Dainese Centrale ladies jacket in green

The Dainese Centrale is a lovely, lovely, ladies motorcycle jacket. Taking its design cues from the world of outdoor sports, you would never know that this is a proper motorcycle jacket, although in every way it absolutely is.

 

Dainese tell us nothing about what the outer shell of the jacket is made from other than to say that it is soft, four-way stretch fabric. And in this they are totally correct. In truth, we don't really need to know what the fabric is, as long as it meets the industry standards for abrasion resistance. And the Centrale does. It passes EN 17092 at the A standard, which is what you would expect of a jacket that is most definitely urban in its focus. The jacket comes with Level 1 armour in the elbows and shoulders. There's a pocket that will take a Level 1, D3O back protector

 

But what is particularly impressive about the Centrale is that its stretchy outer shell is laminated to a waterproof membrane, which in theory means that this a jacket should never wet out. Okay, so we're not talking here about Gore-Tex levels of protection from the wet stuff, but then again we're are not talking about a Gore-Tex price point.

 

The jacket is equipped with a removable, thermal jacket that can be used as a 'destination' jacket, as it is called, when you're off the bike. We hardly need say that this won't keep you warm on a mid-winter's day, but it will do a job.

 

You get two large, external pockets with the Centrale, and one on the inside. Ditto on the thermal lining. You also get a small pocket on the left arm. We have to admit that we are not fans of hoods on motorcycle jackets, but 'the times they are a changin', as Bob Dylan pointed out some 60 years ago, so perhaps we should just get used to it. The hood can be rolled up and fastened with a poppered strap to stop it flapping about on the bike. The jacket is nicely shaped, and fits the ladies' form very well; as indeed one might expect of the house of Dainese. There's no adjuster to cinch the waist, but there is one at the hem.

 

So what is the Centrale? Well, it's not a technical jacket, per se, but it is nonetheless pretty technical for an urban jacket. With its laminated membrane it should keep you dry. Laminated membranes sometimes come at the cost of comfort, but that's not the case here. The Centrale looks great, and will be superbly comfortable, both on and off the bike. You wouldn't undertake an arduous winter commute in this jacket, and its lack of venting probably means that you wouldn't go touring in it, but for around town, for weekend rides, and the occasional foray further afield, the Centrale will be perfect.

 

We also happen to think the pricing is amazing.