Gear Question... Pants specifically

[syphon]

Hey all,

As far as gear goes, all I have is a Jacket, Helmet, and Gloves. I was fine with this when all I was doing was puttering around the neighborhood, but now that I'm riding more, I want to pick up some pants and boots.

My jacket is the Joe Rocket Meteor 5.0. As such, I was interested in getting Joe Rocket pants (so that they'll zip on to the jacket). However, I'm more interested in an "overpant", which the J-R pants are not. At least, it doesnt LOOK like they are... even though it says they will work in that function.

Anyone have any experience with Joe Rocket pants? (I think the Ballistic and Alter-Ego are the only ones I'm looking at). Do you know if any other pants will zip on to my Jacket?

http://www.newenough.com/firstgear_ht_2_overpants_page.htm

I like those pants, but the zipper is a different size than my jacket, so they won't Match up.

Does anyone have any preference as far as textile pants go? Any recommendations or sage wisdom to provide? I'm leaning towards one of the J-R pair... but if anyone thinks those are crap and feels I should not worry about them mating to my jacket, let me know.

One thing that sucks... is that I really want the "Alter-Ego" pants, as they have a removable liner and seem more of an "over-pant". However, the Alter-Ego ONLY comes with a 31.5" inseam. WTF? Ideally, my inseam is about 29" (I'm 5'9", but have really short legs).

The Ballistic comes in a "Short" size with a 29.5" inseam, but doesnt have the removable liner

[TarzanBoy]

even if you wanted the Alter-Ego pants... Joe Rocket is out of them and does not expect stocks of them until the very end of the year.  I called up a few online places and noone has any in stock.  new enough told me that they'd have some '06 ones in in january.

[JetSwing]

any of the joe rocket pants can be used as overpants

[RVertigo]

RG recommends the MotoGP Alpine pants...

They didn't fit me.  

I ordered a pair of the Teknic Sprint 2s...  They're not in yet though... So I can't say much.

You should also check out http://www.motorcyclegearreview.com

Lots of info on there.  


As far as the zipper goes...  I wanted the same thing...  Pants that zip to my jacket.  No luck for me...  I think it limits you too much.  You can always have a zipper added to the pants so it matches the jacket.   :dunno:

[dbNnc]

I have a pair of Draggin Jeans and some FirstGear HT Air overpants. I like both, and can see wearing the FirstGear pants by themselves as regular pants, especially in summer with maybe a pair of shorts underneath.

I'm 6-foot-5, so my choices are limited when it comes to motorcycle pants.

[syphon]

As far as the zipper goes...  I wanted the same thing...  Pants that zip to my jacket.  No luck for me...  I think it limits you too much.  You can always have a zipper added to the pants so it matches the jacket.   :dunno:

So do you think it's not worth it to try to match up the zippers?

I know it's not as good as a full body suit, but I figured pants that attach to your jacket would provide a little bit more protection than seperate units.

[syphon]

I have a pair of Draggin Jeans and some FirstGear HT Air overpants. I like both, and can see wearing the FirstGear pants by themselves as regular pants, especially in summer with maybe a pair of shorts underneath.

I'm 6-foot-5, so my choices are limited when it comes to motorcycle pants.

Do the FirstGear Overpants get too hot? Reviews seem to say that they're really warm pants.

I'm normally a "warm" guy, and my legs dont get that cold easily. I'll be doing most of my riding in Summer, so I'm worried about heat.

[RVertigo]

Well...  I really wanted my pants to match my jacket zipper...  BUT!  I couldn't find any pants that were worth while that would match my jacket...  I tried on about 10 pairs of pants and most of them fit like crap.

Now...  Would it be worth while to get a pair of pants that I didn't really like to have my zippers match?  No way.

If you can find pants that you actually like, get those...  If the zippers match, BONUS!

[dionysus]

I've got a pair of Joe rocket pants, phoenix pants which are great for socal but would be too cold in anything below 50ish. They fit over a pair of pants no problem. Well, you have to pull the legs down a bit for comfort. I wear them to work everyday.

[syphon]

I've got a pair of Joe rocket pants, phoenix pants which are great for socal but would be too cold in anything below 50ish. They fit over a pair of pants no problem. Well, you have to pull the legs down a bit for comfort. I wear them to work everyday.

Grr, I took a look at those, but they probably won't work for me.

I wish J-R would at least be consistant with their sizing. For the Phoenix pants... they use 32"34" (30" inseam), then 35"-37" (32" inseam).

Well, I'm about 34"-29". Which means I can either get pants that are really tight on the waist but the correct length, or pants that are comfortable around the waist but too long!

It's especially frustrating, because if these were sized the same as other J-R pants, I'd buy them!

[Crim]

I wanted the alterego pants, but the guys at newenough said they weren't getting anymore in stock for a long time.  So I got the FirstGear HT Air overpants from them.  Its the only pair of riding pants i've ever owned, so maybe my opinion isn't the best, but here goes.

I wore them over the summer w/ the liner removed with both shorts and jeans.  To be honest I never even noticed the overpants.  They let in a ton of air, and you dont really feel like you're wearing the pants at all.

Now that its gotten cold out, I put the liner back in, and they're awesome!  They block out all air now, and keeps my legs nice and warm.  The liner is supposedly water proof too isnt it?  Doubt it works that well compared to real rain gear, but better then nothing.

The only thing I don't like about the pants is the fact that they don't make em short enough for me.  I got the smallest size, which is still just slightly too big.  All in all I like these pants.  

EDIT -- Oh yeah and it doesn't zip onto my JR jacket...oh well.

[RVertigo]

Long is better than short or too tight...  When you're sitting on the bike, knees bent, they'll still cover your ankle rather than riding up.

Too tight will kill ya' after a while...  Then you won't want to wear them at all. :dunno:

[syphon]

Ok, I really appreciate the input guys.

I think I'll get the FirstGear HT2 Overpants.

I can't decide between getting a 34" (my usual pant size) and a 36" (to accomodate wearing over pants).

As the site says, I should get my usual pant size... but I want to be really careful about getting pants that are too small (like someone said, if they are too small, I'll never want to wear them.)

[RVertigo]

Try to find a place that has them... Try 'em on...  You never really know how they'll fit.

[xtalman]

Many jackets or pants come with the other half of the zipper so you can have it added to the other piece.  My Fieldsheer Manx.Pro pants came this way.  These probably won't fit you, if you have a 29" inseam and a 34" waist.

Check out this for zipper compatibility:

http://www.newenough.com/faq_zipper_compatibility.htm

Maybe it'll give you more options.

[syphon]

Many jackets or pants come with the other half of the zipper so you can have it added to the other piece.  My Fieldsheer Manx.Pro pants came this way.  These probably won't fit you, if you have a 29" inseam and a 34" waist.
Maybe it'll give you more options.

Wait, what won't fit? The pants I'm talking about, or the pants you're talking about?

[Jazzzzz]

I have the JR Alter Egos.  They work fine as overpants, even with the waterproof liner in.  They get very hot in hot weather, even with the mesh panel exposed and the zippers on the legs opened slightly - but this is with khakis or jeans on underneath them.

One of the local shops in town has them in stock and will do online orders, but they want full MSRP for them ($199) -- www.cyclespecialtiesinc.com if you want to check them out.

[dbNnc]

I got the HT Air overpants from New Enough, http://www.newenough.com/firstgear_ht_air_overpants_page.htm.

I bought a pair of regular HT overpants on ebay, realized they would definitely be too hot and flipped them for a $10 profit.  

[xtalman]

Many jackets or pants come with the other half of the zipper so you can have it added to the other piece.  My Fieldsheer Manx.Pro pants came this way.  These probably won't fit you, if you have a 29" inseam and a 34" waist.
Maybe it'll give you more options.

Wait, what won't fit? The pants I'm talking about, or the pants you're talking about?

The Manx.Pro pants I have are a little bit long on me, and I have a 30" inseam and 34" waist.  So the Fieldsheer knee armor will probably hang a little too low on you.

[Soaring]

now, HT air description says there's only armor in the knees and pockets for the hips. did you have to buy hips armor extra or there's enough protection even without it? if you bought extra armor, what kind of armor do you put in there?