Rev'it Cayenne Pro Pants

Rev'it Cayenne Pro Pants Review
by Rick for webBikeWorld.com

Summary:  The new Rev'it Cayenne Pro pants are designed to be the perfect match for the Cayenne Pro jacket, but they're also make a very nice all-around pair of trousers for touring, sport-touring or general motorcycling. 

They include sharp "Enduro/Adventure" styling, high-quality tailoring and materials and dual liners that zip connect at both the waist and leg cuffs.  These are "360 Day" pants that work in just about every temperature and weather condition except perhaps on the very hottest days.

It's been about 60 days since we published our reviews of the Rev'it Cayenne Pro jacket (see also First Look) and the new Rev'it Sirocco mesh 3/4-length jacket (see also First Look). 

Both of those reviews were follow-ups from the 2008 Powersports Dealer Expo (report), where I was introduced to the 2008 Rev'it lineup, including the new and exciting Apache boots and the new Rev'it "Fighter" waterproof boots and "Air Blend" warm-weather boots.

We're in the process of evaluating the boots, and there's one more 2008 Rev'it item I wanted to cover: the Cayenne Pro pants that are the subject of this review.

Rev'it now has such an extensive selection of clothing, boots, gloves and other goodies (will helmets be next?) that it's hard to choose just one item or outfit.  It's sort of like wandering into a Konditorei in Germany -- there are way too many good things on the shelves, and it's hard to make up your mind, but no matter what you choose, you know it will all be good!

So when the Cayenne Pro pants arrived, all of the 2008 Rev'it gear was swirling around in my brain, but I was focused on "Sirocco jacket" because the hot weather now demands cool mesh clothing and the Sirocco is it. 

As I was unpacking and trying on the pants in this stupor, and I vaguely remember wondering why a pair of pants designed to match the Sirocco jacket would have the same type of thermal liner that was in Cayenne Pro, along with a separate windproof and waterproof liner.  And where are the perforations?

Then it hit me -- these are the Cayenne Pro pants, designed to match the all-around Cayenne Pro jacket!  I found these pants at the Indy show back in February and I was impressed -- they have just about every feature you can imagine (other than mesh panels, which would compromise the waterproofing ability), and so far the Cayenne Pro pants have proven to be an excellent all-around pair of riding pants and the perfect replacement for my old pair of Rev'it Challenge Pants. 

I've been wearing the Challenge pants for so long I can't even remember riding without them, and they've held up through thick and thin.  I broke the zipper pull one winter when my waist got a little too thick and I tried to pull up the zipper with a pair of pliers, but I fixed that with a combination of a keychain ring through the zipper pull and losing a few pounds, and the pants keep soldiering on.

The reason I mention the Challenge pants is because the new Cayenne Pro pants seem to have a lot of Challenge DNA in them.  They fit me exactly the same -- I had to return the Cayenne Pro size L "short" for the regular length, just like I did with the Challenge pants, but it's nice to see that Rev'it is using the same standard body shape and form for their new pants.

Liners...
The Cayenne Pro pants feel perfectly familiar when I slide them on, due to their close kinship with the Challenge pants.  The updated lining material is now Exkin insulation; Exkin is also used in the Cayenne Pro jacket, where we described it thus: 

"(say "Eks-skin").  Exkin is a new material; it's a moisture wicking fabric that was tested at two times the warmth factor of the DuPont Thermolite insulation used in the original Cayenne, at half the thickness!  Hey, that's progress!  This means that a 1 oz. liner is as warm as the old 2 oz. version."

The Exkin liner has a shiny smooth fabric on the outside (inside the pants); it feels nice and silky smooth against the skin.  But it's too hot for a liner now, so I'll have to wait for winter to evaluate the thermal protection; I have no doubts that it will be at least as good, and probably better, than the thick liner in my old Challenge pants.

Fit and Sizing
Another note about the liner -- most motorcycle pants are sized to fit correctly or to fit slightly loose with the liner installed.  The problem with this type of fit is that when the liner is removed, the pants become too large by a size or more. 

As we have stated many times, if a motorcycle jacket or pair of pants is too loose, it probably won't offer the same level of protection -- pants and jackets must be snug to hold the armor against the rider and to keep the abrasion-resistant material located at the points where it will do the most good.

Rev'it has always taken a different approach; the clothing usually fits snug with all of the liners installed, so when they are removed, the pants or jacket will fit closer to or exactly to size, as expected.  We think this makes more sense -- after all, you don't want a lot of extra loose air space when riding in cold weather, or the cold air can seep in.

In the case of the Cayenne Pro pants, the size L regular length fits as I expected; a size 35-37 waist and enough length to cover about a 30" to 31" inseam with enough room to spare at the bottom of the pants so they don't ride too high when sitting on a motorcycle.

The Cayenne Pro pants are available in short, regular and long lengths and in sizes S-XXXL (regular); M-XXXL (short) and M-XXL (long).

...And More on Liners
The pants do feel snug with both liners installed, as they should.  This makes the pants a bit snug in winter, but that's a good thing, because it keeps the Exkin liner close to the body, helping to prevent the cold air from leaking in.

When I remove the insulating liner and the separate wind-and-water-proof liner, the pants fit comfortably and slightly loose, just what I need in the warmer weather.

The wind/water proof liner is the standard Rev'it "Hydratex" material.  The seams are sealed, probably with ultrasonics, so the liner is virtually a single piece of material.

Rev'it Cayenne Pro Pants have separate zippers for each liner at the wais...

...and inside the leg cuffs.

Zippers
Now here's what makes pants like these cost a bit more: both liners attach to the pants with zippers.  Each liner has a full-length zipper at the waist and another full-circumference zipper at the leg cuffs.  This is definitely a more expensive and time-consuming manufacturing process, but the liners will absolutely stay in place, because they become virtually a single unit with the pants.  The liner won't pull out or bunch when you stick your leg down inside the pants!

Also, the material can't ride up and down, so the pants stay stable when you're on the motorcycle, a much more secure feeling.  And finally, the pants can be used without either of the liners; with the wind/water proof liner only, or with the Exkin thermal liner only, your choice.

External Features
The outside of the Cayenne Pro pants also has many thoughtful features.  The pants are available in black, which pretty much goes with anything, and the "Dark Green and Grey" shown here.  If this color is green, it's pretty hard to tell -- it looks more like a "clay" color to me, and the light parts are a sort of silvery/creamy/white.

The colors and the fabric pattern combination both say "Enduro/Adventure", so if you're not into this style, I'm sure the all black will do it for you.

The pants have a hidden full-length and short attachment zipper, hidden under a thin strip of black fabric just below the waistband.  This allows the pants to attach to the Rev'it Cayenne Pro and Sirocco jackets and other styles.

The waistband doesn't have a lot of stretch to it -- I mentioned this to Rev'it senior staff and I'd like to see more elastic used in the waist, due to "WEWS"; that is, "Worldwide Expanding Waistline Syndrome".  There's a nice hook-and-loop adjuster on either side though that is incorporated into the waistband styling.

The fly on the pants is backed by a V-shaped section that forms a gusset, and the waist secures with a single snap.  I'd rather see a hook used for a waist closure, the way most racing pants are secured, but I guess the snap is fine for touring.

Pockets
The pants have two vertical hand pockets on either side, and each of these is covered with the waterproof style zipper that we first experienced on Rev'it clothing several years ago.  As far as I know, they were the first motorcycle clothing company to use this type of zipper.

Vents
The upper part of each thigh also has a waterproof zipper that covers an air vent, just like on the Challenge pants.  Depending upon the style motorcycle and its amount of fairing coverage, some air does enter the pants through those vents for cooling, but there is no mesh in the Cayenne Pro pants.

The knees are fully articulated, and there are strips of flush-mounted reflective material bonded to the outer sides of the legs.  Inside the thigh, knee and calf area on each leg the pants are covered with some type of thick and grippy fabric, and each leg also has sections of "Superfabric" laminated on the outside at the abrasion area.

Armor and Abrasion Resistance
The outer shell of the Cayenne Pro pants are made from a combination of DuPont Cordura in 500 and 1000 denier.

Like the Cayenne Pro jacket, the pants use laminated sections of Superfabric to cover the abrasion points.  Superfabric is a new type of abrasion-resistant material; it's a ceramic-infused material, with "little tiny ceramic shields" embedded in, according to Rev'it.  It's claimed to have four times the abrasion resistance of leather and 15 times the abrasion resistance of Kevlar, yet it's super thin, lightweight and flexible.

The SuperFabric is laser cut and directly bonded to the outer Cordura on the Cayenne Pro jacket and the pants; it can be seen as the dark gray panels just below and outboard of the knees in the photos.  The stuff is extremely expensive, but Rev'it said that as the price comes down, they'll use it in more locations on their clothing.

The Cayenne Pro pants have the excellent SAS-Tec armor in the knees (removable) and Temperfoam padding in the hips.  The hip padding seems more substantial in the Cayenne Pro pants than in my old Challenge pants.

Conclusion
The Cayenne Pro pants are a direct beneficiary of the Rev'it strategy of continuous and relentless evolution, improving in small ways on the excellent Challenge pants.  The Cayenne Pro pants are a perfect match for the Cayenne Pro jacket; the pair makes what is probably one of the highest-quality, all-around two-piece motorcycling outfits available.

I've been wearing the pants in temperatures ranging from a cool (for this time of year) 62 degrees F. in the morning, where they're perfect with the windproof liner only, up to 82 degrees F., where they aren't bad actually -- not as much air flow as a pair of mesh pants, certainly, but more protection and without compromise in the rain.

Sure, a Rev'it Cayenne Pro outfit is going to cost you about a Cleveland (Grover, that is, whose image used to grace the M-note when it was still in circulation).  So they may not be for everyone, but discriminating riders will know the difference.

Next Up:  Rev'it boots, including the Apache (first look); Fighter boots (waterproof); and the new Air Blend hot-weather boots.