A matter of safety, or style?
Addressing the gap between
safety and style for bikers.
During our most recent visit to Bike Stop, we started discussing the risk of
not wearing gear during a ride. The conversation was prompted by a recent ride
out to Ace Café. We spotted a biker wearing casual jeans, trainers and a hoodie
on a ZX10R – not the most sensible choice of clothing in our opinion, and we
imagine that you might also be thinking the same thing. “I’m only going round
the corner, there’s no point in putting my leathers on” said the ZX10R rider.
The reality is that our opinions won’t stop people riding in
jeans and a hoodie. Coming off at 30mph is the same, regardless what bike you’re
riding. Maybe it’s a culture thing? In Italy for example, many bikers and
scooter riders will ride in jeans, and sometimes a leather jacket (and in some
cases, a helmet too!). We can see from YouTube videos, that this the case in
the USA too.
So the question is – are bikers riding with jeans because of
the expense of decent riding gear? Is it a lack of motivation? Or is it because
riding gear is just not stylish enough?
We've put together a
line-up of 3 riding jeans – that are in every way better, than riding in normal
jeans and stylish too.
Here they are; the Dainese Bonneville jean, the Revvit Orlando H2O jean and last but
not least, the RST Aramid jean.
The Dainese Bonneville regular jeans retail at £154.99
The RST Aramid jeans retails at £89.99
The Revvit Orlando H2O jeans retails at £189.99
We can tell you immediately - get a pair that fits not only when you are standing, but a also when you are sitting on the bike. The cramped position of the GSXR means that the jeans ride up quite high and expose the ankle. Then again, we are wearing TCX casual boots - would you wear track or touring boots with riding jeans? That's up to you - but the Bike Stop team will be able to help you find the right fit.
The Dainese Bonneville jeans
The Dainese jeans have the 'nicest' fit in our opinion. A slim 'worn denim' style jean with knee protection, albeit little knee protection. This jean looks the best and is the most comfortable off the bike - but quite a bit more expensive than the RST jean. Making them the premium and quality option - but hey, what else would you expect from Dainese...
Whilst sat on the bike, the Dainese jeans are a little tight around the thigh - but we imagine this would be very different on a more upright machine. None the less, these jeans look great and would definitely fool someone! They don't look like riding jeans at all.
The RST Aramid Jean
The RST Aramid jean is the 'baggiest' of the set - but this pair also has the best knee protection. The knee armour on these jeans is much thicker than the others, and the armour takes shape to your knee when sat on the bike.
The stitched detail on the back pocket is nice to see, usual RST style. From the picture below, it appears that the jeans are long enough to cover the ankle, but unfortunately they are not. This means over compensating in length to ensure that you're ankles are covered if you are wearing a low style boot.
We found the RST to be very comfortable on the bike, and we were reassured by the knee armour. With this pair being the most affordable, we definitely recommend trying them on for size.
The Revvit Orlando H20 jean
Ahh, this is a really nice pair of jeans. Warm, comfortable, and water proof. The only thing we thought this pair could improve on is the knee protection. Only slightly thicker than the Dainese jeans, but in all fairness these are all jeans with added protection over your casual denim pant.
We would recommend going a size down in this jean, as we found them a little loose around the waist. Style wise, this is the pair we preferred out of the trio - and it was nice to have a waterproof zipped pocket. Very useful for your phone and change for a brew!
The water can be seen beading on the top the jeans. It's great re-assurance to know that you don't have to worry about getting caught out by the rain.
Over-all, this trio of jeans are pretty brilliant. Truly well made and we could recommend them all but it really depends on your budget and what you're looking for in a pair of riding jeans.
A great selection of Men's and ladies jeans are available to view on the Bike Stop website.
There is one thing we need to address though...
These jeans will NOT protect you in the same way leather or textile bottoms would. You should always wear gear on a ride, but these jeans are 100% better than normal jeans or track suit bottoms.
Just think about what is more important - arriving in style or arriving at all? But hey, who's saying that a leather or textile suit isn't cool?!
Please share if you enjoyed reading this!
All the best
BirotarUK
#BirotarUK
