RST X Kevlar Tech Pro jeans review | casual looks, peak protection

9

With a AAA abrasion rating and level two armour in the knees and hips, these RST Tech Pro motorcycle jeans might look casual, but they are a pretty serious bit of kit.

That’s the top level of protection you can get in a pair of trousers – you’d normally have to pick a pair made from leather to get a garment that achieves those ratings.

The extra material needed to make a pair of AAA jeans can sometimes make them inflexible to ride in, but these feature plenty of stretch panels and a promise to improve freedom of movement.

So it’s quite remarkable that these easy-going jeans can deliver an anything-but-relaxed level of protection, in a package that looks as good on the bike as down the pub.

Comfort

The higher the abrasion rating gets on denim, the stiffer the material often feels, and that’s true to an extend with these RST Tech Pro jeans.

They certainly don’t have as much give in them as the Oxford Super Stretch jeans I recently reviewed, but those are a single layer construction and only rated to AA, so that’s to be expected.

For what it’s worth these RST jeans certainly improve as they warm up, with a bit of stiffness to the fabric when you first put them on. Once you’ve moved around a bit and certainly long before you’ve got on the bike, they’re absolutely fine.

This is helped massively by accordion stretch panels – in the seat and also above each knee. This aids articulation but as a result they don’t look as stealthy as a pair of Bull-it Guardian Slim Covec Jeans.

You need a bit of give in the knee area as the level two protectors are reasonably bulky. They don’t particularly stand out, but you certainly know they’re there, and the stretch panel means I can bend my knee without it getting squashed by the pad.

Peculiar to RST jeans is an extra high waistband at the back. I really like this as I have a long body in proportion to my legs and often have to battle an uncomfortable draught up my back when I wear a short jacket. These jeans solve that problem for me really well.

As far as wearing them on a ride to the pub or to a bike night, they look casual enough when you’re off the bike that you don’t need to pack a second pair of trousers. That said, they wouldn’t be my go-to if I was riding to the office, because the stretch panels are a bit of a flag that they’re not normal jeans, and they don’t look as smart as a result.

Equally though, I’ve worn them behind my desk all day before and didn’t find myself overheating. They’re definitely warmer than normal jeans (and the aforementioned Oxford Super Stretch) but if your office is air conditioned you won’t have a problem. They’re also breathable enough on the bike with some air flowing over them.

And unlike those Oxford jeans, when the temperature drops a few degrees (like when you’re riding home after sunset) they offer a bit more chill protection (although no real waterproofing), so it’s kind of swings and roundabouts.

The denim outer feels nice and soft and the interior is lined with perforated polyester, that feels comfortable against the skin and does a good job wicking away sweat on hot days.

Fit-wise, I’ve always found RST a bit generous with its sizing – these are a pair of 34s and that’s a smaller waist than my casual jeans, but they fit fine. If I had a choice I’d go a size up rather than down though – there’s not a lot of stretch in the fabric and I’d rather just put a belt on to adjust the fit.

Practicality

That brings us neatly on to my next point. Having read that you can zip RST jackets and trousers together, and mix and match different garments, I kind of assumed these jeans would connect to my jacket out of the box.

My RST Pro Series leather jeans zip straight into my Sabre jacket, for example, but there’s no zip present on the waistband of these jeans. You have to purchase one of those belt loop connectors separately, thread a belt through it and then zip that into your jacket.

That’s not really the end of the world but I thought it was worth pointing out if, like me, you’re not a huge fan of wearing a belt on your bike. The buckle looks like it’ll scratch my tank, and regardless of that, the connector belt product is quite bulky and looks odd when you take your jacket off.

Anyway, that’s potentially a niche complaint, and for all other intents and purposes these jeans are very practical indeed. As mentioned earlier you can wear them comfortably on and off the bike without needing to get changed at the other end, and they enable a full range of motion on my bike.

You get five pockets, and the front ones are reasonably deep. I find this useful because I can shove all the stuff in them down nice and low and then not worry about it riding up and falling out when I’m moving around on the bike. On the flipside, it can also make it tricky to pick out small items (like my keys) when I’m wearing gloves.

They’re as easy as any other pair of jeans to get on and off – the armour inserts from the bottom of the knee pad pocket, so there’s nothing to catch your toe on when putting them on. This is good.

The hip armour is much lower profile than in my Oxford Super Stretch jeans, which is also good, because those make me look like I’ve had some sort of backside enhancement surgery, and I’ve had to swap them out for thinner items.

Looks

I won’t make the point about the accordion stretch panels again here but also subtly marking these out as riding jeans is a pair of labels around the belt line, one with Cordura and the other with Kevlar written on them.

The kneepads are smooth on the outside though so they’re not obvious when you bend your leg, although there is some extra stitching around the area where they’re housed that wouldn’t be present in normal jeans.

Anyway – enough with the comparison against non-riding jeans, in the black colourway (not black denim) a lot of these features are barely visible anyway. I think these look great on the bike and just as good off it.

Despite being a slim cut, the leg cuffs are easier to stretch over long boots than they are to tuck inside, but that would probably look a bit weird anyway.

Quality

They feel top notch and built to withstand the rigours of multiple seasons on a motorbike. Overall, the fabric hasn’t faded after my months of testing, but the is a spot on the inside of both knees which has started to go a bit grey.

I suspect this is where it interacts with the tank grip pads on my bike so if you don’t have these (or don’t ride a sports bike like mine that requires a tight grip on the tank) it likely won’t be a problem.

Protection 

Outside the jeans are made from heavy duty Cordura and reinforced inside with Kevlar. Although these are not single-layer jeans, those layers are all stitched together, so they feel for all intents and purposes the same.

The Kevlar is present in the key impact zones (hips, seat and knees) rather than being fully lined. The advantage of this is less overall bulk and better breathability and flexibility in areas less likely to need reinforcement. More comprehensively lined jeans are available if that’s what you’re looking for.

Level two armour is included and feels thick without being cumbersome. The knee pads can be moved up and down a couple of inches to tailor the fit, and once I got this dialled in, they sit in exactly the right place without shifting around. They also offer good length and wraparound coverage.

Overall these jeans inspire great confidence. The material feels reassuringly tough and the armour fits and sits in the right place.

Value 

A £189.99 ticket price means these are at the higher end of the spectrum for jeans in general, but actually pretty reasonable for AAA-rated denim.

There’s a bit of a cluster of options at the just-under-£200 mark, with Oxford’s Original Approved AAA Straight Fit Jeans slightly cheaper, then the RiDE Recommended Furygan K11 X Kevlar Straight Jeans and Bull-it Guardian Slim Covec Jeans at the same price, and slightly more, respectively.

Then of course there’s a raft of choice at £200+ from manufacturers like Held, Resurgence and Knox.

Verdict 

Keenly priced and well-specced, these AAA-rated and level two armoured jeans are a great all rounder if you’re looking for a bit of extra protection from your riding denim.

Accordion panels massively improve the flexibility of the tougher material on the bike, but consequently reduce how stealthy they look off of it.

If you’re after a casual look that works for meet ups and chip runs then they’re perfect. If you want something you can keep wearing in smarter settings (after commuting to work, for example) then they might look a bit too bikey.

Other than that I’ve got few complaints – they’re a no-brainer on more casual rides where I’m not wearing full leathers and are as good looking as they are easy to ride in.