Rubbersidedown
Active member
I just purchased a pair of Firstgear HT Air 2.0 after my search for the ULTIMATE mesh overpants proved overly ambitious. These offered the greatest number of the things I was looking for and seemed to be very popular among the members here.
The only thing that kept them from being ideal was the lack of substantial armor in the knees and hips. They only come with some soft foam in non adjustable pockets that might protect you from an oversized beetle at best. When I purchased these I saw that they also had a closeout on some armor replacements for a tecknic speedstar suit. SPEEDSTAR ARMOR
I was a little put off by the idea of spending $150-200 on pants only to have to spend another $30-50 on armor that should be in the pants to begin with, but the $2 clearance price for a set of REAL knee and hip armor pieces seemed like a worthwhile experiment.
The pants and armor arrived today and as I suspected the armor was flimsy and the replacement stuff was substantial but too big. After taking a pair of sheers to the four pieces of armor and stuffing them into the little nylon pockets, I am satisfied enough that I don't regret not buying Firstgear's armor, which from what I understand isn't quite a full fix.
The armor pockets are a little low in the leg of the pants, but when I am in the riding position they are acceptable. Someone with longer legs might find them a bit more ideal. I don't even notice the hip armor as it is still very thin, but firmer and more protective (presumably). It seems FG's biggest priority was comfort over protection. The stock pads probably are slightly more comfortable than the Teknic ones I've installed, but the Teknic's are by no means uncomfortable. I have not observed this, but I imagine these will be a bit warmer because they are not perforated, but other than that, the protection increase is well worth it to me, YMMV.
Just thought I would post my experiment for those of you considering or who already own pants that aren't quite as well bolstered as you would like. For a $2 fix I am pretty happy.
The only thing that kept them from being ideal was the lack of substantial armor in the knees and hips. They only come with some soft foam in non adjustable pockets that might protect you from an oversized beetle at best. When I purchased these I saw that they also had a closeout on some armor replacements for a tecknic speedstar suit. SPEEDSTAR ARMOR
I was a little put off by the idea of spending $150-200 on pants only to have to spend another $30-50 on armor that should be in the pants to begin with, but the $2 clearance price for a set of REAL knee and hip armor pieces seemed like a worthwhile experiment.
The pants and armor arrived today and as I suspected the armor was flimsy and the replacement stuff was substantial but too big. After taking a pair of sheers to the four pieces of armor and stuffing them into the little nylon pockets, I am satisfied enough that I don't regret not buying Firstgear's armor, which from what I understand isn't quite a full fix.
The armor pockets are a little low in the leg of the pants, but when I am in the riding position they are acceptable. Someone with longer legs might find them a bit more ideal. I don't even notice the hip armor as it is still very thin, but firmer and more protective (presumably). It seems FG's biggest priority was comfort over protection. The stock pads probably are slightly more comfortable than the Teknic ones I've installed, but the Teknic's are by no means uncomfortable. I have not observed this, but I imagine these will be a bit warmer because they are not perforated, but other than that, the protection increase is well worth it to me, YMMV.
Just thought I would post my experiment for those of you considering or who already own pants that aren't quite as well bolstered as you would like. For a $2 fix I am pretty happy.
