REVIT ZIP OVERPANTS
- REV'IT.eu
- Unisex Sizing: XXS-XXXL Standard, XS-XXXL Short, M-XXXL Long
- MSRP: $159.99
- My US Size: 4 / XS-Standard (as seen in pics)
- Color: Black
- Seamless Protection Pads at the hips
- Knox CE Armor at the knees
- Outer shell - 3D laminated fabric, polyester 600D
- Laminated reflection
- Waterproof Hydratex® G-liner
Overview
A lightweight, 99% water resistant, textile overpant, thoughtfully put together in unisex sizing. Upon first look, these look like many other overpants in the market. Another manly pant, made for men. But look a little closer and you'll see that these can actually fit a women better than men. If you're searching for an overpant that you can wear to and from work, school or wherever you need to go that fits almost as well as a regular pant, look no further. Some of us commute to and from work every day, and with that we need something we can easiy wear over our street clothes. And more importantly, as women, we want a pair of pants that are functional AND fit well to complement our shape, not exaggerate it. If there's one thing that REV'IT knows how to do, it's making gear that fits women like a glove.
These pants offer a velcro adjustment at the waist so you can cinch to fit. They also have 2 zippered, velcro'd pockets in the front to keep water out as well. In the knees you'll find Knox CE Rated armor, which I found to be just a little short in length. When I'm on my bike, I find the armor comes just below the knees, but not low enough and they tend to stick out in a forward direction. I intend to upgrade these to Forcefield TPro Insert Armor when I get a chance.
They also have a 6 inch YKK zipper, which you'll find on many other brands such as Olympia, REV'IT and Tourmaster. It's something that they do very differently from other high end brand such as Dainese and AlpineStars. Typically, manufacturers don't want you to zip another brand to their pants. I don't know if it's because REV'IT knows that once you wear one of their pieces, you can't help but another. Or, if they're a little more open minded than other brands? Either way, it makes it easier to wear these with a different brand if you need to.
One downside to these pants for me, is that the zippers only extend from the bottom of the leg to just above the knee, so I have to take my boots off to put them on and off. For me, the tradeoff is worth getting the great fit through the waist/hips that I've wanted for so long.
Something else that's happened to me as of late is that in my most recent wet and rainy ride, I noticed a small circle of water penetrate through to my jeans on top of the left thigh. I'm going to try and go for another ride in the rain to see if it actually leaked, or if I just spilled water on myself. Since rainy season is almost over, I don't know that I want to start an uprising over it.
Warm?
You'll notice on my reviews page that I had a pair of Olympia Pro Overpants as well. I actually gave those up and transitioned to these. Living in San Francisco, you may not know that our summers are cold and our winters are warm (mild, ~55-65F). Our 'cold' isn't really that cold. Not cold enough for the Pro's. I would highly recommend the Pro's if you live in the midwest or northwest where temperatures can drop into the 30s with wind chill. I also tend to wear my Zip pants almost everywhere I ride. Although I have a top box, sometimes it just doesn't make sense to change out of them. They're fairly light enough to wear inside a restaurant or while running errands. I also don't commute very far. Luckily I live 5 miles across town and really only need to stay warm and dry enough for that distance. If I start to do any heavy touring in colder weather where my Firefly's don't make sense, I'd probably go invest in something like the REV'IT Gear pants, or the Dainese Tushima GoreTEX Ladies pants, depending where I would be going.
Since these are a waterproof overpant, there is no ventilation. The material does breathe to a degree, but I wouldn't wear them in anything above 75 degrees. But, that is about 10 degrees more than I was able to wear the Pro's. With these I get a little more range, and with San Francisco Bay Area weather fairly mild year round, they make the perfect city pant. I have ridden with these on the freeway and some distance, but nothing more than 40-60 miles round trip. The coldest temperatures I've ridden in with these is probably ~55F with wind chill on the freeway, going about 75-80mph. They're definitely cooler than the Pro's at these speeds and I was able to feel the wind on the tops of my thigh.
I've been able to test these in the rain a few times, and am happy to report that I have not had any leakage/dampness/moisture anywhere around the pants. I'll ride in a light rain or sprinkle, but try to avoid any torrential downpours if at all possible. The rain was strong enough however, to soak through my Ignition liner though. (I've since had my liner replaced).
Fit
What I really love about these pants is the way they taper down my leg. I have a straight waist, barely have any hips and no butt. They're tapered just enough through the leg and the knees so that they fit nice and snug, like my favorite pair of jeans. What I've also found about these pants, especially in larger sizes is that they tend to fit full figured girls up to a size ~18, in the XXXL. Women fit in these pants even better than most men, simply because women tend to be curvier and can fill out the waist/butt/thighs better than the men can (for obvious reasons).
There are also stretch panels at the waist, on the left and right sides. I do find that I have to shimmy a little to get myself into them, since they taper a bit at the waist, but once I do, they fit perfectly. I can't get over how good they look and fit from the waist down. ;-).
These pants, as is the case with many of REVIT's pants, can be ordered in Short, Standard and Long lengths. Although I'm 5'3", I have a 29" inseam and I actually needed the standard length, not the short. Lucky me!
