First Gear Mesh Tex pants

[DavidAnthony]

How much of the pants are actually mesh?

 

Thinking about buying a pair, but also interested in the

BMW Airflow pants.

 

Anybody have both?

 

All opinions welcome!

[flyingreg]

I have been wearing the MesTex pants for two seasons. They are a good pair of mesh riding pants for the miniscule price they ask, about $179. There are large mesh panels located in the thighs, lower legs, front of waist, and back of legs the entire length of the legs, roughly 60% of pants are mesh.

 

Pros - Very well made, comfortable, perform very well in the hot weather. They come with a zip-out rain liner that is very compact, fitting into a ziplock baggie. I can fit the jacket liner and the pant liner into my radio/glove box on the RT and still have room for gloves and other items.

 

Cons - Knee armor is a bit chincy. However, you can upgrade armor from First Gear for about $30 or find good CE armor from other sources for $20-30.

 

I do not have any BMW gear. The Airflow 2 pants are worn by a riding buddy of mine and he tends to complain about the lack of cooling air. Yes, the BMW have heavier fabric, but this is a trade-off for comfort. I will trade a small amount of safety for the ability to ride in some comfort in the heat. This, of course, is a personal preference, and should be taken as such.

 

Hope this helps.

[sideways]

I agree that the FG meshtex pants are cool enough for just about any weather. Bought mine from newenough.com. Mine didn't come with any sort of removable liner, though. Also, the armor that comes stock in them is a joke, IMHO. Also, the zipper in mine went south after about twenty hours of wear. Stark raving PITA.

BMW's new "Venting Machine" pants might be worth looking into, or the Cortech "Air something or other". Have no personal experience with either, and both are more expensive, but in this case at least, you might get what you pay for.

[MGN54]

My dealer in Texas has some Olympia brand mesh pants with a liner that are very nice. Unfortunately, I was in between sizes and couldn't make them work for me.

 

Might want to give them a look. After losing a little weight, I may go give them another try!

 

Mark

[bmw_rider]

I just got a pair of the FG. They are very well vented. Fit is true to size, not overpants. Now that I have seen the 'armor' I have ordered their upgraded CE armor at $10.00 per pad (hips, knees). Got the pants through powersports4less.com as having the best pricing. And the upgraded amror thorugh newenough.com

[Murf]

I just got a pair and took them out on a 600 mile run up and back to BOB's BMW in Maryland. The temp was about 93-95. They worked great I had all the various traffic conditions from 90mph to being in the Northern VA parking lot that is called I-95. IF they made them in a lighter color to help reflect some of the heat they would be awesome. They do about as best as can be done with all the RT's protection. As stated above the armour is a bit weak, and hip pads do not come with them but they have the pockets for them. I bought a size 40-short. I usually wear a 38 but went with the bigger size so they wouldn't bind. They don't...they are actually a tad too big..I wish I had gotten the 38 regulars.

[rdsmith3]

I believe that First Gear makes mesh-tex pants and also over-pants. I have both. The pants fit true to size; the over pants are, well, over your pants. These are great with shorts. The over pants with shorts on are comfortable in the hot weather.

 

The over pants have a liner; the regular mesh-tex pants do not.

 

I would say that the overpants with a liner are a three season garment. They adapt to a wide range of conditions.