Gear Review: DRIRIDER Rapid Jeans

As an everyday rider I’ll admit I’m normally rocking my motorcycle jeans both on and off the bike, so they need to be comfortable, safe and tough enough for daily use. The latest type I’m trying are the DRIRIDER Rapid Jeans.

First the technical stuff, these are made of heavy duty stretch denim and feature safety stitching for good protection and durability. Pockets are normal jean styled, while DRIRIDER call the jean styling itself a ‘Sports Comfort’ style and fit.

The jeans are gathering here above my boots and you can just see the armour under my knees, mainly because I’ve just jumped off a bike.

On the protection side of things, there is DuPont Kevlar fibrebased fabric in the major crash zones, while D30 CE T5 EVO X armour is included in the hips and knees, but is removeable.

There’s also accordion stretch panels in the knees and waist helping comfort and movement during riding, while the jeans are semi boot-cut, and will fit over most motorcycle boots relatively easily.

Very easy removal with an upper Velcro holding the armour in place. If you ride to work, once you get to your desk you can just pull them out. This also makes for easy washing, although the armour isn’t absorbent so should be fine going through the machine.

The Rapid jeans have a few other great features, like the fact the knee armour is removable without taking off the jeans – from the top of the accordion stretch panels, and held in place by Velcro – as well as the leg length which is on the longer side. The extra leg length means when you’re on the bike the jeans don’t bunch up and end up pulled up past your boots, or up past your ankles if you’re wearing normal shaped shoes.

The armour in both the knees and hips for me was unnoticeable while wearing the jeans, although the easy exterior access to remove the knee armour does mean that you can removed the pieces once you’re off the bike. This’ll likely come in handy during summer when heavy jeans can be uncomfortable.

The armour is also well designed as it’s not constricting while on the bike, even on a fully faired sportsbike, like I commonly ride.

Having used a lot of DriRider gear in the past I’m always happy with their offerings, and the value is great.

The hip armour does need to be removed from the inside, but is a relatively easy job thanks to being held in two mesh pockets, with Velcro to hold them in place.

A simple lightweight button and high quality zip ensure the jeans will also hold up in the long term and not need repairs.

Overall I’m really impressed with the DriRider Rapid Jeans, I’ve got a set in Brown and Blue and leave the armour at home when I’m not riding. They are stylish enough that they’ve replaced my regular jeans and they are great on the bike.

You can really see that DRIRIDER have taken a real rider’s experience in creating these jeans and it’s what makes them such a great product.

The DRIRIDER Rapid Jean is available in both men’s and women’s sizes for $239.95 RRP. Men’s sizes are 28-42, women’s sizes are 8-18. The DRIRIDER Rapid Jean join DRIRIDER’s Classic 2.0 Jean in their line-up.

For more information on the DRIRIDER range check out DriRider.com.au or McLeodAccessories.com.au.