Anyone try the Sedici Hotwire heated gear?

Looking for heated gear and put off by the price of most of the popular brands. CycleGear has a new line of Sedici Hotwire gear that is reasonably priced and has a lifetime warranty. The current deal is $149 for the jacket and controller. I am hesitant to purchase any CycleGear brands, but the lifetime warranty that I can return at a local dealer has me thinking about taking advantage of the price.

Any have experience with Hotwire products yet?

I saw them too. Looked OK but I'm not going to be the guinea pig.

I dun bought a jacket, ($150 w/ controller!) but haven't tried it yet. I'm waiting fer the SAE to whatever the connector is on the Sedici. (It's in the mail now! ) Once I get it, I'll post up a review. Hang tight a few mor dayz.

Coulda used it Saturday.

I bought the Sedici heated pants this past Friday. They plugged in fine to my Firstgear 90 Watt jacket which is wired to a Firstgear thermostat. It immediately began raining slush as I blasted onto the entrance ramp of I-76 north of Pittsburgh. Luckily the weather never got any worse but it never got much warmer either. Light rain with temps in the high 30s (F) at interstate speeds. 600 miles over the weekend (two 5 hour rides). High temp of 44 and low temp of 28. They kept my legs comfortable for the most part. I think the heating elements are located mostly in the front. Standing for a few moments results in a cold butt. I bought them mostly because they were available locally. They look kind of frumpy and cheap. They feel kind of frumpy and cheap. The legs have zips up to the knee. The input cord could be about 10 inches longer so you can actually plug it into something besides your coat. I had the temps max'd out almost the entire time. Much colder than 28 and it would have been less than comfortable. The best part is when you stop for a nature break and you need about 5 minutes to find yourself under all your layers.

I recently bought a pair of the gloves. I rode 600 miles total in northern arkansas with the temps getting down to 37 in the morning and around 50 mid day. I had to keep the gloves on the low setting the whole time. As soon as I put them on medium or high my hands instantly got way too hot. As the day progressed and the temp rised, I had to turn the gloves off. After about a minute in the off position I had to turn them back on and let my hands get clamy. The gloves did not keep my hands warm in the off position with no heat. My palms got cold from time to time as there is no heat in the palms. Seemed to keep my fingers warm but am scepticle as if they would have kept my fingers warm in colder temps. I also bought them for the price and lifetime warranty and will keep them and see how long they last. Hope this helps.

Bump.........looking at the jacket.........

I bought the Sedici jacket liner at Cycle Gear Saturday (it was 81°). Liner and controller $149+tax. I rode to work this morning it was 29°. Usually I need my Stitch electric vest + Kathmandu liner + Kath jacket. This morning I tried just the Sedici liner + jacket and I was warmer than with the vest + liner + jacket. Just one day, but so far so good. After 7 years the Stitch vest finally went tits up. There is heat on the chest, upper back and arms. Having heat on the arms is nice. Don't think I would ever own just the vest again.

I have the jacket and glove liners

Jacket is good, it gets pretty warm and heats up quickly.. never gets very hot but just a nice gentle warming.. Also have the glove liners which I'm not too impressed with.. for one thing they run quite large.. I typically wear a Medium so had to send back the mediums for a small at my own expense, and even so the smalls are still a bit loose on me. Worse yet they only get about lukewarm under my Alpinestars Dry-Tech winter gloves.

I ordered the jacket liner yesterday so I will post up when it gets used. My current gear is good to 40F before I start to need added layers. All those layers are a Biatch when it comes to commuting. I'm hoping this will make up for having to add layers.

Last year I froze my butt of in Canada. I left 110F in TX and was later crossing passes at 40F. This should preclude having to pack two complete sets of gear when I go up there again next summer.

Looks like a reasonable deal. Since I expect to use mine on a spotty basis I'm hoping it'll work. If I was farther north I would have popped for Gerbings.

If budget is a concern, you may want to try DIY. I recently made my own, per this thread (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=514532), for about $30 bucks total, including the jacket, all connectors, a small controller, and the wire.

It's very easy to do, and only took me a couple of hours total to get it how I wanted. Works wonderfully.

The controller with the jacket made it a bargain. Time will tell. In the 55 degree garage, the IR thermometer got to 103 on the sleeves on max setting. For the most part the heat panels all read between 98 and 100 degrees on max. On max it never feels too hot. I also noted by testing the wiring- gloves connections in the sleeves are always live so they must be wired directly to the main connection. I find if my gloves are plugged in without the controller tuned on- the gloves go to max heat. Gerbing has a jacket with a different connector for gloves and auxiliary. Cyclegear salemans swore that Gerbings made the microwire internals and connectors for Hotwired. I have not been able to find info anywhere on the web about this. In looking at the two jackets side by side- there are several similarities. Hotwired label is same place on chest. Label print on inside same as Gerbing does. Wiring is definitely different. So I think the salesman was full of it. Also no lifetime warranty on hotwired- enough said.

Heated collar and sleeves are nice. Really cuts down on the cold air around he neck.

There are no clear directions on the connections for the controller. The controller sits on the right side of the jacket and once zipped up you can feel it press against you. Also need to drape wire to left side of bike since mine was already wired to this side. Guess I could change the lead to the right side. All other makes seem to be on the left side.
Another reviewer also commented you need to unzip outside jacket and inside liner to access the controls. Haven't figured out how to move this controller outside my jacket yet.


Looks very similar to Venture Heats jacket and controller. Description of glove connection even matches. Is a 83 watt same as their jacket. They seem to be a reputable company.

http://www.ventureheat.com/p-419-12v-heated-jacket-liner.aspx

Does Cycle Gear sell the cable to connect to a SAE connector?

I did not see it at the local Cycle Gear, here in NC they had very little stock of heated gear- The BMW dealerships usually have a good selection of Powerlet connectors and could find a SAE connector likely there.

The SAE- cax adapter is like $8 shipped on eBay all day long.

However, doesn't the cyclegear stuff come with a battery harness?

Remember to replace the fuze in your SAE cable, a tender fuse is usually just 3 amps and you need a 10 amp for the heated gear.

OK, finally got my SAE to (whatever?) Sedici gear connector 'n had some time for a morning ride. I got the jacket & glove liners, but there was no way I was gonna get them glove liners in my loosest gloves, so I took 'em back. I also tried on their heated gloves, butt they were too bulky, and sucked.
I rode for an hr in temps ranging low 30s to low 40s with just the jacket liner under my 'Stitch, and it kept me purdie warm on the little FZ6 dirt bike.

The only thing I have to compare it too, is my 16 yr old Aerostitch vest, and it seems to get about as warm, butt have'in long heated sleeves, and it be'in a jacket provides much more overall warmth.

So far, it's lived up to my expectations, and with a jacket over it, behind the big-ass windshield on the FJR, I think it'll do the trick on longer colder rides. Fer $150 w/ troller, I'm glad I got it over the pricier alternatives.

Now who makes a heated balaclava?

Yes

I bought an SAE to cax from Amazon, butt it didn't work, WTF? so I ended up get'in one from CG, and it worked.

I zip-tie the controller to the handlebars, 'n just run a wire to the jacket. I saw the intructions, and wondered how'd you be able to adjust the heat with the troller in the jacket?

I've been riding with the Jacket Liner and the glove liner every day for the past couple of weeks. Temps have ranged from 30 degrees in the morning to about 50 in the evening. If the weather is 40 degrees and above, I have to have the controller on low or I will get too hot. Below 40 to about 30 usually the med setting, but when I sit at a red light I begin to roast; however I mostly run the interstate to work and I quickly cool off. I have all my jacket vents open to allow max air flow and so far so good. Overall I am pleased with my purchase. For about 250 dollars including tax I think it was well worth it. I will say the design of the controller is absolutely ridiculous and not accessible once everything is zipped up. This is a very poor design.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

So where did you get the connectors etc? I'm not paying venture $60 for 2 extensions. Even a 3 or 4 inch to go inside would be enough to be able to move the controller. Touaster has a short extension I saw for $6 on MC superstore.

It worked nice this morning but the controller definitely needs moving.