Olympia Recon 3 Mesh Pants
4.4
5
37
37
2nd go round
The shell in high impact areas is good cordura material. Airflow is great. I have 36" waist and 36" inseam and the large talls fit well. The area where this pant needs alot of help is the protection, It sux frankly. 2nd go round cause the first pair I tested...yup, went down in them. The new pair I put the knee armor from the pants in the hip protector slot and its a perfect fit, excellent for hips. Through the hip protection that came with the pants in the trash, spongy memory foam type stuff, worthless. Then I upgraded the knee armor with some Sas-tec which has much better coverage and "cups" the knee.
When I went down the stock knee armor slid off my knee allowing the side of my knee to loose some skin (understatement). Now with upgraded armor that "cups" my knee they are a decent pair of summer pants.
May 7, 2013
Great Pant for the Price
One of my most difficult problems with gear is finding pants that fit my inseam challenged legs. The 5" EZ Hem bottom of the Recon 3 pant solves this problem. The local alteration shop was able to chop off all 5" of the EZ Hem section and they now fit great and comfortably cover my Alpinestar boots.
April 1, 2013
Great pants. Lacking a few features though.
The site said to buy a size bigger if wearing them as an overpant. I found this to be false. I wear a 36 pant and bought these in a 38. WAY to loose and baggy. Sent them back and recieved a 36 and the fit is just about perfect. The air flow is great, the plethora of pockets is nice.
The one downfall is the pants need some adjustable velcro straps on the waist for that extra touch of snugness, and to prevent the pants from riding down as you walk. I have a pair of non mesh Olympia pants that have them, and they are one of the best features. The pants do have belt loops, so an included matching belt would be a plus.
Foam padding is all but useless, for the price of these pants, proper hard knee protection should be included.
Otherwise the pants are great. Great breatability. The extra hemable length is nice. And the all around comfort while riding is superb. No discomfort from odd fit so you can ride without distraction.
October 1, 2012
Great for Summer but need some Re-Engineering.
I usually wear 33" jeans. Plus I want to wear it as over-pants thus ordered 34". Not sure if it's because I am also a cyclist and runner, the calf area is somewhat tight. Exchanged for 36" and fits well now.
Rode with this pair of pants for a 1000km trip.
Pros:
+ Really great air flow.
+ Same as the Moab Jacket I got, I really like the huge 3D cargo pockets. So convenient for me to just drop in my GPS when I get off the bike or store my wallet on the go.
+ Good waist snap buttons. My other icon patrol pants I use in cool weather only have one so it always un-button itself.
Cons:
- Liner isn't really that cool. When it gets humid, it still feels a bit stick to the skin.
- I think they should really get rid of the shorts convertible design. Changing into the short doesn't look so great anyway. The zipper unzip a few inches by itself all the time. Plus the extra seams to make the joint and the velcro to hold the knee armor are really abrasive.
August 20, 2012
Great Value
Great pants at such a low price point , fit runs a little big. They are strictly a summer pant, they do not have liners.
July 23, 2012
Very good hot weather pants
Received these pants quickly, and just in time for a 3-day dual sport ride in temps exceeding 100 degrees. I wear 34/30 jeans and bought these in a size 34. They fit good in the waist. My wife hemmed them for me and said it wasn't a big hassle. After hemming, I moved the adjustable knee pads to the top position and was happy with the fit.
Our 3-day dual sport ride was 770 miles long. Most of it was dirt roads and ATV trails. It was crazy hot for Wisconsin with temps exceeding 100 degrees. I zipped the pants to my Recon jacket (I really like the jacket, too) and was impressed with the air flow. I fell down several times on the deep sand sections and the pants held up fine. I did put some aftermarket hip pads in before the trip which is something I recommend doing. There is plenty of room in the hip pad pockets to put some real pads in there. The large pockets were very useful.
If there was anything I would change on the pants, it would be to get rid of the zip-off legs feature. I see a lot of pants with this feature and can't imagine myself ever using it. It's just one more step from simple, and I'm paying for a feature that I don't want to have.
These are the pants I wear for dual sport riding in hot weather. I wear something more substantial on long road bike trips.
July 2, 2012
NIce mesh casual pants
Good overall mesh pants. They are very comfortable on the bike and not bad while walking around off the bike.
They flow a lot of air while riding. The shorts are a little short. It is easy to take the lower legs off and put them on. The pockets are very large.
June 19, 2012
Zippers at the knees and Hip Padding
Zippers at the knees do not remain secure with riding usage. 2–3 inch creep is the usual which will be tolerable in summer, an annoyance in the cold.
The hip pads are on the lean side so expect to need an upgrade. I replaced them and used the thin pads to augment the knee pad pockets.
April 30, 2012
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