not vent as well as the other two? Again, not necessarily, because the Hybrid has two more vents than the other jackets.

So let's now talk about comfort, and what the three different jackets do in order to try and make them easier to ride in. Because that’s what the real issue here is.

Well, as we know, the entire chassis of the Nivala contains stretch. Consider the Nivala as the Lulu Lemon of motorcycle jackets. The outer chassis stretches every which way. The material moulds to your every movement. It also is the most forgiving of the three. Put on a few pounds, and the Nivala will continue to be your friend.

There are Rukka suits out there that contain no stretch whatsoever. And these really can be less easy to live with. Well the Rukka Kingsley has some concertina stretch banding behind the shoulders. This makes it easier to bring your arms forward to the bars. Bot that's about the only concession it makes to comfort. Unfortunately, on its own this doesn't make a huge difference. It has to be of help, I suppose, but nobody's going to want to do a Pilates class in a Kingsley jacket.

On the Hybrid, you get stretch fabric across the chest and down the insides of the arms. These are the Zone 3 areas I mentioned before; these are the areas that are considered to be less at risk when it comes to abrasion. You also get the concertina banding behind the shoulders that again makes it easier for you to bring your arms forward to the bars.

Anyway, before we come to a conclusion, let’s take a look at the pants.

Comparing the Hybrid pant

In lots of ways, a suit's trousers are less interesting. And they impact less on our riding comfort than does a jacket. In terms of membranes, armour, pockets, adjustability and vents, all three trousers are very similar.

They've all got the same, huge, Level 2 armour. They've all got the same venting. They've all got a connecting zip. Antiglide in the seat. Rukka's AirCushion system. Braces. Long zips up the legs. Reflective panels. The same adjuster belt. And so on. And they all come in three leg lengths.

The Rukka Nivala pant has incoming vents, but no outgoing ones. The Kingsley and the Hybrid-R have both.

The Nivala comes with Down-Y down pants. The Rukka Kingsley pant has Down-Y pants and an Outlast lining. The Hybrid, surprisingly, has just an Outlast lining, so with the Hybrid in colder conditions you will definitely need to wear something more insulating.

Most of the other differences between the models are inconsequential, until it comes to the components that determine the levels of comfort versus the levels of abrasion resistance.

Now again, the Nivala pant is all stretch, so needs no concertina banding or stretch inserts. The trouser is super-stretchy, comfortable and forgiving. The downside is that, as we know, the fabric only passes the Darmstadt abrasion test at the single-A level.

When the Kingsley first came out, comfort had fallen down the agenda. Rukka wanted to hit AA; and so they took no prisoners. There is no give in the outer fabric, but for abrasion resistance you get Keprotec on the knees and hips. You get a teensy-weensy bit of stretch in the crotch, without which most people couldn't even get their leg over their bike. The Kingsley also has some concertina banding at the back, in the waist, and above the knees. The formula worked in a way. The Kingsley met the AA standard. But like the jacket, the pants weren't anything to write home about when it came to wearability.

And so we come to the Rukka Hybrid-R pant. Clearly, as with the jacket, the idea was to combine the comfort of the Nivala pant with the abrasion resistance of the Kingsley pant.

The Hybrid pants lose the leather panels that run up the insides of the legs of the other two. This is replaced by a stretch material that runs up the legs, and into the crotch area. Once again, this stretch material does not extend beyond the border of the Zone 3 area.

The result is what you might expect. The pants are nicer to wear than the Kingsley pants, but are not in the same league as the Nivalas, in our view.

So where do we get to?

Before we get to our denouement, let’s touch on pricing, even though we don’t think it is going to make much of a difference to most buyers.

The Nivala, at £2400, is the least expensive, although it does not have the Outlast lining that you get in the other two suits. The Kingsley has the highest ticket price at £2750. The Hybrid is £2600, but you don’t get the Down-X liners. If you were to buy those, and trade in the Lahti, the Hybrid would Coe in at £2,840, making it technically the most expensive of the three.

Of course, there are no rights and wrongs here. We all have different priorities. We have an opinion on the matter. And I would say that it's an opinion informed by the sales of the many hundreds of Rukka suits we sell here in the shop every year. But nobody has to agree with this opinion. It is, after all, just an opinion!

From what we have explained, it should be clear what Rukka has set out to do.

Everybody loved to ride in the Nivala, but Rukka felt that they needed to respond with a high-end suit that met the AA standard. In fact, at the time, the Met. Police were making lots of noises about wanting just such an AA rated suit. And so Rukka thought they would please everybody by making a high-end, Gore-Tex, laminated, AA suit.

But it didn't please everybody. It was not a particularly nice suit to wear. It did not sell well. And ultimately the Met. decided they couldn't afford the Kingsley, so they went for a much cheaper Rukka suit that wasn’t even accredited to the EN 17092 standard!

The Hybrid-R was conceived as the suit that would bridge the gap, to provide the comfort of the Nivala with the AA accreditation of the Kingsley.

Well, it does the latter, but it does not quite do the former. Is the suit more comfortable than the Kingsley? Indisputably yes. But is it as comfortable as the Nivala? Indisputably no.

So, in some ways, we are back to square one. Do you go for comfort and a single-A rating or less comfort and a double A one. Of course, this time round it's a closer battle than it was between the Nivala and the Kingsley. The expanse of clear blue water has shrunk.

Given this, this has to be down to personal choice. And, as ever, we would suggest that you have to visit a shop where you can try the two suits on together. Perhaps even all three.

But one result of the arrival of this new suit is that it potentially leaves the Kingsley out in the cold, as the Hybrid meets the same abrasion rating, but is significantly more comfortable.

For us, though, the Nivala is still the winner. And that's because for most, high-mileage riders comfort is a driving force.

The suit's single-A rating causes us no concern. We have seen how the Nivala stands up in accidents; and it stands up very well. And it's the armour that, for us, negates any concerns about the Nivala's single-A rating.

The Nivala is more protective than any 'non-Rukka' AA suit out there. Yes, an AA-rated Rukka suit might be deemed even more protective. But the Nivala is more than protective enough for just about any road-riding scenario.

eople get obsessed by chasing ratings, but often this is a mistake. You won't be wearing a Nivala suit on the track. You won't be normally be doing 150 mph when you have an off on the road. And if you are, you won't be sliding for a hundred meters. On the road, if you part from the bike you will rarely, for many obvious reasons, surf down the road for even 10 metres. More likely is that you will collide with something. And in that scenario, you will be thankful for the Nivala’s huge, Level 2 armour. Its abrasion rating will be of less concern.

But here's my final point. We can all end up having an accident. But ride like an adult, and there's a good chance that you will never have a biggie. For the tens, or hundreds, of thousands of miles you will ride without incident your riding will be more enjoyable in a suit that is comfortable.

Dress only for the accident you imagine in your head, and every single one of those miles can be just that little bit less enjoyable.

And that's why it's still the Nivala for us. And Rukka, I'm sorry about this. The new suit is a step in the right direction. And it will hit the spot for many people. But for us, whilst it’s a closer call, it's still no cigar!

You can buy a Rukka Hybrid-R jacket with free next day UK delivery online, or visit our store in Guildford to try it on.