What do you wear on a solely street ride?

[bchunter]

I am looking at bolstering my street riding apparel, primarily pants of some sort. What do you guys wear for pants for a street ride? Kevlar jeans, regular jeans, Carhartt's?

I love my Klim Dakar's but I feel a little over the top to be walking around town doing some shopping after work.

Thanks guys.

 

[kaos]

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soley street-armoured textile pants ,they came with a zip out liner that is removed so i wear pants under.

 

[bchunter]

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Do you find one brand is better then another?

Thanks.

 

[mint400]

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I wear regular cheap loose fittingcarpenter jeans with fly racing articulated knee pads... also six six one bomber shorts underneath sometimes for the hips... comfy very safe and looks completely normal.

Boots are my complaint so far... might get sidi discovery as my mx boots don't stroll very well around town... my buddies tech 3 look great as well

 

[bchunter]

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Today I tried a pair of old cargo pants with my mx knee/shin guards under them when I came in on the hwy and then ditched the guards for around town. This combo seemed to work pretty good and I didn't feel like a Ricky Carmichael wanna be going for coffee.

But boots, I tried an old pair of steel toes and they are not the best. I think I might have to go boot shopping. Correct me if I am worng, but I am thinking any leather boot that is over the ankle and offers some waterresistance should be good, right?

Thanks for the advise on the shorts. I just checked them out on the net. Interesting. Somthing that I will have to think about.

Thanks.

 

[Mollygrubber]

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ATGATT.

My pants in summer are BMW "City Pants", basically armored canvas/kevlar pants. You need rain gear with these, but they're great. In winter I use Joe Rocket lined/insulated ballistic armoredpants over jeans - they work very well.

My boots all year round are the BMW 'every day' model, leather only; they're waterproof and warm in winter, but not toohot in summer. Must be the gortex? I need something with a bit more mechanical protection. I've recently seen an xray of a shattered ankle that could have been avoided or mitigated by not cheaping out on boots. Made me rethink my foot protection.

I constantly have to tell myself "today could be the day" so I'll wear ALL the gear all the time. In winter it's not too bad cuz I'm cold anyway, but it's hard to put it all on in August!



Peter

 

[skidmark43]

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bchunter wrote:

Today I tried a pair of old cargo pants with my mx knee/shin guards under them when I came in on the hwy and then ditched the guards for around town. This combo seemed to work pretty good and I didn't feel like a Ricky Carmichael wanna be going for coffee.

But boots, I tried an old pair of steel toes and they are not the best. I think I might have to go boot shopping. Correct me if I am worng, but I am thinking any leather boot that is over the ankle and offers some waterresistance should be good, right?

Thanks for the advise on the shorts. I just checked them out on the net. Interesting. Somthing that I will have to think about.

Thanks.

X2 for Peter's comments: ATGATT.

Cargo pants / jeans are not ideal. Don't wait until the nurse is tweezing & scrubbing cotton fibres out of your flesh to confirm this fact...

I've been riding asphalt for 25 years, sometimes on racetracks. I appreciate that you don't want to look like Carmichael or Biaggi, but you need to be able to deal with impacts (most common on the street) and slides. The knee guards are great for the initial impact, after which they will have relocated and do very little other than give you new & exciting abrasions.

FWIW,

• Irecommend you get a two-piece textile pants & jacket 'Rubber Side Down' in Richmond is one of our several sponsors that have outerwear that won't make you look like an idiot while walking through the grocery store. The fabric and seams are designed to save your skin... Built-in armour doesn't move around and will offer plenty of protection.
• Super-moto style or Mechanix gloves (with leather) aren't as good as a full gauntlet butmuch better than mx gloves.
• A quality leather / hiking boot that protects your ankles is probably a good compromise for the circumstances you've described. Mark's WorkWearhouse has some good choices - make sure they can't come off (like sneakers) easily.

But i might be wrong on all of this. Some good friends of mine don't wear gloves on the street and stick to jeans, (same guys that remember the 'good old days'when WA had no helmet laws) Come visit Vancouver soon and see the gloveless squids wearing wife-beaters, shorts & sneakers on all sorts of bikes; doesn't seem to bother them at all... I'm grateful for the level of personal choice we still have left in this country.

 

[xr8d]

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Try to stay away from laced boots. I wear Thor 50/50 boots all the time. They are like the bottom half of a motocross boot, but high enough for ankle support. Also comfy enough to walk/wear all day. There is nothing more embarrassing than falling over at a light cause your laces caught on the footpeg when you tried to put a foot down!!!(Trust me on this one!!) There are lots of good brand name short boots out there that look similar to the Thors, and at least you have protection if you unexpectedly find a trail on the way home.:hb:

 

[Mad Max]

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I have found that properly padded motorcycle gloves offer much more protection than mechanics gloves or work gloves. When you are grinding down the road on your hands after doing something stupid you'll see what I mean.

Keep Safe

Max

 

[bchunter]

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skidmark43 wrote:

Don't wait until the nurse is tweezing & scrubbing cotton fibres out of your flesh to confirm this fact...

Wow, that comment just drove it home. Thank you.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to write up your list and comments. I am new to this road stuff and will take every lesson and hint from those that have been doing it for years. It would be dumb not to.

The jacket that I am using on the road is a cheap one, but it has internal armour on the shoulders, elbows, and back, so I am quite happy with it.

But it is pretty clear that I need some road worthy pants. Your comments about the knee / shin guards providing protection for the first impact and none after that is interesting and speaks to the reasoning behind leather / kevlar / internal armour. Thanks for brining it to my attention.

As for boots, I have a pair of Fox F3's that are awesome and I wear them if I am going for a ride, but when I go to work it is nice to have a boot that I can wear all day. I will keep looking for something that will do the trick. And thanks for the advise on the laces

Wow, am I learning about this stuff. Thanks a ton guys. Rubber Side Down is on my list of places to check out when I go to Vancouver in May.

 

[sagot]

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Leather.
Leather.
Leather.
Armor is good.
Leather.
Leather.
Air vents are a nice touch.
Leather.
No pockets on the pants.
Leather.

 

[mint400]

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well the compromise is yours to make... just remember most dual sports have no crash bar... Implying the bike will use your legs and feet as a bearing to slide... the difference is massive in a slide wipe out

As a 2x victim of myself (not wearing gear), I'd add whatever you choose for street gear should be quite comfy and stylish. Otherwise you'll gain confidence and stop wearing them. I no longer feel it is a choice... no gear means no riding. I'm sure 99% of my fellow crash veterans would agree.

 

[bchunter]

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I am glad I posted up, the information here is great.

I am now certain that I need to spend the $$ on something that is of quality. Not having crash bars on the bike is another good point that I never thought of. Thanks for sharing your lessons that you have learned through experience.

I am good at wearing my gear all the time as I have a job that needs protective gear and I learned a long time ago to wear it at all times and to not skimp out on the quality. I know what to buy for work, and thanks for helping me start to figure out what to buy for ridding the street.

 

[c337b]

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This is what happens when you hit payment at about 40Kph I had track pant's on which saved my skin I little faster and would have road rash

 

[Farp]

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I have a cordura jacket with armour padding at the elbows, shoulders, and back. I also have cordura pants with armour at the knees. About a month ago I was out for a street ride and was wearing my jacket but, for some reason, had decided that jeans were good enough for my legs. I hit a patch of gravel at the apex of a turn and went down. I ripped the elbow out of my jacket but my arm was fine - not even a bruise. But I was not so lucky with my leg. I tore a couple of inches of skin and flesh off my knee and consider myself lucky that it wasn't worse, but if I'd been wearing my pants (like I should have been) my knee wouldn't have been hurt any worse than my elbow. Protective clothing works so buy it and use it every time you ride. Remember, you dress for the crash, not the ride.

Ride safe everyone, and have fun.

John

 

[bchunter]

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Thanks again everyone for their experience and advise.

I went for a quick ride with a buddy last night and all the thoughts in this post were in my mind as I was gearing up, so on go the pants and all. When I met up with him he was not wearing any armour of any kind and some jeans. The statement of the nurse pulling and swabbing the fibres out of the leg kinda set in. I do feel alot better riding with everything on. I guess now I have to find something that looks the way to suit what I am going to be doing for the day.

Thanks.

 

[North]

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Hi,

Just to reaffirm what has been said, I wear full gear even for a short ride to the local store and back.

I was lazy one day and started riding in just my jeans. To make a long story short I wiped out at 30 km and hit the curb last year. I didn't think I was going to be able to get back up.

Wearing jeans was like wearing paper.

My calf and butt were worse. :shock: It took weeks to heal.

 

[bchunter]

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I am so glad I asked this question. I have learned alot, so much in fact that when I was in Vancouver last week I went to a gear store and bought myself some textile riding pants that have armour in the knees, hips, and butt. Along with the pants I spent the extra coin and got a nice pair of gloves with some armour on the knuckles. I was very impressed with the price and the service that I received.

The final point I would like to add was that a bunch of us went for a dirt only ride yesterday so I got all my dirt gear on. Afterwards we were all yacking outside our houses on the road and one of my buddies had his bike still out and another neighbour was oogling it, so off he goes to take it for a rip. The bike owner asks me if I would like to try it. ATGATT popped in my head and I gently passed up the offer and told him next time we were out together. I need to save the few brain cells that I have.

Again, thanks for all the help and sharing your stories learned through experience.

 

[Dustin]

Full leathers, proper boots, full gauntlet gloves and a full face helmet. Pavement is painful to land on and even more painful to slide on. I've gone down in textiles at a very low speed and it changed my idea of what I want to crash in forever--now it's full leathers all the time.

bchunter, PM me if you want a heads up on the places to go in the lower mainland to check out gear--I've been to all of them and can give you my thoughts

 

[Dorky]

It amazes me how many of my 'street' rides somehow end up on a muddy trail...

(that's one of the benefits of living here)

ATGATT :tup: