Pants Recommendations on Pants Needed

Daboo

Daboo

Joined
Apr 10, 2018
Messages
1,453
Location
Martha Lake
Bike
F900 XR
2025 Miles
001300
Years ago I bought some Olympia riding pants. They've gone under about 3 names, the latest being the X-Moto pant. The features that set this pant apart for me was the full thigh sized "mega panel" that would unzip and tuck into a pocket at the knee...leaving you with a huge thigh-sized mesh panel. The pants are an "overpant", meaning you can wear your normal pants underneath and there's a full length zipper on the side so you can slip them on and off in the parking lot.

Another nice thing about them, is the rain liner is separate. It makes them suitable for use in very hot dry conditions to much cooler wet ones.

Unfortunately, the pant leg zipper broke. So now I'm looking for new pants. And I have short legs.


So I'd love to find a 3-season pant with separate liner in an overpant design...and one that a guy with a short inseam can use. Any ideas?

Thanks.
Chris
 
You may have better luck getting the zipper replaced. Lors of tailoring/alterations should be able to do it.
The Olympia ;ike pants have not been made for quite a while iirc.
Closest I have found is these. I have a pair and they are not back; especially for the price.

 
You are correct. My Olympia riding pants are the absolute best. Pull the liner and open the zipper and it's a cool as riding in shorts but this some protection. That's a long zipper if you are talking about the one that opens up the leg but I am sure it's doable.

When I worked at a Harley dealer this guy came in and bought a new leather jacket because the zipper was trashed in his old leather jacket. It was a 2X and the Motorclothes manager just gave it to me. I showed it to the lady that sewed on patches every other Saturday and she said no problem. She put a quality metal zipper in it and I still wear it.
 
Thanks...both of you. One of the other options is to replace the zipper itself. As expensive as that might be...it's cheaper than buying new pants...if I could find any.

@drrod - Yeah, I have a pair of those. The HWK pants are made on the same design idea. The sizing is a bit off between the seat and the calf, but not bad. It may have gotten better over the last couple years. The zipper on the pant leg is too short to put the pants on without removing my boots, but otherwise they are an excellent pant for the price.

Chris
 
Weaselinsuit said:
I've been thinking about a new set of pants myself and have been considering going to these guys for a custom fitted pair. They might involve a day trip over the border for you to go get measured but they're one possible option. Not sure if they could put in the leg vent into one of their designs or not.
Click to expand...
Their products can't be ordered online for some reason. It seems that you have to submit an inquiry to make an online purchase- which is a little irritating if you know what you want. An additional step in an attempt to minimize the number of return requests would be my guess.

They state that they handle every step of the process in-house, eliminating the need for distributors or middlemen. I guess that means that they actually manufacture the garments themselves in-house?

Prices seem good, and a Canadian company selling in Canadian dollars, both of which are always preferable to me.
If you do buy something, or if you go to have a look, I'd appreciate any thoughts that you might have about them and their garments. I am interested but it is a little far for me to go and have a look myself. About a 60 hour ride each way- without stops.
 
Weaselinsuit said:
I've been thinking about a new set of pants myself and have been considering going to these guys for a custom fitted pair. They might involve a day trip over the border for you to go get measured but they're one possible option. Not sure if they could put in the leg vent into one of their designs or not.
Click to expand...
Will go check them out as their shop is close by.
 
You might take a look at the Tourmaster website. While I haven’t bought anything from them since 2019 I have gotten good use out of both mesh and full textile pants and jackets from them. Some of the pants have separate rain liners.
 
Here's a question for those of you with a lot more experience on riding gear. I basically bought some really nice gear years ago...and then dropped out of the buying market.

Are the riding jeans a worthwhile option?

Chris
 
Why do we wear protective gear;
Protection against slides, bumps, heat, cold, rain.

What are the protections you’re try to keep?

My jeans are lined with Kevlar. My Aerostich ticks all the boxes.
 
I had a pair of riding jeans but they were never as comfortable as mesh or solid Cordura textile pants.
 
Willsmotorcycle said:
What are the protections you’re try to keep?
Click to expand...
What I'd like is another pair of Olympia X-Moto pants. But what I want and what is possible are two different things. :)

For "protections", I'm looking for impact protection for the knees and hips, and abrasion resistance for sliding. After that, the rest is details that'll make one set of pants more suitable for my desires than another pair.

Getting a true overpant that can be worn in the summer (and comes in a 30 inch inseam) seems (no pun intended) to be a lost cause. I'm sure it is a cost cutting measure, but few textile riding pants come with a full length leg zipper. The zippers seem to come only to the area below the knee. That pretty much rules out being able to keep the boots on when you take them on or off.

Mesh pants are good for summer heat, but I wouldn't want them for touring. The temps you encounter can easily range over a 40 degree spread. The mesh pants would be nice when it got to be 80F...but I wouldn't want them at 60F or at 90+F.

dduelin said:
I had a pair of riding jeans but they were never as comfortable as mesh or solid Cordura textile pants.
Click to expand...

I bought a pair of HWK "overpants" a couple years ago. The price initially was $49, then they had the audacity to double the price to $89. :frown: On the surface, they seem great. It's like a different take on the Olympia X-Moto pant but with a lighter weight material. And that's the issue. I like to look at the negative reviews to evaluate a product. Sometimes the reviewer has a legitimate issue with the product; other times, their negative review is looking for an excuse to point the finger at the product instead of admitting they haven't a clue of how to use it. Mine seem great still, but then I haven't had a need to wear them. So they've gotten a lot of hangar wear. :D

But when you read the negative reviews, a couple common themes come out. First, the seams separate. If they are separating on just normal wear...what happens when you have a get-off like I did last June? I can see places where my seams are starting to go on the X-Moto pants...possibly from that impact when I hit the ground. Yet the X-Moto pants look good still till you start looking closely. They did good. Real good. And when you compare the heft of the two pants, that's where issue #2 comes up. The X-Moto pants are made of real Cordura. The HWK pants are made of some thinner lighter weight material that looks and feels good...except someone showed where the seat panel was wearing from just sitting on the seat. :eek:

I'm not sure what's going on, but a 34 Short seems to be real scarce. I looked at the TourMaster line. Some nice pants...but they only have sizes that don't come close to what I need. I was thinking of riding jeans, primarily because
  • I wouldn't need an "overpant".
  • I don't need to worry about putting them on or off with my boots on.
  • And as for length, I could roll the pant cuffs up like any other bluejean.
In the meantime, I stumbled upon what might be a good answer. Pricey, but not as overboard as Klim. REV'IT! Sand 5 H2O Pants https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/revit-sand-5-h2o-pants

1745712570493.png

What I like from researching them:
  • The upper thigh area unzips and becomes a humongous mesh vent. Open it when it gets hot. Close it when it gets cold. There's even a snap to hold it half-way open.
  • Armour is good quality.
  • There's no huge pockets sticking out on the sides. I never really used them on other pants like the HWK.
  • There's some straps on the back side to hold the knee armour in place. I've always been bothered wondering if that loose knee armour would be where it needed to be to protect my knee in a crash. Luckily last June it was.
  • They are light coloured. Why in the world do they make even mesh pants in black, the hottest colour around when you're trying to be cooler?
Con:
  • The zipper probably doesn't come up far enough for keeping the boots on. Sigh... I guess I'll have to live with disappointment in my life...

The nice part about Cycle Gear is if I don't like them, returning them is as easy as going to the nearest store.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep looking.

Chris
 
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