2017: Coolest Mesh pants

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Hi,

I love to ride, and try to adhere to ATGATT, but when it is 90 degrees or more, I fry in my textile pants. I have a Joe Rocket mesh jacket, which helps. I have not found satisfactory selection at the dealerships I have visited, and am hesitant to order online because of getting the wrong size. It would be so nice to try different styles and brands of pants to check the fit.

Any suggestions?
 

ReSTored

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I have Olympia Airglide pants, Olympia mesh Moab jacket, mesh gloves and Alpinestars ventilated boots. In real hot weather I just wear briefs under the pants. No two ways about it, in brutal hot and humid weather you'll still fry.
 

Dale_I

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Hot is hot... Movement helps, but hot wind is just hot. I use FirstGear textile/mesh pants that have a zip in waterproof liner. The hotter it is the less I wear under it. Lately, I'm briefs only.
 

Mondo

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I highly recommend the mesh pants be grey/silver. Much cooler than black. I have the Olympia ones and love them.

Greg
 

dduelin

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I'm in a pair of Tourmaster Air mesh pants. I wear a pair of long pants underneath either jeans or absorbent lightweight microfiber one depending on the season. In Florida we have seasons just that they are all warm seasons, some warmer than others.
 

Dave.David

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Hi,

I love to ride, and try to adhere to ATGATT, but when it is 90 degrees or more, I fry in my textile pants. I have a Joe Rocket mesh jacket, which helps. I have not found satisfactory selection at the dealerships I have visited, and am hesitant to order online because of getting the wrong size. It would be so nice to try different styles and brands of pants to check the fit.

Any suggestions?
This might help. If you find a brand that you like and can try on note the size. Then you can go online using that size and find the style you like mailed to your doorstep rather than trying to find pants you like the looks of and fit also.
Maybe even note the size pants for each brand you try on. Then online you can find the best price and the style you like. I hope this helps a bit.
 

Stump

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When the trip is all gonna be hot I wear Tourmaster Air mesh jacket and pants with a microfiber base layer. Underarmor torkout long sleeve tops. If I'm on the road and its 110 or more I start dousing myself with water.

Normal multi-day touring I ride with my Olympia Ranger pants with my Micofiber base layer tights under... they are hot but OK enough to "suffer" through a days ride. I carry both my Olympia Ranger waterproof jacket and my Toumaster Mesh with me. The jacket i don't start the day with goes in a waterproof 20 liter bag on the top of my backseat bundle. Easy enough to change mid day if needed.
 
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dduelin

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I reread your original post and while I still get a lot of use out of mesh jackets and pants much of the year when it gets into the mid 90's I ditch the mesh and wear a 1 piece Aerostich - big caveat - as long as I'm not in stop and go low speed conditions. My solid textile pants do not vent at all and I generally do not wear them when temps get over the low 70s but as long as I can keep moving the Aerostich moves enough air through it to stay cooler and more hydrated than mesh. It's not intuitive but mid 90s F and up hot air passing across skin is hotter than being completely covered with adequate ventilation.
 

ST_Jim

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Why don't you get a pair of Joe Rocket Phoenix Ion Mesh Pants, to go with the Phoenix Ion Jacket? The pants have a zipper which will connect with the Jacket, so you don't worry as much about snagging them off during a getoff slide. Otherwise if you mix and match brands you may loose that.

I'm not terribly impressed by Joe Rocket stuff - it's looks OK, but... The primary reason I just got their jacket and pants was Joe Rocket had them in my size. Unfortunately in larger sizes the pants only come in black - otherwise I would have gone for silver.

I've yet to try them on the bike, so YMMV, etc.
 
OP
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Why don't you get a pair of Joe Rocket Phoenix Ion Mesh Pants, to go with the Phoenix Ion Jacket? The pants have a zipper which will connect with the Jacket, so you don't worry as much about snagging them off during a getoff slide. Otherwise if you mix and match brands you may loose that.

I'm not terribly impressed by Joe Rocket stuff - it's looks OK, but... The primary reason I just got their jacket and pants was Joe Rocket had them in my size. Unfortunately in larger sizes the pants only come in black - otherwise I would have gone for silver.



I've yet to try them on the bike, so YMMV, etc.

The Joe Rocket jacket doesn't compare quality wise with the Teknic or Alpine Star lines. I might just spring for an AirGlide jacket and pants. Are the other Olympia pants and jackets ok for hot weather riding?
 

ST_Jim

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The Joe Rocket jacket doesn't compare quality wise with the Teknic or Alpine Star lines. I might just spring for an AirGlide jacket and pants. Are the other Olympia pants and jackets ok for hot weather riding?


Yeah, I hear you. I was really looking at the Klim Induction mesh jacket, but couldn't find near the choice of mesh pants in my size.
 
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I have a pair of silver/grey Klim Mojave vented pants with LD comfort shorts. This has been the coolest riding set up for me.
 
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Another vote for Olympia AirGlide pants. Mine are getting a bit ragged at the piping, but still are in good shape overall. I wear a Brosh Kevlar reinforced summer weight jacket.
 

Outbackwack

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Olympia Moab, FirstGear Air H2O pants and cooling vest, dew rag soaked on head and around neck. I keep cold water in an insulated bottle in the top box and squirt head, chest and back at stops. In AZ I'll ride in 115° but not over 90° in New England if I can help it... the humidity sucks the life out of you.
 

the Ferret

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I've thought about mesh pants when its really hot, but the solid legs on my touring pants deflect a lot of the ST's heat off my shins. Do the mesh pants have mesh shins too or just upper legs?
 

Dale_I

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I've thought about mesh pants when its really hot, but the solid legs on my touring pants deflect a lot of the ST's heat off my shins. Do the mesh pants have mesh shins too or just upper legs?
It depends. Some do, some don't. I beleive the Airglide have solid panels on the bottom, but that is also part of the "hem up" area. So if you are vertically challenged and needed to shorten them a lot you would lose some coverage. My Firstgear HT have solid panels inside calf.

If you take a close up look at the pics on something like Revzilla you should be able to see if the pair of pants your looking at would include them. I would guess most of them do. But, then I would be the guy that ends up with the one pair that doesn't because I didn't check. :doh1:
 
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I have to assume you have visited local mc stores and tried on what they have. i found that local dealerships have a lousy selection of clothing and helmets - usually one line only and only a few samples in the most popular sizes (read not my size). So I made a trip to Iron Pony - a huge motorcycle accessories store in Columbus, Ohio. They had 4 separate brands with an extensive quantity of each size and different models within each brand. In fact the place was so huge and I was so new to this gear that I was overwhelmed. Next time you are on vacation, look online for this type of motorcycle store and visit it.
 

ibike2havefun

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I've got the Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh pants to go with my Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket. I thought it would be helpful to have that zipper connection that ST_Jim mentioned, but I have never ever actually used it. Had some issues figuring out how to get in and out of the gear when zipped together, though in truth I didn't try very hard to work out how it's done.

After the crotch zipper failed for the second time in the three seasons I've had them (maybe not entirely a design flaw; the pants may no longer be the right size) I switched brands to Sixth Gear.

As far as heat deflection / coolness goes, it's pretty much a wash between them. Both brands are quite tolerable (for me at least) in hot humid mid-Atlantic summers such as we both experience. Both brands have full-length zippers up the outsides, I assume for extra ventilation but certainly to make donning and doffing easier; I never ride with them unzipped (seems like it partially defeats the purpose-- if I open the zipper I've exposed skin to possible abrasion in a slide...).

I typically wear bicycle shorts or nylon convertible cargo pant shorts beneath the riding gear on hot days, and on really hot days a micro-mesh CoolMax tee shirt. (Tip: cotton shirts are about the worst possible choice in hot or cold conditions. They absorb moisture; in heat that moisture turns the shirt into a wearable sauna. In cold it turns it into an ice machine. Get some purpose-made outdoor upper wear, made with a moisture-wicking fabric, to dramatically increase your comfort.)

Heat management aside, I like the Sixth Gear better because I prefer its closure system and the removable liner (useful for cooler weather), but I like the pocket design on the Joe Rocket better and thought they were slightly easier to get on and off than the Sixth Gear. And, I'd be in agreement with other posts on this thread that Joe Rocket build quality is not as good as other brands-- but it's half or less the price, too.

Finally, as others have also noted: heat management and dissipation is a whole-body strategy and it starts with your head and neck. Anything and everything you can do to shed heat from those areas will make your entire corpus more comfortable. Not easy to cool your head while inside the helmet, I know, and I don't have a lot to suggest except a wicking do-rag. A wicking neck gaiter, kept wet, will not only cool your neck it keeps the sun off the back of it preventing skin damage and also heating.

Next work on cooling your torso. I've no experience with cooling vests so can't speak to their effectiveness. But wicking fabrics for your shirt will help. And if you get them wet, the evaporation does help a great deal though in high-humidity conditions you don't get so much of that.

Good luck, and stay cool!
 
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The Olympia Airglide pants fit true to waist size and have long legs so they won't ride up on your boots. The solid part at the bottom deflects the heat off the shins. They have belt loops so you can wear a belt. Undergarments I now use are LD Comfort. Soak them in warm water if you want a cooling effect that will last an hour or so. I have a hi-viz yellow Airglide jacket I'll part with if you are the right size (2X, fits like XL).
 

gmast1100

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I have the Olympia Moto X pants that zip to my Olympia Moto X jacket. This is the very same set up that saved my self when I was totaled out from behind 3 years ago, sliding 150 feet down the road surface. So I can say that not only are they comfortable, they protect you when needed. And the pants are gray with a large zip down front panel that allows plenty of ventilation.
 
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