Buying leather trousers, please advise me :)

Motorcycling
1

Hey all.

I don’t have any trousers or leg protection at the moment, and think it is important that I get some. I’m looking for advice on what to buy, if anyone can spare a few moments.

I only have about £100 to spend right about now, but I realise it is not a lot for trousers so I could wait a while to scrape some more cash together.

I have an Alpinestars V4 jacket, so something that would zip on to that would be good. Considering saving for some Alpinestar BAT trousers?

What are your thoughts LB? :smiley:

2

Make sure that whatever you get has knee and hip armour in.

It’s coming on to cold weather so you might want to go for textiles instead - waterproof and often have zip-in thermal liners.

3

Exactly what i’d have said!

4

Cheers, good advice, appreciated.

Is textile cheaper than leather? Seems like it might be from where I’ve been looking around. Also, with textile, I could wear that over my normal jeans, which I couldn’t with leather, right?

Thanks.

EDIT: Looking at these, http://www.alpinestars-shop.com/cat226_1.htm - Some come with armour included - not sure if that includes knee and hip or knee and shin . Is Alpinestars an expensive option? Should I be lookign at other brands if I want to keep price closer to £100?

5

I went with these guys: http://www.jtsbikerclothing.com/html/home.shtml (mainly coz of the sizes!) but not bad gear.

I got a 2 piece textile suit and a 2 piece leather from them - I wear the textiles over my jeans and have a cheapish pair of waterproof trousers from Halford that go on top - keeps me bone dry.

6

Thanks for the link Stevie.

How about these? http://www.bikestop.co.uk/off-road/dainese-off-road/dainese-summer-safety-pants.html/

I could combine these with warm trousers, because my main concern is knee and hip protection. I assume these offer little in the way or “sliding down the road” protection?

7

RST are good for cheap and cheerful. I have a pair of RST synchro textile/leather trousers which are completely waterproof and warm… they have survived two years of abuse from me through year round riding(including one off), bought for £99 including removable thermal liner.

8

Thanks for the ideas folks. Will see what Sondel has in the morning :slight_smile:

Cheers.

9

Infinity sell Spada textile trousers with thermal lining (but not removable) knee armour and hip pads for about £60 - would do for a while. Wear a base layer with them though.

10

Cheers Janus. Was hoping to check Sondel because it’s a fair bit closer, but if they don’t offer soemthign as good I’ll head over to Infinity. Thanks!

11

Depending on where you live, get to your nearest Hein Gericke - they have a great range of stock to suit many styles and pockets.

It is generally considered that leather trousers, while offering better abrasion (‘sliding down the road’) protection, aren’t as good when it comes to weather-proofing. There are some which have improved in this area, but they would likely be out of your stated budget.

As has been previously mentioned, it seems that textile is the way to go for your price range.

Whatever you chose, make sure that you have confidence that whoever fits you for the trousers knows what they are doing e.g. checking the armour sits right in the relevant areas and explains any care instructions to you.

These might be a little more than you are thinking of spending, but look good - http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/cPath/1_2_99/products_id/6919

PS. - sorry if the post reads like an advert; I happen to really like HG gear :wink:

12

Thanks for the advice! I’ll check them out too. Your post didn’t read like an advert, I appreciate that you are enthusiastic about a good brand :smiley:

Unfortunately those Hein Gericke are a bit out of my price range ;[

13

You’re welcome.

I got my one piece leather suit from Steve at EBC (Essex Bikers Centre) in Braintree (IIRC).
A great bloke who has a load of pre-owned leathers (suits, jackets, trousers).
Check out his shop on eBay.

14

Cheers, already seen their used leather on ebay! :smiley:

Looks good, might buy if I don’t find anything tomorrow.