Alter ego or caliber pants?

[FrankoQ]

Need to get some riding pants and I have my eyes on these 2:
Joe Rocket Alter Ego (~$175) or Tour Master Caliber (~$125)

I like the ventilation on the alter ego.
I like the pad protection on the tour master. But, It seems the
caliber do not have much for ventilation and get hot fast.

I'm a spring/summer/fall rider and the bike goes to sleep in winter.
So, I don't want warm pants. I prefer good ventilation and some padding
here and there.

Comments about each?
Thanks

[34468 Randy]

Among others I have the Alter Ego for winter riding. They are real comfortable but are warm. However they have a zip out lining which probably makes a huge difference. The others are leathers, part of two piece suits.

[Action]

I have the caliber pants. They are very nice for cool to cold riding but they are way to hot to ride in when the temp goes over 60. I'm currently looking for a pair of summer riding pants, it would have been cheaper for me to suck it up and pay the 175 for the Alter Egos.

Action

[SilverSurfer800]

The experience I've had with Joe Rocket pants is that their padding is thin at best in the hip area. I would prefer more protection even at the expense of being a little hot. Plus Rocket's have cheap zippers on the pants. I've had 2 different pairs of Ballistic 5.0 pants and have had issues with both in less than a year of use. The first pair ripped in the crotch and both pocket zippers broke. I received a replacement but the "new" pair blew out all 3 zippers in less than 3 months (crotch and both pockets). I hope the Alter Ego pants are different but my experience has made me question purchasing more Rocket products.

I will say that the Alter Ego jacket is fine and I've had no significant issues in over 2 years.

[goinphaster]

I have a set of alter ego pants, and went riding in them yesterday. They were great for when the morning temp was colder, and when it started getting warm off came the zipper panel to expose the mesh. the thing I noticed is that with shorts and not moving my knees were sweating causing the ever uncomfortable sticky skin to nylon situation. I think that with a pair of under-armor heat gear pants that it would help out. over all though they are better than riding with just jeans- there may be thin armor but in my personal experience I could have walked away from my first crash with these pants on, vice jeans.

[FrankoQ]

Well, the pants came in today. The Caliber.
Now, I'm undecided about returning them.

They are too thick. I barely ride in winter.
With the liner, I was very hot just walking around in the house.
Off went the liner. Now they are ok.
But I'd probably wear them as pants not overpants.
Still, I'm not sure if I will fry under the sun with them on.

In terms of protection, they get an A+
Nice padding for the hips, back, shin, knees. the knee pads are adjustable.
The accordion pieces are very nice too.
Zippers and Velcro all over.
In terms of looks, they look awesome. nice design.
I really like them. still, I'm concerned about the heat factor.

So, I found until now that Tour Master makes mesh pants.
I think I'll get those instead. or not.
These seem to have too much mesh and less padding.
undecided... for now

To be continued...

[SLOav8r]

The Alter Ego's are VERY handy. Although, I'm a little pissed about the normal Joe Rocket zipper issues. One on my pants just f'd up the other day. Zero problems on my jacket (older generation alter ego), new pants are the suck.

I wore them on the trip to new york last summer and they did great. Even when it was 118 out.

I never used the inner pants liner for the rain storms, because it was so hot out. But back here on the central coast, I use the pant liner a lot for cold morning commutes.

The jacket, not used so much anymore. I have a warmer tourmaster since my commute time it's normally in the 50's-60's out.

And yah, I'm the red ranger.

[FrankoQ]

Well I got the ventura air mesh pants today
and I had them side by side with the Caliber pants.
I was sure I was going to go with the mesh pants... but...

In short, I returned the mesh pants.
I'm keeping the Caliber pants. even if they are hot.

There was way too much mesh on the ventura pants.
padding for the hips was not as good as the caliber.
No padding for your lower back (a nice feature on the Caliber pants).
No padding anywhere else.

Next there is an issue with sizes with Tour master pants.
I'm 34-32 for jeans.
The 34 to 36 Caliber pants (L) were tight on my beer belly.
If you are 35 or 36, you better go with the XL.
They were the right length.

I ordered the mesh pants 36 to 38 (XL) to see how they fit.
They fit nicely on my beer belly, but they were way too long.

The mesh pants without the liner felt too flimsy.

So, finally, I decided to keep the Caliber pants and maybe just buy
riding jeans for summer.

That's the end of that.

[34468 Randy]

Originally Posted by FrankoQ

The 34 to 36 Caliber pants (L) were tight on my beer belly.
If you are 35 or 36, you better go with the XL.

Drink less beer. Can't believe I said that

[FrankoQ]

Originally Posted by 34468 Randy

Drink less beer. Can't believe I said that

Let's try not to fool ourselves...
That's never going to happen.