Klim Fifty 1 Riding Jean Review

[ProteinNerd]

I listed in another thread asking about Kelvar riding jeans and a few people said they would be interested in a quick review when these arrived.

Cordura Denim Blend with Kevlar patches in the high risk zones and included 3DO armour on knees and hips along with a impact foam pad on the tail bone.

I thought they sounded good and they got a great review from Revzilla.com and were pretty much their pick for 2016 for best (non water proof riding jeans)

I'm pretty happy with them and will keep them, luckily I picked the right size so they fit fairly well, a little baggier through the legs than I expected. I did have to go for the smallest size available and was just lucky that the single inseam measurement fit as well. They don't offer a long in the size 30 but do in the larger sizes.

While they describe them as straight fit, to me they feel more like a relaxed fit but that might just be my skinny legs?

I like the colour, although I would have preferred less or no artificial fading in the thighs. It's pretty much the same as the GAP vintage wash colour.

The cordura denim feels just like normal denim or if anything a little smoother.

Knee armour is perfectly placed for me in the riding position and I don't even notice the hip armour.

I really like that there are no ugly visible seams where the Kelvar is stitched into the denim. They do this by attaching the Kevlar to the inner lining mesh. Not sure how this compares in durability to having it seem directly onto the denim though. I will say there is slightly less Kelvar covered areas than my previous pair of Hornee jeans, however they didn't have any armour nor were they cordura woven, so my feeling is, these are more protective.

All in all they are just what I was after, a pair of protective jeans with Kevlar and armour that look like a normal pair of jeans.

 

[ton312]

How's the heat retention in those? I like that they look like regular jeans...pricey?

 

[ProteinNerd]

Price was US$289 so not cheap but considering the d30 armour knee pads alone sell for around US$50 and are included along with the hip armour for the price....its not too bad.
As for heat retention, I can't say yet. Australia is going through a heat wave so anything more than shorts feels damn hot and I haven't had a chance to wear them on the bike yet. I'll update after this weekend when I get a chance to try them out.

 

[ton312]

I've promised myself that this summer I'm getting back to my bike and abandoning my family in the wee hours of the morning to cruise down LSD with my knees in the breeze a bit. With age tho I've become proportionately more paranoid about a flop and was considering Vansons offering for riding jeans...Definately let me know how hot they are and I agree with the level of protection they offer they seem to be a good deal.

 

[GregO]

PN - thanks for the review. They sound promising. Is the Kevlar where the green panels are in your pics? If so, that's probably how they kept the price down -- not fully lined in Kevlar. The upside is that if they aren't fully lined, they'll be cooler on the bike.

 

[ProteinNerd]

Yes the green (it's actually yellow in natural light) is the Kelvar.
As I mentioned, there is a little less coverage of Kelvar than my existing pair.

However they use just standard denim and not cordura woven denim which they say significantly increases the abrasion resistance. Plus there is no armour.

I did try on a pair of full Kelvar lined jeans a while ago but they were just way too hot for the climate here.

 

[felix03]

Thanks for the review ProteinNerd. I've been interested in riding jeans for a long time now. I have a pair of Draggin jeans and a pair of Ducati Technical jeans, but neither of them really did it for me. The Draggin jeans just fit very odd, and the Ducati jeans had those ugly seams you were talking about. I've resorted to wearing normal 21oz jeans for local rides and leather pants for long rides.