Teacore leather jackets - post yours here!

[mvilla]

Heya!

I couldn't find any specific topics on this subject, so I decided to create one.

I'm on the process of making my jacket with Greg, and the leather I picked when it all started was Shinki pigmented. I'll probably go on with this choice, however I realised that I have only seen very few examples of this type of leather that were actually worn for a while. Most of the ones I've seen are either very much new or artificially aged. So, if you have a nice jacket made with teacore leather, and you've worn it for a while, I'd really love to see it!

Thanks!

 

[livioli]

Heya!

I couldn't find any specific topics on this subject, so I decided to create one.

I'm on the process of making my jacket with Greg, and the leather I picked when it all started was Shinki pigmented. I'll probably go on with this choice, however I realised that I have only seen very few examples of this type of leather that were actually worn for a while. Most of the ones I've seen are either very much new or artificially aged. So, if you have a nice jacket made with teacore leather, and you've worn it for a while, I'd really love to see it!

Thanks!

Surprised this thread doesn't have more replies. I guess no one keeps their jackets long enough to find out.

I will receive my RC Ponyboy jacket in full-aniline black teacore next month. I'll send pics one year after that lol.

 

[mvilla]

Surprised this thread doesn't have more replies. I guess no one keeps their jackets long enough to find out.

I will receive my RC Ponyboy jacket in black teacore next month. I'll send pics one year after that lol.

I have the same impression... Hardly ever see pictures of 5+ years old jackets belonging to the same person... It's either brand spanking new or vintage 80+ years old haha

 

[livioli]

I have the same impression... Hardly ever see pictures of 5+ years old jackets belonging to the same person... It's either brand spanking new or vintage 80+ years old haha

True that. I have a few vintage ones too, but the RC will be my first "new" jacket and I plan to wear it till the end of time. And I need a brown one too Then, I'll find happiness.

 

[mvilla]

True that. I have a few vintage ones too, but the RC will be my first "new" jacket and I plan to wear it till the end of time. And I need a brown one too Then, I'll find happiness.

Haha it's surely a nice first new jacket, congrats on it.

 

[Nykwil]

Not an impressive collection or anything, I keep it small simple and trying to stay humble to all the cool jackets on here. I don't like to wear more jackets than I need and I tend to stick to a "uniform" of wearing the same thing everyday, so I like seeing how things age and progress.

But here's my 4 year old blackened brown premier highwayman, and 3 year old RMC J100. The j100 hasn't 'teacored' as much, only around the seams and zippers.

The highwayman has a lot of fading around elbows, zippers, seams, etc.

The J100:

 

[mvilla]

Not an impressive collection or anything, I keep it small simple and trying to stay humble to all the cool jackets on here. I don't like to wear more jackets than I need and I tend to stick to a "uniform" of wearing the same thing everyday, so I like seeing how things age and progress.

But here's my 4 year old blackened brown premier highwayman, and 3 year old RMC J100. The j100 hasn't 'teacored' as much, only around the seams and zippers.

The highwayman has a lot of fading around elbows, zippers, seams, etc.

The J100:

Nice exemplars you got there. I suppose the J100 is Shinki, correct?

 

[Nykwil]

Nice exemplars you got there. I suppose the J100 is Shinki, correct?

Yes!

It's wild to me, but the graining on it has only started popping out in the past couple of weeks, prior to that it was still stiff and kind of smooth.

 

[Canuck Panda]

This jacket was produced probably around 4 years ago, but sat in its previous owners closet, with regular mustang paste and brushing, no brown showing anywhere, but grains are popped in some places. My plan is to wear this jacket everyday for the next two week through the rainy Vancouver and then take some compare photos at the end of the two weeks wear. I will mostly wear it open, unzipped, damn Hookless, so there might not be any browning along the zip. This is the leather Greg also uses, the Shinki pigment.

I have seen a lot of pics of used Shinki pigment jackets online. I am weary of the heavily brown ones, I do suspect they have some artificial help. The top coating on the Shinki is very good, holds up well and age beautifully. Here is another one on Youtube that uses the same leather that has been worn in a lot of wet weather, no excessive browning, but a lot of creases:

 

[mvilla]

This jacket was produced probably around 4 years ago, but sat in its previous owners closet, with regular mustang paste and brushing, no brown showing anywhere, but grains are popped in some places. My plan is to wear this jacket everyday for the next two week through the rainy Vancouver and then take some compare photos at the end of the two weeks wear. I will mostly wear it open, unzipped, damn Hookless, so there might not be any browning along the zip. This is the leather Greg also uses, the Shinki pigment.
View attachment 582825 View attachment 582826 View attachment 582827

I have seen a lot of pics of used Shinki pigment jackets online. I am weary of the heavily brown ones, I do suspect they have some artificial help. The top coating on the Shinki is very good, holds up well and age beautifully. Here is another one on Youtube that uses the same leather that has been worn in a lot of wet weather, no excessive browning, but a lot of creases:

Really, really curious to see how this one's gonna turn.
Yeah, I agree that most of the ones you find online are suspicious. Pretty sure they're all forced patina, which doesn't appeal to me at all. This is the reason why I posted this originally: to see if some people around these bands actually wore their "teacher" to the core.

 

[Mysteryo]

Here’s my 10 yo RMC Buco J24
Teacore shows up nicely

 

[mvilla]

View attachment 582995 View attachment 582996 View attachment 582997 View attachment 582998 Here’s my 10 yo RMC Buco J24
Teacore shows up nicely

Now we're talking! That's what I wanted to see. Great looking jacket.
10 yo? That's cool! How often your were it? Did you ride with it?

 

[cbez]

 

[3.14nche]

CXLSH

 

[El Marro]

Here’s a shot of my IHJ-54 when it was new:

This jacket has seen a lot of wear over the last couple years, more than any of my other jackets because it is so comfy. The teacore is still not showing through very much, only at the seams and around the sleeves where there Is a lot of movement. When I get home this afternoon, I will take some photos and post them.

 

[Canuck Panda]

I will give a mini one week update on how the Mccoy Shinki teacore (pigment) wears, which I believe is the same leather Greg uses. The factory calls it SF Horse, and I think it can come in either softened (through staking process) or regular no staking. The Joe Mccoy branded jackets seems to come with softened leather and Buco line seems to come with the non softened ones and also no skiving, but I don't have enough jackets to make this a truth, just from my few jackets this is the case.

It's also very water resistant. I had some very wet days last week and they didn't get soak (at all) through. All pigment finished jackets I have (other than Shinki) is all like this too. The acrylic coating does wonders to make water bead and not let it through. To be fair I was never out for more than 15 minutes at a time in an urban setting but my cotton pants both thighs would soak through jacket stayed dry with water beading and shedding off.

Unfortunately not a lot of fade, only super high traffic areas starts to show a tiny bit of wear. It would take years to get some brown lines down the welts and cuffs and zips...etc. imo. The top coat is quite sturdy. I did pick up one scratch mark on the back from constantly leaning against the concrete wall of my office building. I am surprised there aren't more. All and all I wasn't trying to be careful with the jacket, in an attempt to speed the browing up, but not a lot of it.

One side of the zipper wears faster than the other and the Hookless is causing premature wear at the start. Other than that, it looks fairly new. The grains are poping mostly due to me throwing the jacket around, not being too careful about it. Brushing also pops the grains ime.

I've been looking at older RMC jackets, as far back as 90s when they were still made in New Zealand. Back then I believe it wasn't Shinki, but something different. Not sure what it was. But the main difference is that it turns grey before it turns brown, which I thought is quite cool, not unlike many vintage jackets I've seen. And one side of the zipper also wears faster than the other like my Shinki pigment so I guess that's the norm.

In summary I don't think you can go wrong with Shinki pigment leather. It's one of the best on the market. It would come down to whether or not you want edge / seam skiving or not. They do make quite a difference in the feeling and wear of the final product. The J-24 feels like a CXL level stiff jacket and Joe Mccoy feels much softer, and the former has bulky seams no skiving at all.

 

[livioli]

I will give a mini one week update on how the Mccoy Shinki teacore (pigment) wears, which I believe is the same leather Greg uses. The factory calls it SF Horse, and I think it can come in either softened (through staking process) or regular no staking. The Joe Mccoy branded jackets seems to come with softened leather and Buco line seems to come with the non softened ones and also no skiving, but I don't have enough jackets to make this a truth, just from my few jackets this is the case.

It's also very water resistant. I had some very wet days last week and they didn't get soak (at all) through. All pigment finished jackets I have (other than Shinki) is all like this too. The acrylic coating does wonders to make water bead and not let it through. To be fair I was never out for more than 15 minutes at a time in an urban setting but my cotton pants both thighs would soak through jacket stayed dry with water beading and shedding off.

Unfortunately not a lot of fade, only super high traffic areas starts to show a tiny bit of wear. It would take years to get some brown lines down the welts and cuffs and zips...etc. imo. The top coat is quite sturdy. I did pick up one scratch mark on the back from constantly leaning against the concrete wall of my office building. I am surprised there aren't more. All and all I wasn't trying to be careful with the jacket, in an attempt to speed the browing up, but not a lot of it.

View attachment 585299 View attachment 585300 View attachment 585301 View attachment 585302 View attachment 585303 View attachment 585304 View attachment 585305

One side of the zipper wears faster than the other and the Hookless is causing premature wear at the start. Other than that, it looks fairly new. The grains are poping mostly due to me throwing the jacket around, not being too careful about it. Brushing also pops the grains ime.

I've been looking at older RMC jackets, as far back as 90s when they were still made in New Zealand. Back then I believe it wasn't Shinki, but something different. Not sure what it was. But the main difference is that it turns grey before it turns brown, which I thought is quite cool, not unlike many vintage jackets I've seen. And one side of the zipper also wears faster than the other like my Shinki pigment so I guess that's the norm.
View attachment 585309

In summary I don't think you can go wrong with Shinki pigment leather. It's one of the best on the market. It would come down to whether or not you want edge / seam skiving or not. They do make quite a difference in the feeling and wear of the final product. The J-24 feels like a CXL level stiff jacket and Joe Mccoy feels much softer, and the former has bulky seams no skiving at all.

Bautiful jacket. I didn't know pigment-finished jackets could be teacore.

Btw, would love to see how your RC Ponyboy is ageing. It's an aniline finish, right? Same as the brown. How would you compare the ageing of your Mccoy and the Ponyboy?

 

[Canuck Panda]

Bautiful jacket. I didn't know pigment-finished jackets could be teacore.

Btw, would love to see how your RC Ponyboy is ageing. It's an aniline finish, right? Same as the brown. How would you compare the ageing of your Mccoy and the Ponyboy?

I haven’t worn my Ponyboy much but I had lots of wears of the Speedster which seems to have the same leather just thicker. There are some brown spots along the high traffic areas. It’s also a very sturdy finish. I wouldn’t call neither the RMC Shinki or the RC leather fast fading types, they can take a lot. Let me take some pics of the Speedster worn spots.

 

[livioli]

I haven’t worn my Ponyboy much but I had lots of wears of the Speedster which seems to have the same leather just thicker. There are some brown spots along the high traffic areas. It’s also a very sturdy finish. I wouldn’t call neither the RMC Shinki or the RC leather fast fading types, they can take a lot. Let me take some pics of the Speedster worn spots.

How come? Do you not like the Ponyboy? When I saw that jacket online, it was love at first sight.

Funny enough, I was considering ordering the Speedster from Barnstormer a few days ago. It looked great on me when I tried it on in their store in Japan. But I just couldn't pull the trigger because the double front pockets just feels off to me. It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea.

How long do you reckon it takes to break in a jacket like the Speedster or Ponyboy? I'm sometimes embarrassed walking in public wearing such a stiff jacket lol.

 

[BlinkerFluid]

This jacket probably doesn't meet the standards for most of the jacket connoisseurs here but hopefully ya'll can appreciate the teacore.

This jacket has been through a lot, including saving my ass in a motorcycle crash, ok it was actually an electric bird scooter but still...