Everyday motorcycle pants.

It can be really difficult to find every day riding pants with abrasion resistance, armor and a great fit. There are only a couple out there. But I finally found some! 

Crossover Mesh Riding Pants, $179.95

If you aren't familiar with RS Taichi, they're a premium motorcycle apparel brand in Japan. The quality is excellent, and their gear ranks right up there Dainese, REV'IT and Alpinestars. 

As far as offerings for women, they offer textile jackets, pants, gloves and even a 1 piece leather race suit. I just wish they'd offer 2 piece street leathers. We carry a few of their products at Scuderia West, sadly not these pants yet. But hopefully that'll change :)

I bought these to wear around town; mainly for going out and about. I don't mind wearing my other pants over jeans to get to work, but I wanted something super light and snug in terms of fit. Something that fits like jeans. And these definitely do. I wore them to work today and they felt really good. And they have hip and knee armor!  The only downside so far is that they have a low/mid rise. Not good if you have a soft middle like I do. If I gain any more weight I won't be wearing these for very long so at least they'll keep me from eating too many donuts. 

It was really humid today (totally weird for SF) and the mesh felt nice. I'm looking forward to wearing them around town. The only downside so far is that they don't have a side zipper, so they take a little extra effort to get them over my boot (definitely have to take boots off to put them on/off). However, it's a bonus when you're looking for a really lean, fitted pant that isn't bulky, has armor where you need it and some breathability. I'm wearing a size W-XS. Overall, Taichi is great for a petite, smaller fit. You'll have to use Taichi Moto's size charts to determine what the right women's size is and you may want to contact them to be sure. 

Overall, I LOVE them and plan to swap out the knee armor with d3O or TPro. 

(ignore how terrible I look, but look at those pants!)

New Rider Tip

Taking the MSF Class? Just getting started? 

Here's a really great quote from an email that I received from a student last week who picked up a full riding outfit from me at Scuderia.

"Having real, protective gear during the class gave me a lot more confidence, and I don't know if I would have leaned that motorcycle over nearly as far if I hadn't had it."

I think it's telling how important wearing gear is. You don't have to all the way with street leathers like this person did, but gearing up with more than jeans and sneakers really makes a difference! 

Sadface. Another one bites the dust.

I am sad. Very sad. It's difficult finding top of the line women's motorcycle gear. Especially finding GORE-TEX motorcycle gear for women.

REV'IT released the Legacy GTX suit in the Fall of 2011. Just 2 seasons ago. I guess they didn't sell enough suits to keep offering this line. Which is really unfortunate. Given the price point, I guess I can't say I'm totally surprised. 

But its really difficult to say exactly why women weren't buying this suit. I've recommended it to quite a few people and I know of 3-5 offhand that purchased it because I recommended it. 

Both piece retailed for a little under $1100 total. Do you know any women who would spend that much on the best motorcycle suit? With the best abrasion resistance, great fitment and the main feature of an integrated GORE-TEX membrane?

Sadly I think most women wouldn't. What women do you know that spend more than $100 on themselves for anything these days? I dont know the answer to that. And I might just be thinking outloud. But I'm getting tired of hearing the same argument, that the women's gear isn't as good as the men's. Well, it WAS. Up until this suit went away. That's what sucks the most. I know that the products are out there and available for women. No, it's not the same number of options yet, for every 1 women's jacket there at least 10 others for men from various manufacturers.

But this is what I've been saying all along to everyone who tries to argue the case that there aren't enough options for women. There ARE. If I opened a store with Every line of women's gear in the shop, I'd probably need a few thousand square feet of floor space, if not more. 

The real problem is that most shops only carry a fraction of what's available. How are women supposed to shop and buy more gear if 'more' isn't there to choose from? And that's the vicious cycle. Yes, the options are all online. But it's nearly impossible, and downright difficult to shop for gear online. Some sites have made a conscious effort to sell women's gear as best as they can, and that's great but not enough. So that brings me to another issue. If there's all these options online and most women are shopping that way, then why didn't this particular suit sell? 

At this point, it has to be price point. But the problem is that you have to really see a suit like this in person to make it worth it. Seeing is believing and especially with more expensive motorcycle suits. It all looks the same online. Until you walk into a store, try it all on and see/feel/touch it for yourself. It works for me more often than not, and that's why I'm able to help so many women who come to Scuderia. You'd never think of jumping online and spending $1,000 until you put that suit on and feel the difference. Doesn't work for me every time, but it definitely does more often than not. 

That's the key to selling more women's gear, more shops must carry more options. But more importantly, shops have to CARE about carrying more options. And they have to be invested in apparel specialists, training, informing and educating their female customers. 

But it's a two way street. If you have all these options in front of you, you must be willing to SPEND more than $100 on your body! Come on, be honest for a minute. When's the last time you spent $500 on One piece of gear? I don't think enough women are willing to spend the $$ on themselves, either. Spending $500 on a new pair of shoes and an iPhone? NO problem. $500 on a helmet or a jacket to fully protect your body? Oh Hell NO. Way too expensive. WTF kind of logic is that? 

/endrant

Gaerne Black Rose Motorcycle Boots

Finally, I've posted my review of these fantastic waterproof boots! 

http://gearchic.com/reviews/boots/gaerne-black-rose/