riding pants?
 

hi.
i can't decide about those riding pants. i am about %80 highway and %20 off road riding from early spring to late fall. jeans or any other thick cargo pants does not seem to be protective at all(altough better than riding butt naked off course) i have seen people using mx kneepads and shinguards over their jeans but how comfortable is that when you cover long distance? there is some pants out there but they are out of my price range.
most of them are not waterproof( i can deal with that with rain gear)
unbearable hot in the summer......as much as i read i am getting more confuse.

http://www.newenough.com/tour_master...pants_page.htm

anybody has any experience with this one?

Strange - this was asked here in OZ on another list - this is what I said...

The way I see it; you can go for ..

1) water proof .. so you don't need to put anything extra on when it rains
2) non water proof - cheaper .. but you'll need to put on a water/air
restrictive layer for rain/cold conditions.

You can subdivide no 1 into a)non breathable and b) breathable. And you can
subdivide no 2 into a) cool 'lots of air flow' and errr b) 'cheap'?


I'm thinking of going with no 2a. for Africa. More versatile and will be
cooler than any no 1.

The bmw stuff tends to be No1b (and expensive). The dririder tourcross is
No2a (and from memory comes with a 'waterproof breathable removable liner).
The Powells seamed happy with there tourcross gear at Gasgoyn Junction. 'A'
had the pants and Fread had the jacket.
http://www.mcleodaccess.com.au/catal...alogue_p04.jpg

-----------------------
This is the (No2a) jacket and pants I'm thinking of getting .. fairly cheap.
Supposed to be about the same quality as bmw stuff at 1/3rd the price. Will
have to get the waterproofs sepeartely - meaning I gan get stuff that can go
over the top, thus keeping everthing dry, or squeeze it underneath if I
think I need to protect the waterproof gear from a fall (leaving the pockets
and outerlayer to get wet).

In English
http://www.hein-gericke.com/uk/produ...oducts_id/1803

http://www.hein-gericke.com/uk/produ...oducts_id/1815


But they only do UK purchases..
So purchase from the farther land..

http://www.hein-gericke-store.com/wS...anchor=2310042

That may not work - you may have to navigate your way from the home page
http://www.hein-gericke-store.com/ or http://www.hein-gericke.com/

They have a 70euro lower limit and the jacket is 50 euro so I'll be buying
the jacket and pants. They do have more expensive stuff too.. mixed textile
and leather, water proof.. I'll be using knee guards under the pants ..
usually stuff my knees when trail riding .. well in the past anyways.

pants
 

I went to Costa Rica to look around and took MX pads that fit ok under some loose jeans. They were comfortable enough and I had Goretex over pants to use in the rain.
That said, I needed more serious stuff for an Alaska trip last summer and the off the rack ones didn't fit my 30" inseams. I went for some custom length Areostich Dariens. These are as fine a motorcycle related bit as I have ever bought. The 1st day riding we hit a hard rain for 45 minutes and I stayed dry. Later in the trip we rode in all day rain, hailstorms, torential downpours etc. and I never had to put on overpants,I was dry! A dry crouch is a happy one. They would be too hot in summer though.

I use BMW summer pants (got 'em on sale) for 3/4 of the year (I commute daily), and Aerostich Darien pants when the weather turns foul. The Summer pants are much more comfortable and breathable, and dry quickly if I hit a mild rainstorm.

The Dariens are bombproof, but very hot in the summer. Unfortunately, I do suffer from a wet crotch in the 'stich pants....guess they haven't quite gotten that right yet.

-H-

Frank

My partner and I have them and they work very well. We tested them in Spain in June at 36C. Well ventilated the whole way.

We bought thin light weight sailing cover-all jacket and trousers (also from millets) for the rain and they worked too and took up little place in the luggage. But only used them in one very hard downpour. In light drizzle the suites keep you dry enough without the cover-alls.

Only down side we both had was that for some reason the arms are disproportionately long even through the armour sat in the right place. We took them in to a drycleaners who cut and stitiched the cuff back by 30-50cm and they are now perfect length. (This happened to others we spoke to...it not just us ;-)

Better
design IMO, better armor too.

After a fair amount of use I am loving my draggin jeans. Until I changed a couple of tyres and a chain roadside in them they were just as at home in the pub as on the bike. Really comfy too. You can get knee pads that velcro into the kevlar knee sections I believe. They also have kevlar round the the hips and arse. Not as protective as MX pants and proper knee protection but who wants to wear that all the time?
Matt

thanks. so i can still be comfortable and protected with mx kneepads and shinguards i guess. since that would only cost me $20-$30 sounds like a good deal(also little bit like a short cut in terms of safety when i think about road rash)
if those overpants by tourmastes(ventura) can keep me warm (and safer)i think i can deal with being overheated when it reaches 80's. plus around here even summer nights are pretty chilly. would i spent $300 extra to keep my crouch dry: maybe yes but not right know. bottom line is that tourmaster ventura pants $99 shipped is good enough to do the job...or not?
ooh. by the time i also found a leather pants that made of cow hide. it came free so i may just use this one and try to wear kneepads underneath. the only thing is "leather" itself is not that kosher to me you know. it always seemed like a harley kind of thing. plus they say it gets way hot in the summer(yes they are black of course)

The Tourmaster Ventura pants should be fine. Try 'em, you can always sell them off if they aren't good.

have you ever had a overpant type? they say that you just order your size(which is xl for me) and they just fit over jour jean or etc. since i am not planning to wear them over anything else maybe i can order a size smaller(large) so that way i don't have to worry about them being to loose..what do you think? or maybe i better of stick with the xl. that way loose fit(especially without liner during hot season) may transfer as some extra comfort and air circulation(i am assuming that they are not meant to be just fit)

Check with the seller for a size translation to inches, or other known standard. Motorcycle clothing is all over the map when it comes to fit.

thanks everyone for helpful info..

www.newenough.com sells the First gear HT pants.
They're kinda easy on/off, come with a removeable liner, are waterproof, have hip and knee padding.
They, newenough, suggests spot-on sizing (same as you normally wear), but I went up 1 notch and was glad I did.

Pants
 

I'm almost decided on the BMW City Trouser for the following reasons:
- Very comfortable
- Reasonable price
- Good protection and light rain / weather protection, including not too hot
- If its raining heavily I'll be stopping or be putting on the water proofs
- dark in colour so won't show up the dirt too much..;
- Don't look like a BMW walking advert or alien ....

Salut Matt

Well the Jacket has arrived .. still waiting on the pants.
Thanks .. I'll need to try on to get the sizing right. The jacket has a bum pouch that looks good to take the wet weathers when not needed. Might put a ring lock on the zipper though to stop the pick pockets.

Mine are 40 mm too long shoulder to elbow. Think your dimensions are mm not cm .. 30 cm = 1 foot .. wrist to elbow type lengths! The wrist closures are a little small.

The extertior pockets (bottom front of jacket) have velcro closure over zippers - should keep the pick pockets out.

These were obtained over the internet - 2 week shipment from Germany to Australia .. takes a week (or less) from either USA or the UK, but Germany is 2 weeks .. See no reason why 'mericans cannot do ther same thing.. Even Oz firms ship to the states. Some USA firms will not ... but that is there loss.

Overall happy .. so far.