Richa Jogging WP trousers in black

Now these Richa Jogging pants are a bit different, and a bit of fun.

 

They are perhaps the last word in casual, waterproof, protective trousers.

 

They fit quite loosely although, to an extent, that is going to depend on the size of your thighs and calves, so they may not be loose on everybody. They are designed to be worn on their own, but the fact that they are quite wide in the leg suggests that they might work for those who commute into work or college, and who want to wear a protective motorcycle pant over their regular trousers or jeans. Again that won't necessarily work for everybody, but we can see that it will work for some people.

 

The pants are super-stretchy and as a result are insanely comfortable. The outer material itself is stretchy, but you then get inserts of even stretchier fabric. As we've said these pants are comfortable.

 

In some ways they're quite like the Richa Stripper pants. With their full-length zips the Strippers are perhaps more convenient for those who do want to wear a protective pant over work clothing, but the Joggers are more stylish. And, of course, you wouldn't wear the Strippers on their own in the way that you might do these Joggers.

 

Yet despite how easily they wear, the pants are rated AA under EN17092, so they are not too shabby on the abrasion-resistance front. The armour is D3O level 1, but somewhat unusually for us we are glad that the armour is the older generation shaped stuff rather than Ghost. The problem with Ghost armour in a pair of pants like these, we feel, is that it would potentially move about too much, and therefore not be in the right position when you needed to take advantage of it. You could upgrade the joggers to Level 2 Diablo, but given the pant's price point that doesn't necessarily make sense.

 

The trousers are waterproof, but here we need to again counsel caution, because not all waterproof products are born equal.

 

The second issue is that the waterproofing score of the membrane in these pants is not the highest. We're talking 10,000 mm on the hydrostatic head, and what that means is that you will probably stay dry for an hour or two, but after that the membrane might well start to be overcome.

 

What we are saying is that you need to understand what these jogging pants are, and what the limits are of their capabilities. These are not laminated pants. And the membrane is not a Gore-Tex one. These are inexpensive, entry-level riding trousers; and for some people they will be perfect. But if you wear them outside their comfort zone then, on the waterproofing front at least, you are likely to be disappointed.

 

I have used this phrase elsewhere, but you need to bear in mind that these pants are what they are; they are not necessarily what you want them to be!

 

In terms of the detail, you get two zipped pockets on the front, and one in the seat. There's a elastic banding in the waist. You also get belt loops and a drawstring.

 

The bottoms of the legs are gathered just like a regular jogging pant, but unlike a regular jogging pant you get zips to enable them to go over a motorcycle boot. In truth, I imagine most people will wear them with trainers, but they would probably easily accommodate a taller boot. The only limiting factor here might be the length of the zips.

 

As ever, we always like to manage expectations. We hate the idea that somebody might accuse us of over selling. We are in no way wanting to be dismissive of these pants. If we didn't like them we wouldn't offer them, but if you are going to buy a pair you need to understand what they are.

 

They are perfect for a short commute. They are probably great for youngsters starting out on their biking journey, and who want something reasonably protective, reasonably waterproof and reasonably priced.

 

Will they work over a pair of regular pants? Well maybe; you'll have to try a pair on to see if they work for you.

 

But for what they are, we think they're quite brilliant.