why are all mesh pants black (except these)?
Published by Crystal April 20th, 2007 in hot weather riding, safety. 
Since last summer, I have been on a quest for just the right pair of mesh armored overpants to wear in the hot, humid summers here. What I can’t figure out is why nearly every single pair of mesh pants in the universe are solid black. Didn’t the manufacturers remember that black fabric in the sun makes you hotter?
The Fieldsheer Four Season Mesh Pant in white are the only exception I’ve seen. Available in both men’s and women’s
versions, the Four Season pant has a suggested retail of $169.99, and comes with a waterproof liner so they can be worn for more than one season. Reviewers of both the men’s and women’s versions give them high ratings, so I’m writing them down on the check these out at the dealer list. If any of you have had experience with these or other mesh pants, please let me know.
Oh, and by the way, the Four Season Mesh Pant also comes in black.
9 Responses to “why are all mesh pants black (except these)?”
- 1 Pingback on Apr 24th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Because the only people that wear armored mesh pants are nihlist bohemians that ride black BMWs?
It is weird that almost all armored gear is either black or neon. I’m sure it has a lot to do with the bad boy image and the harley culture thing. Plus black goes with anything. White would, too, but white armored gear would make you look like a stormtrooper, AND show dirt and bug splatter like nobody’s business.
I’m betting it’s mostly the ‘matching the bike’ deal, people don’t necessarily want their leathers to match their bike, but they don’t want to clash either, so black is a safe bet, especially when you’re already making many sizes and the material cost/price point is so high, it’s a pretty major investment to try a weird color and see how it sells.
Since buying the Blur, I’ve noticed there’s a lot of orange armor, but not many orange helmets. Maybe I’ll turn into the Crystal of Orange.
If it was up to me, everything would be high-vis yellow or orange, with alternating stripes of 3M reflective tape and blinking LEDs that spell out “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING, MOTHERF**KERS!”
I agree. Because I’ve been a cyclist for years, about 50 percent of my wardrobe is hi-vis yellow.
I carry a slow moving vehicle triangle that I put on in crazy traffic, and I’m about to add a wireless brake light to the back of my helmet. I already have a second brake light in my GIVI trunk. http://girlbike.com/2006/06/06/givi-brake-light-install/
I can think of some more choice things to write out in LEDs, too.
I would be honored if you were the Crystal of Orange. Although, as soon as I read that, I thought “Oh, I should do a series of ALL colors…” but then, what else would I have time to write about?
Still, I think I’m going to try to find you a few…
Hey - the mesh pants are now on sale for $152.99! BTW, I have a wireless helmet brake light and it is great. Only problem is that it doesn’t show up well in bright sunlight.
S.G.
Are these pants available online (and can you post a link)? I don’t know of anyone around here (San Francisco) who sells women’s Fieldsheer gear. Do they come in sizes for us big girls?
–cindy
Hi Cindy - if you click on the photo, it will take you to the catalog page at Motorcyclesuperstore.com.
You can also find them here:
http://www.sandhillspowersports.com/sandhills/OnlineStore.do?DSP=200&PCR=1:5:50007&IID=fieldsheer_4seasnpnt_w_06
http://store.dsrpowersports.com/wofosemepa.html
Here is the Fieldsheer web site page for the women’s mesh pants. At the top of the page is a link to Dealers, you put in your zip and it should come back with a list of local dealers (if there is one):
http://www.fieldsheer.com/2007web/web3/product/fourseason.htm
It appears they are available up to size 18. I haven’t tried them yet, so I don’t know if their size chart is true to size.
Two other manufacturers offer silver mesh pants: Marsee and Olympia. Olympia uses dress sizes instead of waist and leg length, so if a woman has a larger dress size, she will get a longer leg length. Not good for shorter females. My wife ordered a size 14, and it came with a 33″ leg length. She is 5′2″, so the legs bunch-up at the bottum. They claim an EZ-Hem bottum, which really means it can be cinched around the ankles to keep you from stepping on the extra fabric. The adjustable kneepads are nice, though. I don’t have any experience with the Marsee mesh gear, but have had other products from them and it is mostly quality stuff. The zippers wore-out first, but that was after 4 years of near-constant use.
John
Hi John, thanks for the leads - I’m going to look up both brands and see if there’s a dealer around here!
Crystal
Got myself a mesh jacket that was all black, only one they had that was in my size on this particular sale day, so I painted a leopard-pattern stripe across the chest and back. The acryllic paint took a couple of coats before it started looking opaque, but once those layers went down, the rest of the paint job was cake.