Well, that was a hell of a summer! I think I wore a pair of leather trousers once, and that was because I hoped I was going flat tracking. For the rest I was wearing Kevlar/Aramid lined trousers, the style and colour of the bike frequently determining which, but increasingly the ride had a lot to do with it.
How so?
Because while jeans are fantastic, versatile and stylish, I put in a hell of a lot of miles this summer and I needed something that was more functional. And cargo pants are ultra-functional … as are combat pants and tactical pants, because they’re basically the same thing.
It’s not just that the classic 5-pocket jeans design has only got five pockets – usually four useful ones, with some notable exceptions – but that they are all on the hips. Great for standing up, but on a bike you’re sitting on two of them and the other two are inaccessible because of the way you’re sitting.
Wouldn’t it be good if you had a couple on the thighs?
And while you’re at it, put a popper closure on flaps that keep them closed … and just to be absolutely safe, a zipper, too.
That, right there, makes cargo pants the perfect match for motorcycles – or at least these John Doe cargo pants, because that’s what they’ve got.
In fact they’ve got two poppers per flap, and if you’ve see what happens on a flap of that width with a single fastening when it has a 70mph wind working on them for hours at a time, you’ll understand why. If you haven’t, it’s about tailoring and elegance: even after a day in the saddle at speed, these flaps fit close to your legs with nary a hint of scruffiness about them.
The back pockets only get one popper each, but then you’ll spend your riding life ironing them flat with you backside, so that’s plenty.
No less usefully, Cargo pants typically tie at the bottom of the leg, which is great for forward controls – especially in wet weather – as they don’t ride up. And you can loosen them if you do want a breeze, in which case the classic loose fit of cargo pants works well.
Add Kevlar – and John Doe do use the branded stuff, in this case as a full liner down to mid-calf, separated from your skin by an inner mesh lining – and all you need then is to slot CE-approved armour into the pockets on the knees and hips: unusually, it’s not supplied.
Interestingly, that full lining is a much closer fit to your leg than the outer shell itself, giving you the sensation of wearing stretch jeans and offering a modest convection effect between the two layers.
But it doesn’t stop there, because John Doe have used a breathable, water-repellent textile for the trouser – and it appears to be Scotchguarded too! There’s no mention of it, but it behaves like it is.
I literally rode to Wheels&Waves and back in these, and the worst they looked was arriving in Biarritz on a balmy summer night covered in dead insects from riding through the evening – which fell off before I got chance to brush them off – and an hour into the journey home, on saturated roads and riding through grey clouds. And on that second occasion, I was astounded to note that while the front of the trousers looked soaked – nothing shows the water like pale colours – and my legs felt slightly damp, the dark damp material was only on the font and hadn’t tracked round the side or even leached through the material. And when they had dried out, about half an hour later, they looked as clean as they day I’d put them on.
I even spilled strong French black coffee on them and while there was a slight discoloration for a time – if you’re going to throw coffee on anything, Camel is perhaps one of the safest colours to receive it – I tossed them into the washing machine after a cursory glance at the washing label, and they came out clean without any special treatment.
And there was me thinking that I shouldn’t wear light colours. I certainly know that I can’t be trusted in Chinos.
As with all armoured trousers, I have drawn the line at crash-testing them, but in terms of their functional practicality, I can’t fault them. Apparently, I will need to iron them every few washes to recharge their water repellency, but that’s a small price to pay.
They even come with a colour-matched webbing belt with a double-D buckle!
Comments 2
Nice review , thank you. What about fitment?
Author
The ones I’m wearing are the right size and fit as per my regular measurements. The outer shell is looser than the lining, which fits tighter to the legs but is a comfort lining, so not an issue. Leg lengths are generous: I usually consider myself to have a long leg, but the 32-inch has proved to be plenty. Longer would be looser round the ankle – more like fatigues, I’d guess – but I’m fastening the cords at the bottom of the leg to stop them riding up with forward controls, and they’ve been fine.
Given my time again, I would be inclined to go baggier at the waist and leg – merely as a personal preference – but these have been great over thousands of miles so far.