Spidi J & Racing Jeans Review | Comfort & Safety

Marty rates new Spidi jeans

By Marty Thompson

I recently lashed out on some new gear as an alternative to always wearing my leathers. Of course, leathers are awesome… racers don’t wear them for no reason. However, sometimes when going for a ride, be it a short run or even a long tour, riding in something else can be a benefit in comfort terms. With that in mind I went shopping and discovered Spidi’s J & Racing jeans.

The CB500X is super smooth, with an easy start-up and stable idle, making for instant access to two wheeled fun - Image by Colin Rosewarne — Marty rocking the Spidi J & Racing Jeans on Honda’s CB500X – Image by Colin Rosewarne

I’ve owned several pairs of riding jeans over the years and they have normally fallen short in a number of areas. The first being the kevlar lining, which for the most part became itchy and annoying after a few hours in the seat. The second shortcoming has been the fit and comfort and lastly, they often lacked any quality armour for protection.

With the J & R Racing Jeans, Spidi have addressed all of those concerns and produced the most comfortable pair of riding jeans I’ve ever slipped over my svelte toosh. While still seemingly a safe garment, the J & Racing cotton/Cordura jeans are ultra comfy. On the few rides I have used them on, the temps have been on the plus side of 30 degrees.

I was also involved in some photo shoots, where you are standing around in the sun or riding slowly with little breeze to keep you cool. At no stage did the J Racing jeans become itchy or annoying in any area. So problem number one was ticked off the list.

The second reason previous jeans have left me feeling less than enthusiastic, is comfort. Most I have tried have been a normal jean with a kevlar liner. Spidi have thankfully put a lot more thought into the design of the J & Racing jeans and have managed to turn out a garment which is amazingly good to wear, both on and off the bike.

Pre-curved knees ensure great comfort on and off the bike, without effecting looks

Pre-curved knees make it easy to fold yourself up onto a modern sports bike or kick back legs stretched on a cruiser and everything in between. In addition to the curved knees, there is a stretch panel at the rear of the waist. A simple enough design feature, but one which makes a massive difference to how good these jeans are to ride in.

No more plumbers crack when hunched over on a sports bike, yet the paneling doesn’t sit low enough to become an annoyance when in a more laid back position on a bike designed for cruising. It was one of my favourite things about them. They also come equipped with a little loop which has a press stud, so you can hook it to a jacket and both reduce back crack breezes as well as keep the jacket and jeans together in the event of an oops.

A rear stretching panel makes the Spidi J Racing jeans ideal even on sportsbikes

The final flaw I’ve found in previous jeans has been the lack of armour, or the poor fitment of the armour. Spidi have done a terrific job of not only fitting the J & Racing jeans with good quality armour which is not only protective, but also very comfortable.

In addition, it can be adjusted to suit each individuals unique body shape. It even adjusted to suit my very unique body shape. Plus and it’s a huge plus, the armour doesn’t slip around to the side like most riding jean armour does.

Size wise, the J & Racing Jeans were the exact same size as my normal jeans. So if you couldn’t make it into your nearest store to try them on, you could be confident in having your local shop pop a pair in the post to you and them fitting on arriving.