How to choose the right motorcycle pants
Content
- Explanatory buying guide for choosing the right motorcycle, leather or textile pants.
- Pants or jeans? Leather, Textile or Denim? With or without membrane? With or without removable protection ...
- BAC standard: EN 13595, now 17092
- Practice type: road, track, off-road
- Leather, Textile or Denim?
- Liners and membrane: Gore-Tex, Drymesh or Drystar
- a cup
- color
- Ventilation
- Setting
- Zipper connection
- Comfort elements
- Detachable fences
- Size: waist to waist as well as leg length.
- Examples of typical sizes of men's trousers
- Examples of typical sizes of women's trousers
- Details
- Information is not reported anywhere
- Crotch
- Budget: from 59 euros
- Conclusion
- Pants or jeans? Leather, Textile or Denim? With or without membrane? With or without removable protection ...
Explanatory buying guide for choosing the right motorcycle, leather or textile pants.
Pants or jeans? Leather, Textile or Denim? With or without membrane? With or without removable protection ...
In France, bikers are well equipped with helmets, gloves and jackets. And while shoes are quite commonly worn by two-wheeler users, there is a piece of equipment that seems to be neglected: trousers are often plain, traditional jeans, but not necessarily motorcycle jeans. However, the lower limbs remain the most vulnerable in two-wheeled vehicles, as they are injured in two out of three accidents.
Therefore, protecting your feet is just as important as anything else. However, the situation is gradually improving, in particular thanks to an ever wider offer and textile materials that continue to evolve, offering both greater flexibility and greater protection. Thus, the advent of reinforced jeans has encouraged the use of motorcycle pants to the detriment of endangered classic leather.
And with all the brands historically present on the market - Alpinestars, Bering, Dainese, Furygan, Helstons, Ixon, IXS, Rev'It, Segura, Spidi) - complete with all Dafy (All One, DMP), Louis (Vanucci) or Motoblouz (DXR), not forgetting A-Pro, Bolid'Ster, Esquad, Helstons, Icon, Klim, Macna, Overlap, PMJ, Oxford, Richa or Tucano Urbano, there is only a difficulty in choosing, but it is not. always easy to navigate.
So how do you choose the right motorcycle pants? What standards are in place? What are the features? Is there for all styles? What budget should you set aside for this? … Follow the instructions.
BAC standard: EN 13595, now 17092
The main interest of motorcycle pants remains the same as for any other equipment: to protect the rider, or rather his legs. In order to guarantee good performance of such garments in terms of resistance to abrasion, tearing and other shock, it is necessary, as always, to seek its approval. Since the use of trousers on motorcycles is not mandatory in France, all equipment sold is not necessarily certified, so it is important to check for the CE marking with a small biker logo .. Generally, trousers from recognized equipment manufacturers are certified. But that's far from obvious with fake deals from exotic brands that can be found on the internet for cheap. But at the slightest hitch, you risk paying dearly for it.
You should also know that motorcycle pants are approved in the same way as jackets, jackets, and overalls. Thus, it complies with the same standards EN 13595, which are still in force, and EN 17092, which are gradually replacing it. The first is that a pair of pants is certified urban level 1 or 2 (maximum) based on site testing.
In accordance with the EN 17092 standard, tests are no longer carried out on specific areas, but on all clothing. The classification has also been expanded to five levels C, B, A, AA and AAA. Again, the higher the rating, the more effective protection in the event of a fall.
Practice type: road, track, off-road
Even more so than motorcycle jackets, the trousers are designed by manufacturers according to their best practices. Indeed, the urban user will look primarily for low-key ready-to-wear clothing as they descend from their scooter, while the road travel enthusiast will prefer a more versatile model that can protect it from rain and all weather conditions. weather and temperature, but also avoid overheating under the sun through ventilation.
Thus, there are four main families of motorcycle pants with jeans suitable for city, road, track or off-road, depending on the model, fabric touring pants, textile adventure pants, and racing pants, only in leather.
Jeans are focused primarily on appearance, travel trousers are designed to provide maximum protection (against impact and climatic conditions), while "trace" models often choose more functional and, especially, more washable textiles. They can evolve in different weather conditions, often dirtier ones. Finally, the competition models focus on greater freedom of movement and enhanced protection.
Leather, Textile or Denim?
Like all hardware, leather is the material that most often provides the best stability, but also the least versatility. Although there are several classic-style leather trousers today, most of the offer is for racing models, most often in the form of two-piece suits.
Models based on technical textiles are those that offer the greatest choice due to the wide variety of existing materials: flexibility, abrasion resistance, tightness or, conversely, ventilation. Textile trousers are most often made from a variety of fabrics, placed in strategic locations (the most fall-resistant areas, the most comfortable in the least vulnerable areas ...).
Finally, the motorcycle jeans case is a little different because there are actually two types of textiles. In fact, some models have plain cotton denim, which differs from the ready-to-wear model only in its reinforced lining, mostly made of aramid fibers, or even protection placed in critical places (knees, even hips). But there are also jeans in which denim fabric directly combines stronger fibers (aramid, armalite, cordura, kevlar ...).
The proportion of cotton, elastane, lycra and technical fibers in the fabric allows you to find a compromise between comfort and protection, or even offer waterproof jeans.
This explains why motorcycle jeans are sometimes thicker or even stiffer than classic jeans, and often warmer. Likewise, the two motorcycle jeans offer completely different comfort, even without protection, as well as very different levels of protection from the cold in winter.
It's the same with rain, or rather with the ability of jeans to dry quickly. We may have gone through a similar downpour, and one will have jeans that are almost dry in an hour, and another whose jeans are still pretty damp after two hours. It all depends on the fiber and there is no clue on the label. We know this after testing.
Rain pants, as the name suggests, are designed for rain, but like top pants, they can be worn over jeans.
Liners and membrane: Gore-Tex, Drymesh or Drystar
In autumn and winter, trousers with insulation, waterproof and breathable membrane are a good way to protect yourself from the cold and rain. But not all trouser styles are covered here. Jeans and sweatpants are actually systematically deprived of such equipment. Therefore, motorcycle jeans will require the purchase of waterproof pants or the use of an apron if you are riding a scooter to protect yourself from the vagaries of the weather. There are very few models of waterproof jeans, and they are not the most comfortable.
Conversely, textile trousers, whether touring or adventure models, can be more versatile at this level. The latter are often provided with a waterproof membrane, in addition to the outer fabric, which can already serve as the first barrier. Some 3-in-1 models even come with a thick, removable liner for year-round use.
a cup
Jeans come in many different cuts: Bootcut, Loose, Regular, Skinny, Slim, Straight, Tapered ... most models with a pair of Slim or Straight. They also feature many seams, often external, making them less urban.
color
When it comes to jeans, we mainly find blue and black in all their possible variations. But when we search, we also find beige, brown, khaki, even burgundy.
Ventilation
And here this applies almost exclusively to textile trousers. The principle remains the same as for jackets and coats with ventilation zippers or panels that open onto the mesh fabric to allow maximum airflow.
It is also necessary that ventilation is provided by the design of the jeans. Conversely, poorly designed pants will slip easily after being fitted onto a motorcycle without providing the best protection.
Without ventilation, jeans can more or less protect you from the cold in winter, and the difference is really noticeable between the two models: one that protects well and the other in which you freeze after a few kilometers.
Setting
Travel and adventure pants are very often associated with adjustment tabs, which allow you to adjust the width of the pants at the level of the legs, waist and ankles to avoid swimming while riding. Sweatpants always fit close to the body, so they are not necessary. Finally, some rare jeans adapt to size and rarely larger. The exception is Ixon, which offers jeans with an internal adjustment at the bottom of the leg, which allows you to adjust the hem using internal buttons.
But the long hem is also very trendy and hipster, so it's a must.
Zipper connection
To prevent the jacket from accidentally lifting up and hitting the lower back during movement, the presence of a fastening system (zipper or loop) helps a lot. Note that jackets from one brand are rarely compatible with pants from another, with the exception of systems based on a loop that slides into the back loop of the pants.
Comfort elements
Textile trousers can also have other features that increase comfort in use, such as built-in suspenders to prevent the pants from dropping, loops in the legs to keep them from lifting, or even zip openings. On the shins to make it easier to put on over the boot.
Some jeans also have stretch zones at the top for extra comfort if not standard in terms of looks.
Conversely, some motorcycle jeans are so reinforced that the fibers make them very tough, protective, but not very pleasant in everyday life when they come to the office.
Comfort is also about protection and the system of their placement and finishing, in particular the seams, which can make them comfortable or, conversely, completely unbearable. The softness of the inner mesh, the seams, the Velcro are all elements that make the difference between the two jeans.
I remember those first Esquad jeans, which had a special inner seam in the knees that would lower them after a busy day of skating; fault corrected on the following models.
Detachable fences
All motorcycle pants are usually equipped with CE certified knee guards in accordance with the EN 1621-1 standard. As with jackets, Tier 1 models usually come as standard, while additional budget needs to be added to purchase Tier 2 models. Increasingly, knee pads are now height adjustable. In recent years, we have also found trousers in which the protective pockets open from the outside, this arrangement very clearly makes it easier to add or remove shells when you want to wash jeans, at the expense of appearance.
On the other hand, all motorcycle trousers don't necessarily come with certified hip protectors, and some also don't have pockets to add them.
One brand even recently innovated airbag pants.
Size: waist to waist as well as leg length.
Choosing the right size is critical as the pants should not interfere with movement by being too tight, but also should not float due to being too wide. Therefore, it is important to try on the pants in order to choose the size that is most comfortable for you. This includes not only putting on the pants, but also getting into a riding position, if possible on a motorcycle or a show car.
As with ready-to-wear trousers, models are sometimes available in different leg lengths, so it is important to make sure that there is no fire on the floor or, conversely, the effect of an accordion on the shoe. While it is possible to hem jeans, it is much less noticeable on textile trousers, and not at all on racing leather. And it should be noted that when riding a motorcycle, the pants are lifted in comparison to city pants. The hem should be lower than usual.
Finally, be aware of the different sizes indicated by the manufacturers. In addition to different cuts, especially among Italians, who often prefer sizes close to the body, the system of sizes varies from one brand to another, some choose the French scale, others choose American or Italian sizes, and still others choose the S, M, L version. ...
And I insist on the size difference between brands. Personally, I need US size 31 at Alpinestars. You might think that in another brand we might have +/- 1, that is, 32 or 30. But when I take US 30 at Ixon, trousers with buttoned buttons, trousers on their own go down to the ankles. ... (in fact on the Ixon I have to take the 29 S and not the M as usual).
In short, in stores you need to try on several sizes. And on the Internet, you should at least look sizing guide for each brand and if possible, read reviews from other users on online selling sites when there are user reviews, or search the Le Repaire forums.
Examples of typical sizes of men's trousers
| Universal size | XS | S | M | XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | 5XL | 6XL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our size | 28 year | 29 | 30 | 31 year | 32 | 33 | 34 | 36 | 38 | 40 |
| French size | 36 | 36-38 | 38 | 38-40 | 40 | 40-42 | 42 | 44 year | 46 | 48 |
| Waist circumference in cm | 74 | 76,5 | 79 | 81,5 | 84 | 86,5 | 89 | 94 | 99 | 104 |
Examples of typical sizes of women's trousers
| Universal size | XS | S | M | XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our size | 26 | 27 | 28 year | 29 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 36 |
| French size | 36 | 36-38 | 38 | 38-40 | 40 | 42 | 44 year | 46 |
| Waist circumference in cm | 79 | 81,5 | 84 | 86,5 | 89 | 94 | 99 | 104 |
Details
Detail, it can be an elastic band at the bottom of the trousers, which allows you to pass it under the leg and, thus, prevent the trousers from lifting up. It could also be an easy edge adjustment with internal buttons or the ability to adjust the protectors.
There are also these pants that can be transformed into Bermuda shorts by removing from the bike, thanks to the zip at the knees, like the Zipster.
Information is not reported anywhere
Drying time! Light rain or heavy rain and you didn't have rain pants? Your jeans are wet. Depending on the fabric and the drying conditions, we saw that two jeans soaked in the same rain had a drying time of 1 to 10 times. In other words, one denim is almost dry after an hour, and the other is still wet. was not there after one night. But you will find out about this only after the first rain! On the other hand, when using and hiking, it is very important to find dry pants the next day.
Crotch
On a motorcycle, the crotch is much more in demand than classic jeans. The seams should be especially reinforced so that the seams are not seen to come loose and not even tear the fabric. This is exactly what happened to me with the Tucano Urbano Zipster pants at the end of our trip to the USA.
Budget: from 59 euros
In terms of jeans, this is undoubtedly the most affordable type of motorcycle pants, as we find the first prices from € 60 in the promo (Esquad or Ixon recently sold for € 59,99), while the more upscale ones do not exceed € 450 (Bolidster Shoes Ride-Ster.), On average less than 200 euros.
For Textile Touring and Adventure models, the starting price is slightly higher, around one hundred euros. On the other hand, the number of possible functions and the brand name can drive prices up to almost 1000 euros! In particular, this applies to the Belstaff touring trousers at a price of 975 euros, but the "big" offer usually ranges from 200 to 300 euros.
Count at least € 150 for the classic leather pants and around € 20 more for entry-level racing, while the more expensive two-piece suits cost up to € 500.
In general, there are no surprises at the prices. In addition to the differences in the positioning of each manufacturer, the price is influenced by the level of protection, quality of materials and the number of functions. We won't find AA rated pants with insulation, membrane and ventilation zips for less than 200 euros.
Conclusion
There are all types of trousers, for every style and budget, depending on the technique, materials used and protection. But in the end, comfort will be the factor that will make you love your pants or never wear them. Nothing beats trying on, and not just in size. The sheer comfort of textiles on the skin or poorly placed protection that harms daily life all make a difference. Even more than standard pants, motorcycle pants require testing ... enough to encourage you to try several brands and models in the store until you find one that suits you.
I remember those gorgeous Esquad pants with a seam that cut my knee at the end of a day of testing the bike. Or vice versa, these Oscar jeans, which became a second skin until the manufacturer stopped them, to my utter despair.
