your major differnece between leather and textile, is abrasion resistance. A good thick leather jacket will hold up much better than textile jackets. The trade off is weight and heat. Leather jackets are very heavy and you stay very warm in them. There is one exception to this rule. I was in my local cycle gear shop looking at jackets a few months back. They showed me a Dianese textile jacket that had been proven by an independent firm to outlast leather on their abrasion resistance test. The jacket was very light, but cost just as much as a leather jacket. For most road applications, your main concern is impact protection though, as you will not be doing 300km/h very often. you want good protection at the shoulders, back, elbows and forearms. I personally wear a textile jacket, as I don't plan to be racing around town too often. I guess it also comes down to personal preference on this one.