Riding Pants

[danrev]

Took my first real highway ride today since purchasing my NC last fall, just before the winter rains. Gorgeous day on the coast, sunny, only light wind and temps around 75F (don't laugh you who live in the warmer climes to the south). Started out wearing my Tourmaster pants, which worked great on my rides when the temp was around 50F. Made it to the gas station to top off the tank before leaving town. Roasted. Rode home and changed into jeans, which I know don't provide any real protection. What do those of you who ride in the warmer parts of the country wear for riding pants when the weather gets hot? Do you worry about protection for your lower extremities, or does comfort win out?

 

[JDE]

I wear a mesh RevIt two piece suit. Pants and jacket that has zip out liners for the warmer temps. After going down on a hot summer day two years ago. I don't ride with out my gear anymore. Had a riding jacket on but only jeans for pants. Got some nasty road rash on my legs. But under my mesh pants I just have shorts on when it's hot.

 

[DanH]

I'm a bit north of you in Seattle. I have Kevlar reinforced jeans with removable knee pads that I use in warmer weather. My Tourmaster riding pants work great all winter but you are right, not to nice once it gets nice out.

 

[frozenpoet]

I use both the Kevlar reinforced jeans and mesh overpants. I also use a mesh jacket, and between the two I can stay pretty cool even on the hot days.

 

[dog]

This is the one I got for commuting in the summer:

Olympia Stealth One-Piece Mesh Tech Suit - Medium/Pewter/Neon Yellow : Amazon.com : Automotive

Wore it for a 140 mile road trip earlier today and it was nice and cool.

 

[bamamate]

I have the TourMaster Flex pants. Outer layer zips off to be mesh pants or partially unzipped for venting. Also has zip out thermal liner and rain liner. Knee armor and hip padding is in the mesh part.

 

[Bug Dr.]

Either a Roadcrafter or Olympia Stealth. If it's hot I usually wear shorts under my riding gear. Regular jeans aren't any better than shorts if you crash.

I hit a dog on my mountain bike when I was in college coming down hill doing about 30 mph. I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. I slid down the pavement quite a ways before landing in a ditch. Going to the ER to get debris removed from your skin is NOT something I wish to endure again. If you slide on pavement without gear at 70 mph you will spend time in a burn unit IF you live. That's a place I hope to never visit. So, I suit up all of the time.
Mike

 

[MZ5]

Armor and abrasion protection on my lower half is very nearly _more_ important to me, simply because that's where bikers tend to see the bulk of their (non-fatal) injuries. Not being able to walk for a couple months would be a major problem for me.

I have been wearing a Teiz 1-pc suit that I got second-hand and lightly used just barely before I got my NCX late last fall. It's a good suit EXCEPT that it has no hip armor of any sort, and I'll try to keep using it as the weather here continues to warm (it's already touched 90, and is supposed to be over 90 again in a couple days). The last couple years (including summers), though, I've worn my perforated and HEAVILY armored leather jacket and some Spidi armored pants on a sport bike.

More often than not, I wear some Forcefield armored under-shorts (or the full pants-length ones; I have both) under either the Spidi pants or the Teiz suit. I also wear LD Comfort long-sleeve turtleneck shirts that I soak w/water before leaving work. I've tried a phase-change vest, too, but it doesn't exactly fit under the leather jacket.

I also wear CE Level-2 certified XPD (Spidi) perforated boots, and some VelocityGear gloves that have passed the CE abrasion, cutting, burst, and tear testing. ...and my Snell-certified Arai helmet...

I'm very, very warm by the time I've ridden the ~40 miles home. However, I'm cooler and less heat-fatigued than I'd be if I let the 110+ degree furnace blast hit me through mesh gear the whole way. I still drink A LOT of water for the rest of the evening, though.

 

[skidmark]

MZ5 is right. Those of us in the very dry, very hot climates shouldn't be using mesh. You dehydrate extremely fast. Much better to be fully covered and a little ventilation goes a long ways. You don't need to have full on mesh. I always get questioned "aren't you hot?" Uh, hell yeah!! But better to be a bit warm than pass out from heat exhaustion during a ride. I've seen it many a time with folks that ride in t shirts and shorts, or the cruiser bunch that only have one color of riding clothes, black. Dumb. Maybe mesh is better in a humid climate but not for the dez.

 

[BttrThnWrk]

I've been riding in Tucson summers in mesh gear (jacket, pants, gloves) in the past. I got a pair of LDComfort sleeves and an LDComfort shirt this past winter, and I'm going to try that (wetted down for evaporative cooling), with just the sleeve vents on my non-mesh fabric jacket open. I'll still go with the mesh overpants though.

Best mesh gloves I have are from Roadgear - in fact all their gloves fit my hands better than anyone else's. I'm not a fan of tight fitting gloves, and Roadgear's are loose enough to not press seam lines from the gloves into my hands. I just make sure the straps are pretty snug to keep the gloves where they belong. Also, once it gets over 95 or so, I'll remove the plastic from my Barkbuster hand guards and just leave the aluminum backbones in place for more wind.

 

[johnakay]

for me I've got be selective in what I wear.
due to me having sensitive skin mesh is out and any thing remotely rough I cannot wear.(both my son's are the same.)
so any thing on the net I cannot buy ,I have to be there in person to try any thing on.
I currently wear akito gear.
one set for winter and another for summer.

 

[Fuzzy]

I have worn both Joe Rocket Phoenix and Olympia mesh. When above 90 I add an evaporative cooling vest under mesh.

 

[happy]

Some riders will ride all the time without proper protective pants.
Let me say this, they need to be very lucky or very slow to mitigate the risk.
It only takes 1 bad slide or fall to justify the discomfort or the 'uncoolness" of wearing proper pants.

Back to the question: I wear a Dainese summer pants because it has good protection and it has flaps at the thighs where I can flip up (mesh below).
In winter, I just wear some warm longjohns underneath. I don't ride in crazy icy conditions anyway.

 

[Daboo]

One thing I've looked for in riding pants, is light colors. I have some riding pants in silver that have worked fine to about 90F. Hot, yes. But not that bad at all.

Chris

 

[dduelin]

I live in the humid south and when the temp gets over 75 degrees I am usually in mesh gear from Tourmaster. Underneath the mesh I wear long sleeve shirts and long pants of a microfiber material that wicks perspiration away from my skin and keeps hot air from moving across my skin. Air heated to 93 degrees or more moving across bare skin is extremely dehydrating and covering up is better than allowing air across the skin. When it is really hot like over 90-95 degrees I periodically soak the underclothing on my chest and upper arms while riding with water using a squirt water bottle. A microfiber gaiter around the neck soaked in water is also very cooling.

 

[DanH]

Sorry for the lame post but this is a great thread.

 

[netizen]

If it's a short ride usually my mesh gear (Olympia pants, jacket). If it's an all day ride, I'll put on my warm weather undergarments under the mesh. They make a world of difference. I have 2 Becka coolwear undergarments, and I got some cycle gear heat out gear last fall when they were closing it out. Haven't had a chance to try it out in real heat yet.

For 400+ days I'd recommend the appropriate undergarments. LD Comfort has some nice ones I would love to try some day as well. The right undergarments can make a world of difference in a long days ride! Not only in keeping you cool..wicking away moisture and allowing air circulation, but cycle under garments are made in a way to keep you from sitting on seams all day, so they are much more comfortable than ordinary under garments.

 

[kjang]

I wear a Rev-It Axis pants (over pants), its light weight, 2 zippers per leg on the outside (to get in and out quickly), velcro on bottom of leg and has armor on the knees. I am 5'10, 180#, inseam 32". I purchased a LARGE and the waist just fits and the length just a tad long, however when sitting on the bike its perfect. The armor is about right too while on the bike.
You can view it on revzilla

Ken

 

[jlandon]

I wear Bohn armor pants under my jeans every time I ride, and I also wear the bohn armor shirt under a light jacket when it is warm. Having just had a minor low-side crash a couple of weeks ago, I now know first hand the importance and benefit of this type of protection. Because of these pants, I walked away from this minor date with the pavement with no cuts or scrapes whatsoever. I also learned how important it is to have boots with proper ankle protection (as I sprained my ankle nicely in the mishap). As such, I have picked up some really sweet Dianese boots with extra ankle protection (Dainese TRQ-Tour Gore-Tex Boots - RevZilla) - being delivered today..YES!