Summary
The Sliders 4.0 Kevlar Riding Jeans are fantastic. The Sliders jeans are priced very competitively and provide a great deal of protection for riding jeans.
Intro
Sliders is a house brand for Competition Accessories. They are using the Sliders brand to market their line of riding gear that includes Kevlar. Their other house brands are Aeromoto and Shadow.
Feel and Sizing
The first thing I noticed when I pulled the Sliders jeans out of the box was the weight. You can tell that these jeans are a substantial product as soon as you pick them up. The denim is heavy weight denim, but it is soft and comfortable.
The Sliders 4.0 Kevlar riding jeans are cut like a relaxed pair of jeans. I normally wear a 36x30 or a 38x30 depending on the brand and cut of my jeans. I ordered a 38x30 in the Sliders jeans and the waist worked out perfect for me. However, the length is a little too long. Competition Accessories says that they are cut a long to accommodate for the riding position. I like that feature, but I think I would have done better with a 38x28.
Construction and Protection
The Sliders jeans are made of 13.5 oz denim and the high impact areas are reinforced with Dupont Kevlar for abrasion resistance. The Dupont Kevlar can be found in the seat, down the side of the legs, and in the knees. In the pictures below look for the yellow areas on the inside of the pants, all the yellow is Kevlar. You will have to look carefully to see it through the black mesh lining, but it is there. All the Kevlar panels are sewn into the pants. Many other brands leave the Kevlar loose and unsewn on the inside. Keeping it sewn will keep the Kevlar in place where you need it in case of a get-off.
There is no hip armor in these jeans, but there are mesh pockets sewn into the front that allows you to use optional knee armor. The armor pockets have Velcro at three different heights so you can fine tune where the armor sits. The knee armor does not come with the Sliders 4.0 jeans, but you can buy the CE certiified knee armor separately from Competition Accessories for $11.99 or just use armor you already own.
Comfort
I was mainly interested in the Sliders 4.0 jeans as a protective option I could commute in. I don’t like the feeling of commuting on the interstate without proper riding gear and regular jeans would not last very long in a slide. On the other hand, wearing my purpose built riding pants to work every day is not convenient either. I think the Sliders jeans are a nice compromise between the two. They are as comfortable as every other pair of jeans I like to wear, they look like regular jeans, and they provide a lot of abrasion protection. When I wore these jeans out for a ride the weather was between 46-64 degrees F. I would say these jeans are a little bit warmer than regular street jeans. Depending on your cold tolerance you may want to wear a thermal under layer when it gets below 45-50 degrees F. I found that I was comfortable all day, but I could see some riders getting chilled.
If you are like me, you have looked at the Velcro knee armor pockets and the mesh lining and wondered if that would be uncomfortable. During my test ride I did not notice any Velcro poking my legs. The mesh was soft and smooth on the inside of the Sliders jeans and the armor was placed well while riding. The only time I noticed the armor was walking around off of the bike. It was not uncomfortable, but you could feel the armor on the front of your legs. Even though I could feel the armor while walking around, other people will not notice anything strange. You can work all day and I doubt anybody will notice that you are wearing Kevlar riding jeans with knee armor.
What Could Be Improved
I have thought about this one for a while. I can’t think of anything I would change about these jeans. They just work and they do their job well. If I were to offer a suggestion, it would be to add different styles of the Sliders jeans. Even this suggestion has somewhat been covered. They do offer Sliders Bella Kevlar Jeans , Sliders Cargo Kevlar Pants, and Sliders Khaki Kevlar pants.
Final Opinion
The Sliders 4.0 Kevlar Jeans rock! It is refreshing to get a product that delivers as promised. The Sliders jeans look like regular jeans and you can even wash and dry them like regular jeans. They are well built, provide great protection, and value priced at $79.99. If you are in the market for some riding jeans, you can’t go wrong with the Sliders 4.0 Kevlar Jeans.
Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or would like to know anything I may have forgotten to mention please feel free to leave a comment and I will respond as quickly as possible. The opinions in this review are my own. If you found this review helpful, please consider supporting our sponsors with future purchases.
For More:
The Test Ride - Too Fast! TOO FAST! TOOO FAAAST!
