First off, YES it is leather. What our manufacturer has done is taken a nice supple hide and laminated a black nylon weave to the top that has a herringbone pattern that matches true carbon fiber. Why didn’t they use real carbon? Simple, when real carbon fiber was tried as a laminate, it had a tendency to fray and scuff. This eventually left it looking like an old sweater with those funky little fuzzy things all over it. The custom made black nylon doesn’t do that and holds up very well to constant use.
Recently we’ve added a Carbon Fiber embossed vinyl to the material choices available. Unlike the leather, this material is actually a weave pattern embossed into the surface of the material. We like to use the embossed material in the side panels to coordinate with Carbon Fiber leather seating. This is also a good option for a carbon-fiber look on your offroad bike.
