The Cosmo jacket is made from 'soft cowhide' of between 1.0 mm and 1.2 mm in thickness. Now that's the kind of generic claim that any manufacturer might make, but in this case it's true. The Cosmo's leather is truly soft and supple. It really is rather special; I'm not sure we've come across its like.
Leather is not particularly breathable, but to help air to circulate around the body the jacket is mesh lined.
The leather is coated with TFL Cool; and what this does is reflect some of the sun's infrared radiation that might otherwise be absorbed by the leather. In extremis, this can reduce the surface temperature by up to 25 degrees Celsius. And that's not nothing. You also get incoming vents on the arms, as well as outgoing vents in the back.
There's one other thing. You get a very neat mesh panel that can be used instead of the main zip to allow more air into the jacket as you're riding. We've seen this done on other jackets, but the way this one zips in and out is particularly clever.
For the colder weather you get a removable thermal, sleeveless gilet. Truth be told it's nothing fancy. It's filled with some kind of hollow-form fibre. It will do a job, but it's a bit vanilla; and certainly it's not something you could wear off the bike. Our inclination would be to put it in a drawer somewhere and forget about it. You would be better off with something in Merino, a fleece perhaps, something containing down or, in extremis, something heated by the bike's battery.
When it comes to the Cosmo's protective qualities, you should know that it's AA rated for abrasion resistance. The jacket comes fitted with Level 2 D30 in the elbows and shoulders. It's not Ghost or Diablo, but in a jacket as substantial as this we reckon such armour would get lost. The jacket is fitted with standard shaped D3O; and frankly that's the best option here. The back protector is not included. You could fit a D3O one or a Rheon one.
Anyway, let's go through some of the details.
You get four external pockets and two internal ones. There's a second one on the inside to house your cell phone.
We've already made it clear that the Cosmo jacket is comfortable, but what makes it even more so, especially on the bike, are stretch panels in the elbows and shoulders.
What else is there to say? Well the collar fastens by means of a magnet. You get two-position adjusters at the waist/hips. There's some reflective detailing. And you get a full-length connecting zip.
Now one thing that Held excels at is sizing. These days it seems like even the fanciest brands are set on a path of offering fewer sizes. I'm sure their accountants would explain that if you only offer the core sizes you get a better return on your investment. Well, it would appear that Held's accountants didn't get the memo. Which might explain why the Cosmo 4 jacket comes in 10 chest sizes in a regular fit, in five sizes in a Slim fit, and in five sizes in a Tummy fit. There are very, very few motorcycle clothing brands that can match this!
