When Obsolete Tech Rides Again: What “Dead” Gear Teaches Us About Future‑Proofing Your Kit

A trending piece on “40 Obsolete Things To Prove How Much The World Has Moved On And Changed” is blowing up online right now, reminding everyone how fast tech turns to relic. For riders, that hits especially hard: motorcycle gear has gone from waxed cotton and hard plastic cups to CE‑rated impact foams, active airbags, and laminated membranes in barely a decade. But here’s the twist—understanding why some gear became obsolete is one of the best ways to future‑proof what you buy next.

Below, we’ll break down five deeply technical lessons modern riders can steal from “obsolete” tech—so the gear you buy today is still worth wearing five seasons from now.

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1. From Brittle Plastics To Smart Foam: Don’t Buy Into Impact Tech That’s Already Dated

Look at any old “race” jacket from the early 2000s and you’ll see the same story: hard, injection‑molded plastic armor at shoulders and elbows, maybe a thin foam back pad doing almost nothing. It felt protective because it was rigid. By today’s standards, it’s basically obsolete.

Modern impact protection has shifted to energy‑absorbing foams and viscoelastic materials that tune their response to impact speed. The CE standard updates (EN 1621‑1:2012 for limbs, EN 1621‑2:2014 for back) quietly killed off a whole generation of armor designs that couldn’t pass real‑world impact tests.

What to look for now:

• **CE Level 2 armor as baseline, not an upgrade.**
• Limb: EN 1621‑1:2012, Level 2 (look for the pictogram and “L2” on the label)
• Back: EN 1621‑2:2014, Level 2
• **Multi‑impact behavior.** Some older foams fail after a single big hit. Modern materials (e.g., D3O, Sas‑Tec, Alpinestars Nucleon, Rev’It SEESOFT) are engineered to maintain performance across repeated impacts.
• **Coverage and shaping over “hard shell drama.”** Good armor is bigger, curved, and segmented to stay in place through a slide. Big flashy hard cups that “float” over your elbow are Instagram tech, not crash tech.
• **Replaceable, modular pockets.** A jacket that locks you into its proprietary, thin Level‑1 pads is effectively obsolete the day you buy it, because you can’t upgrade its core safety tech.

If your current gear doesn’t at least support modern Level‑2 inserts, you’re riding with yesterday’s solutions to today’s impact speeds.

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2. Old Membranes vs. Modern Laminates: The Waterproofing Arms Race Isn’t Hype

In that “obsolete things” article, there’s a recurring theme: tech that technically worked, but in practice was slow, clumsy, and miserable to use. Early waterproof moto gear is exactly that story.

Classic setup from the 90s and early 2000s: a heavy outer shell, a zippable “waterproof liner,” and maybe a thermal liner on top of that. In real rain, the shell soaked, gained a kilo of water, and then the inner membrane tried to keep you dry—while you froze in a portable swamp.

Modern high‑end gear (think Gore‑Tex Pro, D‑Dry XT, eVent, or proprietary laminated systems from Klim, Rukka, Stadler, etc.) flips the script:

• **Laminated construction (2L or 3L):** The waterproof membrane is bonded directly to the outer shell, so the face fabric doesn’t saturate as badly and dries fast.
• **Hydrostatic head ratings:** Look for numbers: 20,000–28,000 mm+ water column is serious storm protection, not just “resistant.”
• **Real breathability data:** RET (Resistance to Evaporative Heat Transfer) or MVTR (Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate) figures matter:
• RET < 6: extremely breathable
• RET 6–13: good for touring

Anything above that and you’re basically in improved rain gear, not a climate system.

Future‑proofing move: When you’re choosing between a cheaper “drop‑in waterproof liner” jacket and a laminated shell that costs more, remember every photo in that obsolete‑tech piece: you’re either buying something that already feels like yesterday’s solution, or you’re paying up front for gear that can survive 5–10 seasons of real weather with consistent performance.

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3. Venting, Not Vents: Why Old Mesh Feels Brutal Compared To Modern Climate Systems

Old school solution to riding in heat: giant mesh panels that turn your jacket into a high‑speed dehydrator. It felt amazing at 40–60 km/h, and absolutely hammered your body at 120+ km/h. Those jackets are the floppy floppy disks of moto gear—huge airflow, zero control.

Modern gear is finally catching up to what riders actually do: commute, tour, lane‑split, and hammer highways—all in one piece of kit. The trend is away from “always‑on mesh” toward controllable venting and adaptive materials:

• **Engineered mesh vs. random holes.** New meshes are body‑mapped (denser at elbows/shoulders, more open at chest/biceps) to keep abrasion resistance where you need it.
• **Direct‑to‑body vents.** Zips that channel air *through* the armor pocket onto your base layer, not just between shell and liner. That’s the difference between “I kinda feel a draft” and “this dumped 10°C off my core in 3 minutes.”
• **Dual‑zip or butterfly vents.** Long vertical intake and exhaust vents (Klim, Rukka, Rev’It, etc.) that create a pressure‑driven airflow path instead of random “holes” that flutter and whistle.
• **Layering philosophy over “one jacket for all things.”**
• Lightweight armored mesh jacket for true summer
• Laminated shell (without built‑in insulation) + proper base/mid layers for shoulder seasons and touring

Trying to make a single three‑layer Frankenstein jacket do everything is the moto version of carrying a PDA, pager, and flip phone in 2002.

If your current jacket has tiny token vents and a fixed liner, you’re wearing thermal design that’s as behind the times as a CRT monitor. Airflow is now a system, not a checkbox.

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4. Visibility: Why Retroreflection Is The New High‑Vis Yellow Brick

That viral “obsolete things” list features plenty of fashion choices that scream their decade from fifty paces. Early high‑viz moto gear is in the same camp: full‑day‑glo suits that fade to “nicotine beige” and make you look like a traffic cone with a mid‑life crisis.

But the idea behind them—conspicuity—is more relevant than ever, especially with phones consuming drivers’ attention. The difference is that modern visibility tech focuses on retroreflection and motion cues, not just color blocks.

Technical visibility upgrades that matter now:

• **Microprismatic retroreflective panels (EN 20471‑compliant).** These bounce headlight beams straight back toward the source, massively increasing night‑time detection distance compared to cheap reflective piping that barely lights up.
• **Strategic placement over loud coverage.** Look for reflectives on:
• Upper torso and shoulders (driver eye‑line)
• Outer arms (strong lateral motion cues)
• Calves/ankles (biomechanical movement is extremely attention‑grabbing at night)
• **Colorfast fluorescent fabrics.** Decent brands now rate their hi‑viz textiles for UV stability. If your “neon” already looks washed out after a season, that dye tech is obsolete.
• **Helmet graphics that actually do something.** Reflective decals or inbuilt reflective graphic layers around the crown and rear of the lid add visibility where cagers actually glance in mirrors.

Instead of asking “Do I really want a high‑vis jacket?” start asking: “Does this gear give my body a visibility profile that holds up in real night traffic?” Outdated visibility is just as invisible as no visibility at all.

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5. Fast Fashion vs. Serviceable Gear: The Real Obsolete Item Is Non‑Repairable Design

One of the most powerful themes in that “obsolete things” article is how much waste our tech evolution has created—boxes of chargers, cables, plastic, and devices that are perfectly functional but unsupported. In moto gear, the equivalent is products that are designed to be thrown away rather than serviced.

If you want gear that won’t be tomorrow’s e‑waste:

Prioritize serviceability and modularity:

• **Replaceable armor with standard shapes.** If it doesn’t accept common CE pads (or at least the brand’s current generation of armor), its impact system has a built‑in expiration date.
• **User‑replaceable hardware.** Zippers by YKK or RiRi, removable snaps, accessible screws for visors and hinges, replaceable sole systems on boots (e.g., Sidi, Gaerne, Alpinestars) — these let you keep the core product alive far beyond what cheap hardware allows.
• **Factory or third‑party repair support.**
• Can the manufacturer replace panels, re‑stitch seams with safety thread, or re‑tape membrane delamination?
• Do they publish care specs (heat settings, detergents, re‑proofing intervals) so you can actually maintain the fabric performance?
• **Standardized connectivity.** Helmets that support common comms mounts, jackets that leave room for chest protectors or airbags—these are ecosystems, not cul‑de‑sacs.
• **Airbag vest compatibility.** The fastest‑moving safety tech on the market is airbag systems (Alpinestars Tech‑Air, Dainese D‑air, In&Motion‑powered vests from multiple brands). If your jacket’s cut won’t allow an airbag now or ever, its design lifetime is shorter than it looks.

Obsolescence in moto gear is rarely about the fabric actually wearing out first. It’s usually about the design being closed, so you can’t update the safety or climate tech as the industry moves forward.

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Conclusion

That trending “40 Obsolete Things” article is funny because we recognize ourselves in it—our old phones, cassettes, floppy disks, and cameras that felt cutting edge at the time. Your gear rack is on the same timeline. The difference is that, on a bike, obsolete choices don’t just look dumb in hindsight—they can hurt in the present.

If you ride hard and often, start evaluating your kit the way engineers look at aging systems:

• Does the impact tech match current CE levels and coverage expectations?
• Is the waterproofing solution inherently outdated compared to modern laminates?
• Does the venting behave like a controllable climate system or just “some holes”?
• Is your visibility profile built around real retroreflective science, not just bright panels?
• Can this gear be serviced, upgraded, and integrated with the next generation of safety tech?

The gear you buy this season will eventually show up in someone’s “obsolete things” feed. Your goal is simple: when it does, it should look like a well‑used classic that did its job for a decade—not a short‑lived gimmick that was outdated the moment you swiped your card.

Ride what lasts. Upgrade what matters. Refuse to wear tomorrow’s relics today.