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Icon makes a variety. Joe Rocket, Shift, Alpinstar, Draggin Jeans, Diamond Gusset are other brands that are available. A lot of models have two downsides in my book: no consideration of knee armor, and no kevlar other than on the knees.
I have two sets of draggin jeans - the kevlar wraps all the way around the leg from mid-shin to mid-thigh, and the seat of the pants is also covered. Draggin sells Knox knee armor that velcros in, which I like. Other brands may be as good or better, I just haven't tried them (I'm also too tall for any that don't have inseam options, which is most)
I've had something of a sordid history of Motorcycling - riding three years, down three times now. All three were lowsides @~30mph (but very different circumstances) where I ended up sliding for at lest 10 ft. On one I slid 34 ft. Descriptions of each are below if anyone's interested.
The upshot it, from my experience, I think knee pads that fit well are just as important as abrasion protection. The problem with most overpants is that they're baggy to make it possible to wear regular pants under them. In my opinion that looseness compromises the armor. These days I have Moto knee pads that strap on for when I wear overpants.
If you're talking about going down at 80mph, you're gonna get messed up no matter what you're wearing. It's the lower speed accidents that the damage can be reduced for. You have to manage your own risk. So, say you have a get off and hit your knee (which is what always happened to me). Three cases:
1.) If you're wearing jeans, you're gonna get hurt from the impact. If you are going faster than ~10mph, you're going to get significant road rash.
2.) If you're wearing kevlar jeans you're gonna get hurt from the impact unless you're wearing armor too. You'll probably get rashed if you're going over (guessing) 30mph.
3.) If you're wearing overpants it's very unlikely you'll get rashed at anything less than highway speeds. IMO, most people using the built in armor are actually at a higher risk of impact injuries than someone wearing kevlar jeans (at least draggin jeans - my draggin jeans hold the armor far better than anything else in my closet).
So - you decide wear you're comfortable. Personally I never go out without at least Draggin jeans and knee armor. When I'm commuting or going out specifically to ride, I wear my textile pants with the moto armor.
My history:
First crash, I was wearing overpants with CE knee pads in them. The pads rolled off my knee after the initial impact, and I was off my feet for a couple of weeks from a bone bruise on my kneecap. No abrasions at all
Second crash, I was wearing Draggin Jeans with the Knox CE knee pads they sell. I hit the ground hard with my knee. No injuries, no abrasions.
Third crash, I was wearing Dickies work jeans (heavy duty, double layer knees). That one hurt. The jeans were thrashed, I had significant road rash and life generally sucked for about a month after. Road rash really sucks, because you can never ignore it - you're constantly having to deal with changing out bandages, worrying about bleeding through to your pants, cracking scabs, etc. I was heading over to a buddies house to do an oil change on our bikes and didn't want to get my riding gear greasy. It seemed like a good idea at the time... :razz:
[ This message was edited by: rustbucket on 2007-04-06 13:00 ]
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