Which riding jeans would you recommend?

[KZ25]

There's a thread on riding jackets, how about one on riding jeans?
Especially in the heat of TH jeans make a lot of sense.
There's a plethora of Kevlar reinforced jeans available in all kinds of shapes, color and sizes, with different quality and different prices.
Have you bought any, can you recommend them, would you buy them again?
Also ordering and shipping to Thailand is a factor; I'm interested in trying out a cheap pair since shipping may double the price.

Any comments on these "Slider's" jeans? http://www.compacc.com/p/sliders-kevlar-motorcycle-riding-jeans-4-0

Seems like they sold lots of them and there's even an informative video.

 

[Deano747]

Draggin Jeans.

There has been a recent burst of activity around manufacturers advertising that they have Kevlar in their jeans. A whole bunch of the cheapies were basically lying, and are having to remove this fact from their advertising. Expect this to take a VERY long time to happen, and in the meantime they will advertise anything that they think you want to hear in an ad.

In the end, it depends on how good your skin graft surgeon is

 

[KZ25]

Do you have any reports or links to support this? Any brand names to avoid?

I have to say I was surprised to see that jeans with lots of Kevlar are being sold for 70 bucks US.

 

[Deano747]

 

[KZ25]

Thanks!

If I understand this article right, it's about the amount of Kevlar used. Level 1 is for the whole garment, level 2 for certain areas.

Of course jeans reinforced with Kevlar all over should perform better, but is it really necessary?

As seen in the video above, Slider's doesn't make a secret that only the most important parts of their jeans are covered with Kevlar, to save cost.

Personally I'd be happy with those; I wouldn't spend $200 on a pair of riding jeans but would buy a $70 pair and see how I like it.

Seems to me that DuPont want to sell more of their product.

Edit: read the article again and realized that also the amount of Kevlar used is an issue. Looks like some cheaper products use less Kevlar and the product won't hold up to safety standards. European CE protection standard EN 13596 "...specifies performance requirements for clothing materials and assembly methodology utilised in the manufacture of professional motorcycle riders jackets, trousers and one-piece and divided suits which are intended to protect the wearer against mechanical injury on metaled road surfaces. It also specifies appropriate test methods whereby conformity against these requirements can be assessed."

Looks like some manufacturers use less Kevlar than required. Guess it's "Draggin' Jeans" then!

 

[Deano747]

I have no financial interest in any of this, just a wet cold afternoon here and the bikes don't need washing or tinkering.

I am sure that there are many fine products on the market, just playing devils advocate, so here are 2 interesting snippets from Motorbikewriter.com

"Just because your motorcycle jeans, jacket, gloves or helmet claim to contain Kevlar doesn’t necessarily mean it really is Kevlar. American chemical company DuPont invented the strong and lightweight synthetic fibre in 1965 and now many motorcycle products claim to contain Kevlar. However, DuPont has been issuing show-cause letters to these manufacturers to prove they are using Kevlar. So far, 180 products have been removed from the market for falsely claiming they include DuPont Kevlar."

“We have developed our own lining, while most others just call up Pakistan, China or Bangladesh and ask for Kevlar, but they can’t guarantee what they are getting. Some of them just use yellow cotton and some are actually flammable. Put a match to them and up they go. The customer just doesn’t know what they are getting unless they have the DuPont logo on them.”

and in another vein, Kevlar is a brand name, and it doesn't have to say 'Kevlar' to be just as protective.

"While the article makes a few good points it misses one major item. Kevlar is a brand, just like hills hoist. Aramid fibers are the working material in kevlar and is manufactured by many companies and marketed as many different names. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramid

Kevlar may be the most well know, however is far from industry leader in technology and weave designs. So while other brands may not have dupoint approval, they may just be using a different brand such as twaron. http://www.teijinaramid.com/aramids/twaron/

Have fun...........

 

[KZ25]

That's all quite interesting!

Some safety standards are a bit overdone, I'm not looking for something I can slide 200m on tarmac with, just something that's better than a normal pair of jeans.

Of course if there's a good quality product for a good price I'd like to know about it!

 

[John Aero]

I have a pair of Dragging jeans that I used in the UK, they have worn well and were my favourite attire (along with a light BMW textile jacket) for summer UK rides. They were just over £100 and probably predate the CE protection standard. My liking for them was (aside from better sliding resistance) that they were slightly warmer than normal jeans - not used them in Asia but suspect they could be too warm. One downside it that due to the Kevlar lining they soak up rain like blotting paper making them very cold and hard to dry in the UK "summer" weather.

 

[Lightemup]

I have been using a pair of Rhok Gen 3 jeans for a while now and am impressed with the comfort and style along with the ease of putting in/taking out the CE rated armor in the knee areas.
My pair is a size 36 waist and 32 inseam. How ever, they are slightly longer in inseam to counter that the pants creep up your leg when in a riding position, a nice detail, I think.
Apparently the armor used is Pekev, which has a higher abrasion resistance than regular Kevlar. Tests have shown Pekev to have 23.5 secs of resistance, where other manufacturers lining have about 7 secs, I was told by Rhok.
The jeans fabric also has as slight stretch feature which improves comfort.

Manufactures website:
http://rhok.com.au/jeans.htm

Review from webbikeworld:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-jeans/rhok-kevlar-jeans/review.htm
This review say though that the hard armor for the knees and hips don't have CE labels on them, but the pair in my set does have CE labels on them.

You can also search on YouTube for reviews of them.

They are priced at around 160-170 usd, I believe.

 

[DavidFL]

Check out this review & info

http://www.finnmoto.com.au/product-review/buying-guide-protective-kevlar-motorcycle-jeans-australia/

it may help.