Why don't gear mfg's realize that tall women exist?

[dalan]

Argh!!

I'm so frustrated with trying to find riding pants for my wife.  There is nothing that works for her, and I mean nothing.  None of the women's gear is anywhere near long enough for her 36" inseam, and going to men's sizes to get the leg length results in pants that are waaaay too big in the ass and waist.

Right now she has a pair of men's First Gear Pilot sport leather pants in a long length that pretty much works, but they're so hot that she can only wear them in the coldest weather.  And they don't even make these anymore so no way to replace if needed in the future.

She's got a pair of women's First Gear meshtex pants also, but these are a poor solution.  They don't fit well, and she actually sewed on (yes, she knows how to sew  ) an extra 5" of material scavenged off an old pair of my pants to the bottoms of the legs to make them long enough.

She also wears a pair of fairly heavy fashion leather pants from Wilsons, on the premise that they're still better than jeans, but these obviously aren't made for motorcycling and have no padding or armor whatsoever.

Mostly, she just wears jeans because all these other options pretty much suck.

We've shopped everywhere we can find and nothing works for her.  What the hell is a tall, slender chick supposed to do for riding pants?
 

[Mac]

Your best bet may be one of the custom manufacturers like aerostich.com, www.zcustom.com or www.vansonleathers.com

[Lucky_Devil]

I've experienced the same problem.

I know that Joe Rocket use to have womens gear that came in "regular" and "tall" versions, but not every store would carry the "tall" versions... so your wife may want to look into that.

I've recently started just having custom gear made for me.... yes, it can be much more expensive than off the rack items, but it's worth it to have gear that actually fits.  If custom gear is not an option at this point, I would suggest calling newenough.com and asking them what brands of womens gear tends to run more slender/long.  They've always been really helpful over the phone while I've tried to hunt down gear in the past.

[bomber]

same reason that they don't seem to realize women other than size 6 ride --

sad -- and a chicken or egg situation -- "we don't have anything that size cuz we never sell any"

[throttlemeister]

Argh!!

I'm so frustrated with trying to find riding pants for my wife.  There is nothing that works for her, and I mean nothing.  None of the women's gear is anywhere near long enough for her 36" inseam, and going to men's sizes to get the leg length results in pants that are waaaay too big in the ass and waist.

Right now she has a pair of men's First Gear Pilot sport leather pants in a long length that pretty much works, but they're so hot that she can only wear them in the coldest weather.  And they don't even make these anymore so no way to replace if needed in the future.

She's got a pair of women's First Gear meshtex pants also, but these are a poor solution.  They don't fit well, and she actually sewed on (yes, she knows how to sew  ) an extra 5" of material scavenged off an old pair of my pants to the bottoms of the legs to make them long enough.

She also wears a pair of fairly heavy fashion leather pants from Wilsons, on the premise that they're still better than jeans, but these obviously aren't made for motorcycling and have no padding or armor whatsoever.

Mostly, she just wears jeans because all these other options pretty much suck.

We've shopped everywhere we can find and nothing works for her.  What the hell is a tall, slender chick supposed to do for riding pants?
 

Check out the European brands if you can get them there. Average length of EU women is significantly taller than in the US, so you can probably find something there, though you probably have to special order.

But damn, she must have some legs...  

[servicerifle]

You do realize that women with a 36" inseam represent a very very small portion of the riding population, right?  

Instead of complaining, how about just go custom?

[Lawn Dart]

Try BMW.  They make shorts and tall sizes for men - Dunno about women but it's worth a shot.  Aerostich and Motoport are worth calling as well.

[dalan]

Check out the European brands if you can get them there. Average length of EU women is significantly taller than in the US, so you can probably find something there, though you probably have to special order.

Yes, Revit comes closest; they have some nice stuff and she's already got 2 Revit jackets.  No luck with their pants though.  

But damn, she must have some legs...  

Indeed.  I have my own prurient motivations for wanting to get her stuff that fits.  


Can anyone comment on how perfed leather compares to mesh for hot weather riding?  I might try to talk her into custom Vansons if perfed would actually be cool enough.

[garry]

Barnacle Bill makes quality custom leathers at sane prices. http://www.racingleather.com

[RBEmerson]

And don't forget New Enough - they may be able to get to stuff that's the right size.  At least it won't hurt to ask.  

[seeeester]

The Den Mother is out of town until next week, but she's a 36" inseam and wears a 'Stich...  

[jschmidt]

They'll get to it right after they discover that big and tall men exist. Try buying affordable gear when you're 6'3 and 240. Its the same.

[servicerifle]

Perfed leather compared to total mesh?  No comparison as far as cooling is concerned, but I consider perfed mesh to be a-ok in 35F-95F as long as I have either a heated liner or I am able to keep moving in the summer, respectively (did this make sense at all?)

On the coldest days it won't quite be warm enough without a windshirt, gerbing liner, and a fairing, and on the hottest days it will be just a little too warm unless you pour water down your neck and enjoy the evaporative cooling effect (works really well, actually).

I can say that my black leather perfed vanson jacket is good for 80% of the year, with appropriate liners and such.  I have the solid pants, but will be getting perfed ones soon for summer wear.

[bluepoof]

I feel her pain from the opposite direction.  

My hubby has a 34" inseam and wears Aerostich Dairen pants...I know they can take a "base size" and add length to the bottom, too.

[jadziadax8]

You might try Olympia.  They've started doing this EZ hem thing about 6 months ago, where they add 6" of material to the legs of their pants so that you can hem them to the correct length.  I wish they had done that sooner.  I bought my Olympia pants last year, and since I wear a size 18, I must also be 6 feet tall and have a 34" inseam.  Yeah, right.  The older pants are impossible to hem, so they bunch down at the end of my 29" inseam.

[Leanintree]

The same reason they don't make 'fat guy' sport style stuff. If you ride a plastic motorcycle, you're supposed to be 5'2" and weigh 120# max. Those of us at 6'4" and 240# aren't allowed to be part of the sport...

Leanintree

[Bigfoot]

Argh!!

I'm so frustrated with trying to find riding pants for my wife.  There is nothing that works for her, and I mean nothing.  None of the women's gear is anywhere near long enough for her 36" inseam, and going to men's sizes to get the leg length results in pants that are waaaay too big in the ass and waist.

Right now she has a pair of men's First Gear Pilot sport leather pants in a long length that pretty much works, but they're so hot that she can only wear them in the coldest weather.  And they don't even make these anymore so no way to replace if needed in the future.

She's got a pair of women's First Gear meshtex pants also, but these are a poor solution.  They don't fit well, and she actually sewed on (yes, she knows how to sew  ) an extra 5" of material scavenged off an old pair of my pants to the bottoms of the legs to make them long enough.

She also wears a pair of fairly heavy fashion leather pants from Wilsons, on the premise that they're still better than jeans, but these obviously aren't made for motorcycling and have no padding or armor whatsoever.

Mostly, she just wears jeans because all these other options pretty much suck.

We've shopped everywhere we can find and nothing works for her.  What the hell is a tall, slender chick supposed to do for riding pants?
 

Wow.  36 inseam for a lady.  Sexy.  My wife is 5'2 and I'm 6'5.  I think her inseam is 12  .  As far as your wife's problem it's no different for tall guys either.  I am long in the waist and have trouble finding shirts long enough for me.  I also have big feet and wear size 15 1/2 extra wide shoes/boots.  Whenever I ask shoe/boot stores why they don't sell my size they all claim supply and demand.  I've asked if it would kill them to at least stock a few and see what happens.  I think when I retire I'm opening a store for tall people only.  

[cultureslayer]

Has she tried on the Tourmaster venture overpants?  I have the same problem but not that bad and they are the only overpants I have tried that fit well.  

It also annoys me that most of the US companies make their overpants and gear in general a tube with a little elastic at the waist.  This does not work for women!  If I get pants to fit my butt and the knee armor is in the right place then someone else could fit in the waist with me!  Not all companies provide a hip measurement or inseam on their fitting charts either.  So annoying.  So far Fieldsheer and Teknic are the only brands of jackets I have had luck with.  The firstgear overpants are passable, but do become uncomfortable on longer rides so I guess it's time to spend the money on more gear.

[Bigfoot]

They'll get to it right after they discover that big and tall men exist. Try buying affordable gear when you're 6'3 and 240. Its the same.

Shrimp.  

[LicketySplat]

Can anyone comment on how perfed leather compares to mesh for hot weather riding?  I might try to talk her into custom Vansons if perfed would actually be cool enough.

I have a pair of custom Vanson pants I had made when I was wearing an articulated knee brace. They flow air very nicely. Temperature-wise they compare favorably with mesh. Where they lose in comfort is the weight; getting them on and off when sticky with sweat; and sticking to the seat. That last is the worst - no matter how much Armor-All I use, I still have to lift my butt completely off the seat to move from side to side. Not conducive to smooth steering.

Unfortunately I've had an ongoing issue with the fly seam tearing out at the base of the zipper. The way the pants were designed (and I actually had them install a longer zipper than stock), there is a lot of stress in that area, and the perforated leather just won't take it, even with a layer of reinforcement. I actually had to gum it up with glue to make it stop happening. Hopefully they've redesigned the pants since then... that was several years ago.

Mostly any more I wear mesh.