Olympia vs. Joe Rocket - opinions, experiences?

Hi Everyone!

A couple of months ago, I bought some SidiWay Tepor boots (all day comfortable, even with shin protection!), a new Scorpion helmet (it rocks, btw!), and a new mesh jacket. My Fieldsheer was getting a little long in the tooth, had some loose threads, and really no longer fit well since I have lost 45 lbs. My shopping narrowedit down to the JR Phoenix 4.0 and the Olympia Airglide 2. I ended up purchasing the Olympia and now may be questioning my purchase.

Here are my findings on the Olympia so far
1) The back armor is very thin and very small. I know I can be replaced with something else, but for the money I am a little disappointed.
2) The jacket is much lighter than my Fieldsheer, probably because of the lighter armor. But it IS more confortable to wear. I have some concern about crash protection because the material seems thinner, but it is more textile in nature than mesh.
3) Temp wise, the Olympia looks to be a cooler weather jacket. There is much less mesh than the Fieldsheer, so over 90* outside is pretty hot unless I am moving. The liner is nice and full. I'll bet I can ride in 50* weather and still be comfortable.

I now want to buy some pants to go with the jacket so I can wear shorts or whatever underneath for when I get to my destination. So what are your opinions and/or experiences with the JR Phoenix outfit vs. the Olympia Airglide outfit? My concerns about crash protection from the armor and material with the Olympia jacket make me think twice about buying the matching pants.

Don't get me wrong here. I am very impressed with the quality of the Olympia jacket. It is very well made and very well thought out functionally. But so is my Foot-Joy windbreaker I wear when playing golf, but I wouldn't want to be wearing it in a get-off, if you catch my drift. So what do you guys think about the Olympia vs. JR gear? Thanks for your input! I am on piece of gear away from ATGATT and want to get the "good stuff"!

Bumpity bump....

Anyone have experiences with either or both?

I have two different Joe Rocket jackets and love both. One is mesh armored up and the other is a textile jacket (read it must weight 10 lbs for riding when it finally cools off). Joe rocket pants and gloves round out the wardrobe. Pants get worn in the cool/cold time for houston. I have nothing bad to say about the Joe Rocket stuff I have. Between MotoXoutlet.com and Newenough.com, I've spent my fair share. also have a JR Phx III jacket that fits both my daughter and wife. My daughter thinks she looks like the Red Power Range when she has it on.

JR Phoenix 4.0
1. Vents better that the Olympia Airglide 2 when riding a full farringed bike.


Olympia Airglide 2
1. More comfortable than the JR Phoenix 4.0. Also more versitile.
2. Much wider temperature comfort range.


When it's blistering hot I go with the Phoenix other than that it's the Airglide.

Only JR advice/opinions I could pass on would be for the Alter Ego...

We both wear Airglide mesh, but can't do a comparison; first textile suits.

With the $40 cool vest, I have no problems riding in 100+ temps in mine on the V-Strom.

I don't want to find out about sliding in it. I hope I'm not fooling myself about the level of protection that I'm wearing. Being in Texas, this is an all-season suit with the liner, so my heavy "cruiser-type" leather stuff may not come out of the closet.

I'm really happy with my Olympia Ultratour pants. they aren't mesh but the quality is quite good.

I've only owned JR gloves and frankly I'm not to happy with the quality. for the price I'm not going to complain. They are defiantly better then nothing!

I've picked up a few JR jackets and my former FirstGear MeshTex 2 just seemed sturdier then the JRs

as always this is just my $0.02

Excellent input! Thanks everyone. I think I will go with the Olympia pants and see how things go from there. The quality really is top-notch (reflected in the price of course, LOL!). Plus, cooler weather is coming so I'll get to test the lower-end temp range.

I forgot to say I would have a Olympia Airglide jacket right now if they made a Tall version. sleeves are just to short for my monkey arms

This is from a woman's perspective, but may be helpful to someone.
Tried three pairs of mesh pants: FirstGear, Olympia, JR Phoenix.

FG pants: did not fit me anywhere at all, the zipper broke second time wearing (I hear this complaint often with FG gear), low ratio of mesh to total coverage and bottoms of legs would not go over my boots; they had to be suffed inside. The armor was nothing special, and in fact subpar compared to the others. The zipper is poorly placed: on the back of the calf and only extends up to below the knee (what's with that??). I wore them three times and they are for sale cheap if anyone wants them. They may be fine for someone else, but not for me.

Olympia: Good quality, I find the inner lining inconvenient but nice idea. They weigh a lot which makes them a bit cumbersome when off the bike and bulky when on the bike. I give Olympia big Kudos for an alternative color to black: silver. I bought them primarily for that reason; they're cooler and nicely visible! But they didn't fit right either and they wanted to fall off all the time (I wear xsmall). This can be a problem for small women; their women's pants are basically men's relabeled for sizing to the smaller female body. They are not cut for women, unless you want to wear the suspenders all the time.

The armor is well placed and good. Good full length zippers on the sides of the legs. For rain protection, I opted to go for an outer shell; much more convenient to put on and off than the complicated liner system on these mesh pants. (it took way too long to take on-off)

JR Phoenix: Love them; I almost live in them (I ride every day). They were designed, cut, and made for female physique. The ratio of mesh to total coverage is high, so the air flow when moving is fantastic. They fit like a glove but loose enough for free movement. I hate bulk on my legs/rear when riding. For rain protection, I have a separate pair of lightweight water repellant slip-on pants. On and off in seconds.

Excellent design on the front closure, with zipper, snap tab and velcro extended tab, which is adjustable. The waist is partly elastic, a nice wide band that doesn't bunch up. The back sports a zippered elastic flap to attach to JR jackets. My jacket is a FirstGear (which I really like) and the zippers are incompatible, but the pants came with the zipper's mate. I plan to remove the zipper off the FG jacket and sew on the mate; then both jacket and pants can be attached.

The armor on the knees is semi-hard plastic, much harder than the other two, but not hard enough to be uncomfortable when on and off the bike. They have their own zippered pockets for adjustment or removal. Padding is well placed around the hips and sacrum, offering moderate to good protection. I've gone down in these pants; they did a good job of protection and padding.

Excellent full length zippers on the sides of the legs, with velcro tabs at the bottom. When I'm off the bike for an extended time and it's hot, I often unzip both legs all the way up and close the tabs at the bottom to keep them from flopping around. It offers additional air movement and cooling. These pants also air out and dry quickly. The FG took forever.
I wear bike shorts underneath them, but I have worn shorts and even a short skirt once (for work). Now I just keep clothes at work to change into.

Bottom line: The JR Phoenix mesh pants rock!