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Ski Pants?

Squeaky

2
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Joined
Mar 6, 2004
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Location
Plantersville
First Name
Rebecca
Last Name
Reed
Ok, so I was cleaning out the closet and getting the "winter" clothes ready (if you can call 40 degree lows winter), and came across my ski jacket and pants. The ski pants are waterproof, lined in comfy flannel, and very warm.

If I added knee protectors (like the ones that velcro onto your legs and go under the dirt gear), would these be a viable option as riding pants on very cold days?

I have a good pair of textile riding pants already (Tourmaster Cortech) but I'm not sure how well they insulate to keep me cozy in the cold.

Any ideas?
 
I think that if you were to go down in a pair of those pants they would shred faster than a pair of jeans.

Have you considered heated riding gear?
 
A detailed "safety" evaluation is required as this is a grave matter of high significance. Step 1 is to wear the questionable safety gear and post a hi res image for review :) Based on the preliminary review results, subsequent measures could be advised.
 
I wear ski bibs. I just don't crash in 'em. I wear ordinary jeans anyway, been wearing jeans for 38 years. I've crashed a few times on the street, lived through it fine. Skin grows back.

I do have these "draggin' jeans" I bought for rides. I got the removable knee armor with 'em, velcros inside, and I wear it when I'm on a fast ride. If you're paranoid and want protection at all times on the bike for every part of the body, check into the draggin' jeans and wear 'em under those bibs. They've got a huge patch of kevlar in the butt and kevlar in the knees.

Otherwise, do what some folks do and don't ride unless it's 72 degrees and sunny when you can wear your one piece leathers in comfort. :rolleyes: Personally, I've never worn any of my leathers on the street. My leathers are for the track. Soft armor just has to do for me and I try to avoid having to use it.

http://www.dragginjeans.com

I'd think the shin/knee armor I have for dirt riding wouldn't be too great in a spill. It'd be too easy for it to rotate around on the leg when contacting the ground. Of course, I'll let YOU do the testing. :rofl
 
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Wear the purpose-built gear, Squeak, save the ski gear for that soft white stuff. Go to a good bicycle shop or performancebike.com and buy a pair of winter tights...the kind that are windproof on the front half. They'll help a lot.
 
Last winter I did the layering thing, but it makes it tough to move around with all the extra fabric. I dont have the $$ for heated gear or draggin jeans, so I was hoping the quick/cheap fix would be the ski pants.

Most times when I commute, I wear jeans. Jeans under the ski pants would probably get me the 9 miles to work Ok...
 
Wore my Goretex ski pants this morning over jeans. Breaks the wind nicely and you don't need the LJ's till it's at least the low 30's.

I just don't plan on crashing, actually I don't usually plan on crashing.

Sep't when I run knobbies :nana

(no I don't ride in a wife beaters, sandals, and sunglasses). The leathers are for the "spirited" rides, in a controlled competitive environment only of course :angel: .
 
Mark G said:
Wear the purpose-built gear, Squeak, save the ski gear for that soft white stuff. Go to a good bicycle shop or performancebike.com and buy a pair of winter tights...the kind that are windproof on the front half. They'll help a lot.

I "second" this recommendation. I've owned some of these and they're great. You could conceivably wear them under a pair of loose fitting jeans/pants and take them off after you arrive at work. I don't recall that they are all that rain proof and they're not going to provide much crash protection either. They will keep you surprisingly warm and comfy though.
 
Squeaky said:
Last winter I did the layering thing, but it makes it tough to move around with all the extra fabric. I dont have the $$ for heated gear or draggin jeans, so I was hoping the quick/cheap fix would be the ski pants.

Most times when I commute, I wear jeans. Jeans under the ski pants would probably get me the 9 miles to work Ok...

I do the same, wear jeans to work. I wrench for a living and it's dirty work. I don't want to mess up a pair of draggin' jeans at work. :-| I just wear the draggin' jeans when I ride somewhere other than day to day. It's all in the risk you're willing to accept. Me, I've been down in jeans before and got skinned up, but I got over it. I'm not riding hard when I ride daily and the risk of crashing is very low.
 
I bought a pair of isulated coveralls from Wal-Mart for $50. They are made of a somewhat heavy canvas an I think the would hold together fairly well.. Still wish it had armour though, but it is conveinent to just jump in and out of them.
 
Knees are fragile. Not being able to walk would suck. Those pants would be completely worthless in a crash. Sure, no one ever intends to crash or get hurt... REI and CampMor have the longjohn type pants pretty cheap. They are thinner than jeans but insulate very well and won't bunch up under riding pants. The length of the ride is irrelevant to the odds of being injured, especially in a congested urban area ;-)
 
Tourmeister said:
Knees are fragile. Not being able to walk would suck. Those pants would be completely worthless in a crash. Sure, no one ever intends to crash or get hurt... REI and CampMor have the longjohn type pants pretty cheap. They are thinner than jeans but insulate very well and won't bunch up under riding pants. The length of the ride is irrelevant to the odds of being injured, especially in a congested urban area ;-)

I gotta agree with Scott and disagree with Jack on this issue. I'm lying on the couch right now, wishing my two swollen, tender, extremely sore knees would heal so I can get back on the bikes. And I crashed in full leathers, wearing the best armor available. Two weeks ago. I've places on both knees I don't dare touch, one place is so bad I can't wear a compression brace, so the swelling isn't going down. I'm bummed, to say the least. And Jack's clearly a lot tougher than I, never mind smashing knees, he says his skint parts heal...yeah, they do, but in the meantime wearing jeans on the skint places is like wearing a whirling wire brush against the skin. There's a name for the place they take us when we crash with bad road rash. It's called the Burn Ward.

Jack's right, it's all about how much risk you're willing to accept. Right about now I'm wishing for a RoboCop suit.

Yesterday at the BMW store while Suzanne was buying some actual riding boots with actual protection (after I told her she ain't riding pillion again until she has full gear...meaning she needed to get some boots and good gloves), I fell into a conversation with a nice fellow, there to get some armor for his handsome Vanson cruiser-style jacket. They showed him the Vanson "street" armor, which is essentially relatively dense foam, which might help if you fall off the couch. I showed him my knees. I showed him my undamaged elbows, told him about my only slightly sore shoulders. He left wearing Vanson's GP armor. And jeans. He said he couldn't 'afford' protective pants. I didn't say he can't afford to ride a bike, then, but I wanted to.

Maybe when I can ride again I'll quit preaching like this. In the meantime, all I can suggest is you squirm in your pews.
 
http://www.brocktoncycle.com/eshopp...duct_111611.Fieldsheer_Motorcycle_Pants_F.htm

Fieldsheer Astro pants. I wear them as overpants and sometimes solo if it's not too cold. They come with a quilted liner, but I've never needed them...wore them last winter down to the 30's, after that it's just too cold for me to ride. Face, hands and torso were a bit cold but my legs were just fine. Armor in all the right places also.
 
Jesse H said:
http://www.brocktoncycle.com/eshopp...duct_111611.Fieldsheer_Motorcycle_Pants_F.htm

Fieldsheer Astro pants. I wear them as overpants and sometimes solo if it's not too cold. They come with a quilted liner, but I've never needed them...wore them last winter down to the 30's, after that it's just too cold for me to ride. Face, hands and torso were a bit cold but my legs were just fine. Armor in all the right places also.

I love my electric vest for torso duty. :dude: I have an armored Tourmaster jacket I got from newenough.com couple of years ago and with that vest on, I can go below 30 on the wing, but the SV is a might chilly down at freezing. The wing is a cheater bike for cold weather. :lol:

I've been pretty road rashed up from crashes in full leathers. I can remember my forearms being red blotches for a while after a get off, face plant in T3 of TWS in my old Daineses. Those old leathers, old school, had no armor at all, just cowhide with lining and they were the first suit that I owned that actually had lining in 'em! The lining was a hundred more in those old Lancers I had made, so I ordered 'em without lining. Man, you went down in those, you'd be better off in a modern textile suit! I got lotsa road rash, just learned to live with it. Bobos are not new to my body, nor are broken bones for that matter. Show me a guy that's been racing for thirty years that hasn't broken a bone and I'll show you one lucky ***! My friend, Joe Prussiano, is a real fast guy. He had both knees replaced with plastic recently. The company that did it, did it for free so they could use him for advertizing. He's still flat tracking and road racing with plastic knees. I'm a wimp compared to Joe. :chug:

I've taken the risks over the years and lived to tell the tale. On the street, the idea is to ride defensively and well within your limits on the road and DON'T GET IN A CRASH 'cause no amount of armor or gear is going to help you from injury if you hit an SUV at speed. The street is a lot more dangerous than the track. I'll take a low side from 70 mph naked any day over hitting an SUV at 40. That right there is the major risk in street riding and you can't avoid it with gear. You avoid THAT with your head and some dumb luck doesn't hurt either. If you're not willing to take that risk, well, you can always buy an SUV. Bikes might not be your thing. You can do track days or get into club racing if you just love the riding. That'll keep you away from the real dangers of motorcycling, the other vehicles on the road.
 
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I'll take a low side from 70 mph naked any day over hitting an SUV at 40.

But there are a LOT of other instances where gear/armor will make a huge difference. On my lowspeed highside in Colorado, the only thing I hit was the grund... HARD! I did not slide at all. My left knee took a major impact. Fortunately, I was wearing armor on the knees and only suffered a skinned up knee where the armor slid a little. Had I not been wearing that armor, I feel pretty confident that my knee would have been pretty messed up. Then there was the whole shoulder impact with the full weight of my body... So you are right that armor is not going to help much against an SUV, but there are plenty of cases where it will.

:tab My skin might heal up eventually, but it sure seems to take its' sweet time doing it compared to when I was 18 :roll:
 
Yup I'm thinking about going to some better ankle protection street boots than my Sidi onroads too.

I'm still nursing my ankle a bit from N.C. It's a lot better than when I broke it in '96 but a better set of boots would have spared me some pain.

It was low speed, but if I had been in jeans my knee would have been ground in real well, as my foot was twisted under the bike and my whole 230lbs or so was sliding on that knee.

BTW the Firstgear HT overpants I can vouch for, good cold and wet weather pants and decent protection, not too costly.
 
Jack Giesecke said:
So, define wearing something "commando" for me??????:confused: Is that, without underwear? :scratch :lol:
Yep - that's the definition...
 
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