Held Hydro rain pants in black

When Scott first told us in early 2024 that they were going to discontinue their Ergo Pro waterproof jackets and pants, we were a bit distraught. These were, after all, the best waterproofs the motorcycle world had ever seen. They were, of course, exceedingly waterproof. But it was the stretchy, yet robust nature of their outer fabric, in our view, that made them so popular.

You could buy the jacket and pant to fit snugly over, say, a mesh jacket and pair of jeans. Yet so much stretch did they contain that the same pairing would work equally well over a bulky, winter outfit. They were the most comfortable waterproofs ever, and by buying them a little on the snug side you could avoid all that noisy flapping that went with traditional waterproofs.

And I have to say that we couldn’t be happier. Here was one of the most technical brands in the market; and importantly a company with a Gore-Tex licence. And what that meant was that this was a company that understood the demands of making waterproof gear at the very highest level.

Of course, the first challenge was to find the same outer fabric that Scott had used; or something very similar. We didn’t want less stretch, something less strong or something less waterproof. Held eventually found a waterproof fabric that felt almost identical, but that delivered both a higher waterproofing score and a higher breathability score. 

In fact, in terms of waterproofing the new Held waterproofs score 22,500 mm on the hydrostatic head test. That’s an improvement of 25% over the Scotts in terms of waterproofing. The breathability score has gone up, on average, from 2,000 g/24hr/m2 to 2750 g/24hr/m2. And I say ‘on average’ because the black jackets and pants are marginally more breathable than the yellow versions. But that’s an average improvement of 37%.

We also agreed with Held that the zips should all be upgraded to YKK waterproof zips. Everybody accepts that YKK zips, although more expensive, are the best. They just don’t fail. They last longer. And their waterproof zips are totally watertight.

The Held pants come, as standard, with adjustable stirrups. We offered this as a chargeable upgrade on the Scotts, but for some people these stirrups can make a huge difference; especially if you ride in short, ankle boots.

The solution, obviously, is a stirrup that keeps the elasticated hem of the pant firmly locked in place on the boot’s shaft. And that’s what you get with the Held pants that you didn’t get with the Scotts. Adjustable stirrups.

We have kept the sizing the same as it was on the Scotts.

Now there was always a longer leg version in the pants. Many people went for these because they partially overcame the ‘ankle boot’ issue. But that didn’t always work. Anyway, we have also had Held also make a ‘long-legged’ version because taller folk will still need them.