“MVD” is short for “Marcel van Drunen”. He is one of those old relic of a rider who has won the German Championship in motocross -95, -96 and -98, became Dutch champion -01, European Championship winner in Supermoto -04 and won the Dutch SuperMoto Championship eight times. Since 2007 he’s also in charge of Supermotoschool in Holland and Belgium.
MVD Racewear was founded in 2009 when Marcel wanted protective equipment that was more suited and tailored for supermoto. Mvd’s first supermoto suit was a two-piece and consisted of a combination of fabrics, stretch panels and leather. The goal of Mvd suits has always been that they should be light, durable and allow more movement than other racing suits.
“When I started riding supermoto, I wasn’t used to those tight leathers that the road racers use. The suits would cause my shoulders to ache and I couldn’t bend my legs properly. There were other manufacturers on the market that made supermoto equipment, but their market was mainly in the United States. I saw that there was a need here in Europe as well.”
Back in 2010-2014 the two-pieces where frequently spotted at races here in Sweden as well.
In 2014, the Pro-S1 one-piece suit was developed to meet the regulations of many pro competition series in Europe, where two-piece leather wasn’t allowed. Bernd Hiemer, Devon Vermuelen and Simon Vilhelmsen are some of the riders who have been seen in Pro-S1. Mvd’s latest suit is called Excelerator and has a more fun color scheme and a slightly lower price tag.
There are plenty of manufacturers who make full suits for motorcycle riding. Most, however, are primarily designed for road racing. The problem isn’t that Supermoto pilots need less protection, but that the riding position is different. If you’re in a normal racing suite that fits tightly, its limitations becomes obvious if you try to reach upwards. In a supermoto suit from MVD Racewear, you have a lot more freedom which allows the upper body to move more naturally. Roadracers move their body sideways while a supermoto racer move a lot more vertically when transitioning from a standing to a seated position and even hunkered down on the straights.
Excelerator is made out of 1.3 mm thick cowskin. It’s perforated for increased ventilation and to reduce weight. A leather suit in size XL (which fits me at 175cm and 90kg) weighs 3.8kg. My old Held suit with a hump weighs 4.7kg.
The knee part of the leather suit is spacious enough to accommodate knee pads, which to be clear is not included in the actual suit. You will need to get a pair separately unless you already own them. The suit does have integrated protection for hips, shoulders and elbows. After using the suit for the bigger part of the year, I can attest to the fact that using a suit that is built for supermoto really does make your job a lot easier. It’s easy to get in and out of it, even if it is very hot outside. The inner lining isn’t attached in the lower part of the legs, which can be a bit annoying when you first take it off, but it helps when trying to get out of it after riding on a hot summer day. And it actually feels good to be able to fit proper knee-guards in there as well.
In 2013 I purchased my first Mvd-two piece suit, which I was very happy with, I only replaced that with the Held because it got damaged and the Held suit was available at home. The old two piece combo had a Achilles heel like flaw as there were sections of fabric sewn to stretch panels. After a while, the seams between the two materials started to separate. The new suites does not have fabric on the same critical areas, and should have a longer life span.
Being back in the Mvd gear feels like it was meant to be and I can’t really understand why it has taken me so long to go back…
Mvd also makes custom suits that you can order with your own number/graphics/logo on.
Excelerator is available at the Swedish retailer Speedstore from 8299 sek. Speedstore has been kind enough to supply us with a discount code for you to use (for swedish customers only) where you can get 15% off when buying a suit from them. Valid until October 21, 2020. Use the coupon code “supermoto sweden” at checkout.
This post is also available in: Svenska
