Riding pants extreme heat

So I would like see what others think about my riding gear for the summer. Last year, I rode with just regular jeans. But as the weather got cooler here in Vegas, I ended up wearing textile riding pants. Now that it's getting hotter again, I'm trying to decide which will be the safest way to ride without compromising protection. I'm so use to wearing riding pants, that riding without them, I feel kind of naked. However, riding with mesh riding pants and jeans is not going to work here in Las Vegas. Lately, I've been riding with shorts, but with the mesh riding pants over them. The mesh pants have some soft padding covering the knees and hips, but no armour. Or, should I buy a pair riding jeans that have kevlar and ride without the mesh pants?

I'd go with the kevlar jeans, personally. They may be a bit warmer, but maybe a good compromise? You could always get a pair and have a tailor make them into shorts. That way, you'd get better protection for your hips, etc...

Whatever you do, make sure you add CE armor at the knee area. Everything else (on the pants issue) is an acceptable compromise for me in town.

A note: I personally dislike riding jeans because I feel they are only a marketing gimmick, but honestly, I speak without ANY experience with such products, so don't pay too much attention to me

mesh can fall apart upon a crash, so if you are to go that route, at least wear full jeans underneath. IMO, the kevlar jeans are a better way to go.

Does anyone know of a manufacturer who offers a mesh pant that is armored? I have the Fieldsheer mesh jacket that provides excellent padding/armor and with the liner removed, is like wearing a t shirt with all the flow through. Right now I'm content to ride with long jeans but I would like similar protection for my legs.

pretty sure fieldsheer does. I know joe rocket does. I would bet almost any company that makes an armored textile pants makes a similarly protective mesh pant.

There are some convertible textile pants out there, that aren't completely mesh, therefore not as vulnerable to the "mesh will fall apart in a crash" possibility. I would suggest looking into those as another alternative.

For me, keeping my legs cool isn't nearly as important as keeping my body cool, so I'm okay with having part-mesh, part-textile pants. The Joe Rocket Alter Ego pant, is a good example of what I'm talking about.

keira said:

mesh can fall apart upon a crash

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Show me..... Mesh holds up extremely well for general riding and if you can hold it to 100mph I would have total faith in that product. I have yet to see pictures of a slide or fall where a mesh product has failed to protect the rider as advertised..

..........

VEGASRIDER said:

So I would like see what others think about my riding gear for the summer. Last year, I rode with just regular jeans. But as the weather got cooler here in Vegas, I ended up wearing textile riding pants. Now that it's getting hotter again, I'm trying to decide which will be the safest way to ride without compromising protection. I'm so use to wearing riding pants, that riding without them, I feel kind of naked. However, riding with mesh riding pants and jeans is not going to work here in Las Vegas. Lately, I've been riding with shorts, but with the mesh riding pants over them. The mesh pants have some soft padding covering the knees and hips, but no armour. Or, should I buy a pair riding jeans that have kevlar and ride without the mesh pants?

Click to expand...

Man I crash tested my Shift Torque Jeans. They held up perfect. I felt a little bang on my butt cheek, and some heat, but by the next day, nothing.

I am going to get some knee armor to wear under them. Super comfy pants.

I've got the fieldsheer Titanium air 2 mesh pants. CE armor in the knees and foam pads on the hips. So far I really like them, definitely get lots of air movement and the mesh is dense enough you can't see my scooby doo boxers through them :rockon:. They definitely beat out kevlar jeans.

If you are going the armored jean route, I strongly recommend checking out these. They are the only kevlar jeans I've seen that also have CE armor in them. I'd love to get a pair, they just don't come in my size (neither did the fieldsheers, but if I'm gonna wear highwaters, might as well get max protection from them):
Cortech by Tour Master Mod Denim Motorcycle Pants :: New Enough, LTD

Otherwise, do what wrightme said and get some armor to wear underneath your regular pants:
Icon Field Armor Leg :: New Enough, LTD
Icon Field Armor Short :: New Enough, LTD

Cycleport.com has kevlar mesh gear. Not the best looking but probably the best protection. I have their regular kevlar gear, tough stuff.

For me it is never to cold to ride but tripple digets? No thanks, but that would take out most of your summer.

I have seen the mesh rip apart in a crash. I wrecked wearing kevlar and i turned out fine. The jacket and pants had to be replaced but i was ok.

Fieldsheer perforated leathers. Fine as long as I'm moving and not stuck in traffic (which I try to avoid like the plague)

Mesh overpants with shorts underneath... I also purchased a evap-o-dana from aerostich to soak and wear around my neck. I havn't had a chance to try that out here yet But it seems like it'll help a lot. There's always the cool shirts too, but I'm more worried about staying cool for the commute to work(which would mean staying dry) than an all day thing.

Thanks for all of the replies, all of your post make sense. I guess the most important variable comes down to the quality of the pants. My Rev'it textile pants is a much better quality than my Motoboss mesh pants, but it's not mesh. The reason I favor wearing my mesh pants over my shorts is because I think it provides better protection vs jeans, and even kevlar jeans like the Shift Lowdown jeans that Wrightme43 had. It offers padding on the knees and hips. The area that is mesh is vulnerable, but it appears it's an area that seems initial contact is less likely, like the shin and front thigh area. Obviously, wearing jeans with riding pants offer the best protection, but I'm looking for the ways to ride during extreme heat. Regardless of the temp, I always ride with my mesh jacket.

The scary thing is that this method has not been tested. The kevlar jeans has and proved effective.

Hey Kenny, I'm going to look into these: Mesh-Tex 2.0 Features

I bought the matching jacket yesterday and I'm really happy with it. While we haven't hit 100 yet we have seen 95+ for the past two weeks and my textile suit is way too hot.

Mesh-Tex 3.0

When I go for fun rides I wear long short, cargo shorts, with my textile stuff. Under my leathers I wear bicycle shorts.

Otherwise I have kacki pants or jeans on under my textile pants.

I tested (20-25 mph) a pair of Joe Rocket Steel pants, the jean parts got torn up but all the extra padding with the steel woven in did fine not ripping (knees and butt). As others have said about the CE padding I wish i had it on my pants, i got two stiches above my knee for a pucture wound, hitting a rock or stick when i was sliding. I am assuming the kevlar would give you more protection then the steel weave would, even though it would heat up more.

I've bought a pair of First Gear Tex-Mesh pants for the summer. They come with some pretty pathetic "armour" in the knees which is just a piece of flat foam, so I installed JR hard knee and shin armour in the them which fit perfectly.
The pants are well made and I have complete faith in them to hold up in the event of a tumble. they also have a 10" zip at the back to attach to my JR Phoenix 4.0 mesh jacket (which has an 8" zip, but it's close enough)
Oh...edited to add: Wacking unprotected knees onto the tarmac after flying through the air really, really hurts. I did it twice just to make sure.

Next question- From a commuter standpoint, I wear my uniform under my riding gear. The mesh jacket does a fine job and I've got it sized right. My question is, for those that wear bottoms over your street clothes, how much oversize would you recommend to order? I envision during fun rides in the heat having only shorts on under and a little leg flap wouldn't concern me but I prefer to have them loose enough to comfortably fit over my pants during regular workweek commutes. Lower side zippers would be nice to just slip on/off over my boots.

Thanks,
David