Icon Recon, Draggin Jeans, or JR Steel?? Need help!

hgate73 · 02-15-2009, 4:18 PM

~~The ultimate pants thread!~~ A pants thread! I've saved up a little cash to get some pants for riding, nothing leather, mostly just for casual trips around town, and I saw some Icon Recon pants and thought they looked pretty sweet. Now I know they don't protect as well as leather, but that's fine because I wear other stuff for long rides, and I'm not asking about leathers - but around town I just want some "slightly-better-than-Levi's" jeans. Does anyone have any of these products, and do you like them?

Caveat: I live in Phoenix Arizona, and it gets hot during the summer - I mean painfully so. Usually around 117+ for three months. So I'm heavily leaning towards the Icons because they are ventilated. I try to avoid riding in shorts if I can, but I can't stand being in regular jeans sitting at a stoplight with the engine heat roasting my legs when it's already 120 degrees outside. Gotta have ventilation!!

ldavis · 02-15-2009, 5:47 PM

i chose the icon for no other reason than i like their brand, and am willing to support them. i'm interested in getting some just haven't gotten around to it yet.. but i would suggest trying them on, or choosing the one's you like the look of best.. all are going to be slightly better then "levi's" but none as good as full leather..

hgate73 · 02-15-2009, 6:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ldavis

i chose the icon for no other reason than i like their brand, and am willing to support them. i'm interested in getting some just haven't gotten around to it yet.. but i would suggest trying them on, or choosing the one's you like the look of best.. all are going to be slightly better then "levi's" but none as good as full leather..

I got kind of tired of walking around in leathers and getting weird looks at coffee shops and school, plus it gets pretty toasty here. Have you been happy w/ icon gear?

vertical954rr · 02-15-2009, 7:53 PM

ive owned a few different types of textile style pants like the JR Alter Ego, Cortech HRX, JR Ballistic and JR Razor and now I wear Draggin Jeans carpenter style with forcefield T-Pro pants underneath. Its a little hotter than just the textiles but worth the extra protection.. i think the best textile pants would be the cycleport/motoport kevlar or cordura pants found here like ultra II Kevlar or ultra II cordura pants:

Kevlar Products

Cordura Products

ultra ii kevlar pant

ultra ii cordura pant

hgate73 · 02-16-2009, 12:10 PM

I bought the Icon Hooligan's yesterday, after googling around they seemed like a decent pair of casual riding pants. This is what they look like here.

fibreguy · 02-16-2009, 3:24 PM

You can make your own reinforced riding pants by sewing in a few layers of woven Kevlar fabric at a much lower cost than buying them with the Kevlar in them. Check out our prices on woven Kevlar at link removed, we have had quite a few customers who have done this rather then buying the Kevlar reinforced riding pants. I hope this is helpful.

ldavis · 02-16-2009, 4:26 PM

yeah, i like all my icon stuff.. two pairs of gloves and a couple jackets.. prolly end up getting the jeans soon..

hgate73 · 02-16-2009, 5:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fibreguy

You can make your own reinforced riding pants by sewing in a few layers of woven Kevlar fabric at a much lower cost than buying them with the Kevlar in them. Check out our prices on woven Kevlar at link removed, we have had quite a few customers who have done this rather then buying the Kevlar reinforced riding pants. I hope this is helpful.

How difficult is this to do? I'm not much of a seamster (is that a word?)

I'll post a review/synopsis when they get here. Should be in a couple days.

tat2dude · 02-17-2009, 3:43 AM

I wear draggin's for around town/suburb riding.Never put them to the crash test but they are comfortable and not too hot.Of course,i may be slightly biased since they are an aussie company.

Balaormiga · 02-19-2009, 9:13 PM

Have you looked at the Cortech DSX jeans. I believe they offer better protection than the ICON jeans.

hgate73 · 02-20-2009, 1:01 PM

Someone else recommended those, but they didn't seem to get very good reviews when I googled them. Do you have a pair?

Balaormiga · 02-20-2009, 9:31 PM

No but I've been reviewing jeans like yourself. I believe it was Sport Rider or Street Bike magazine that made a comment to the effect they were heavier and better constructed than the Icon jeans.

I've been thinking of just buying the armored shorts etc. you wear underneath your regular jeans.

hgate73 · 02-22-2009, 10:37 AM

I just got back from a big memorial ride we did here in Phoenix yesterday, and a guy there had the Icon Recon's on - he seemed to like them pretty well. He said they weren't as good as leathers but that he liked them alright. I liked how they looked - not quite as baggy as I imagined.

HondaGalToo · 02-22-2009, 10:52 AM

I'm not familiar with those products...I'm a leather kind of girl, but if you can get some with knee armor and hip pads, that would be the way to go.

BAMABLADE · 02-23-2009, 12:14 AM

i wear shift recons over my jeans in the cold and i wear thor static in the warmer stuff . I raced Quads [TRX450R] for awhile and had many spills with my thors and they held up great granted I wasn't on pavement , but you usaully go down in a corner at least most of my buddies do so you end up in the dirt anyway i don't think denim holds up as well as Cordura nylon they also convert to shorts they're below the knee.

fibreguy · 02-24-2009, 4:58 PM

Pretty easy to do actually, but being able to use a sewing machine is definately a plus! Fibre Glast!

hgate73 · 02-25-2009, 1:46 AM

I posted my review and thoughts of the pants here:
Icon Hooligan pants review