Halvarssons Rinn leather pants in black

The Rinn is a leather touring pant made from an incredibly supple cowhide nappa. It is the lower half of a suit that for the top half has a jacket called the Racken. The suit, new for 2022, replaces Halvarssons’ longstanding Celtic suit.

The main feature of the pant is that it comes with a waterproof membrane. There aren’t many waterproof leather trousers, and the truth is that even though the Rinn has a waterproof membrane it will only be waterproof up to a point. The problem is that leather is hydrophilic. It will soak in the rain, and in anything but a relatively short downpour the Rinn will wet out. That is to say that the pants will become heavy as they become waterlogged. But there are some people who prefer to tour in leather; and for such people it has to be said that the Racken and Rinn combination has to be on the shopping list. Of course, in heavy rain the solution is simply to put on a Scott waterproof pant over the Rinn.

The Rinn also has a fixed Outlast liner that will serve to regulate the wearer’s temperature in both intemperately hot and cold conditions. In warmer weather, A TFL COOL treatment will serve to reduce the impact of the sun’s ultraviolet rays. You also get zips on the legs for venting when you start to over heat.

The Rinn is rated AAA under EN17092. It comes with the company’s new Level 2 armour in the hips and knees. Halvarssons’ old armour was pretty industrial, so the new stuff will make quite a difference to wearability

The other stuff is what you might expect. There’s concertina stretch above the knees and in the back. You get two zip pockets and long zips at the end of the legs to allow the trousers to be worn over pretty much any touring boot. There’s also a full-length connecting zip to allow the pants to be connected to the Racken, or indeed any Halvarssons or Rukka jacket.

We really like the Rinn pant. It is going to be an extremely comfortable trouser to ride in, and they are going to be more versatile than most leather riding pants. But we do have one issue with the Rinn pant, and we are disappointed because it has come up before with Halvarssons. The pant comes in one leg length only, and that pretty much rules out the 40% of riders who might want a short or long leg. In our view, this is a major weakness. In fact, the previous incarnation of the trouser came in only one length, but that pant had an unfinished hem that ran three or four inches beyond the zip, meaning that we could, to a degree, adjust the length of the leg. On the new pant, there is no extra, so we cannot do this.

Now some retailers may be willing to try and persuade customers that a trouser that is too short or too long is acceptable. But we won’t do that. A motorcycle trouser’s hem, on the bike, should sit on the ankle bone. And if it doesn’t, it’s simply wrong. To be clear, giants and those who are vertically challenged should not apply!