The Rynox Downtown Pro Motorcycle Jeans can double up as an everyday pair of jeans thanks to subtle styling, while offering promising abrasion resistance.
Story: Sayantan De
Riding pants are a bit visually loud, so for people like me who like to fly under the radar as much as possible, riding denims are the perfect compromise. To that effect Rynox have launched the Downtown Pro Riding Denims. They come in two different versions—with Rheon protectors or with D3O Ghost Protectors. We got our hands on the one equipped with Rheon protectors.
I was able to use it as a normal pair of jeans by taking the protectors out and shoving them into my backpack, and I am talking about a whole day’s worth of air travel (while the knee protectors can be taken out without removing the jeans, the hip ones require removal of the jeans from your person entirely). Comfort is a priority when trussed into the cramped seats of an airliner, and on that front the jeans were absolutely as relaxed as an everyday pair of denim, despite being made of an abrasion-resistant Cordura-reinforced fabric.
I rode wearing these jeans in the peak summer heat (approaching nearly 44° Celsius) and despite the scorching sun, there was enough airflow to keep the legs comfortable. This was not on a big bike, so the heat factor will increase slightly on a larger-capacity motorcycle, but hardly to uncomfortable levels.
These jeans were also part of my kit during a ride in Ladakh, where the only thermals I had on were base layers, and it was able to insulate me from the brutal cold and the cutting windchill effectively. It even got wet a few times, and was ridden through a mild snowfall, but the jeans came through swimmingly, and I did not think for once that I would have been better off with riding pants.
They do get dirty easier than riding pants, but that was only evident after a ride through the Himalayas, so for everyday riding and touring through the rest of the country, I can’t think of a better pair of riding pants that can also double up as regular pair of jeans for a trip to the shopping mall.
The best thing? The one equipped with Rheon protectors costs less than the average pair of riding pants by a significant margin at Rs 6,950; the ones equipped with the state-of-the-art D3O Ghost protectors cost Rs 9,750, though, so that’s a sizable increase in cost. This makes them great value-for-money, the one equipped with Rheon protectors. While the jeans cost a bit more than the competition, with the Cramster Velocity jeans costing Rs 4,750 and the Viaterra Austin coming in at Rs 5,999, both of then come with regular CE Level 2 armour (XY for Cramster and SasTec for Viaterra), and they don’t match the comfort of the Rheon armour on the Rynox Downtown Pro.
Rating: 4/5
Also read: Raida AqDry Waterproof Gloves Review
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