Rippl Impact Gear Pure Grit 2.0 Riding Jeans
After weeks of waiting with no tracking updates in sight, there was a ring from my phone, then another, letting me know the armored ‘Rippl impact, pure grit 2.0’ riding jeans had arrived on my porch. Funny enough, at that exact moment I had another pair of armored Kevlar riding jeans in my hands, 3 hours out of town at the closest Cycle Gear store.
I wish I had bought the pair in my hands while I had the chance.
Upon arrival back home, I was obviously very excited to see my long awaited riding jeans, so I rushed inside to find a package that looked like it had been mauled by a wild animal. From typos on the shipping label, to the package itself having an extreme odor, this experience was off to an interesting start and didn’t improve as time went on.
The actual bag containing the jeans was torn open, as if someone decided to open it before arrival, and then decide the contents were not valuable enough to steal. Granted, this very well could have been the fault of UPS, but everything seems to have a certain pattern already. I took the jeans out and they felt damp and crumpled. Odd. I layed them out on the counter and they almost looked like they were pre worn, they were very wrinkled. No matter, that can be fixed with a wash or dry clean. I figured so long as they fit good and looked okay that was the most important factor.
Make it stand out
Unfortunately, the disappointment had not reached a climax. I am 6’0 tall and 175 pounds, athletic and workout every day, slender with skinnier legs. I wear a 32 waist with a 34 inseam somewhat loosely, so naturally I ordered a 32 34 size pair of jeans from this company. I quickly found out that the sizes advertised on the website did not exist, as my jeans were simply labeled “Medium” on the waistband tag. I have calves about as thin as a small twig, and I could not have struggled more to get these pants past my knees. They were so incredibly tight I stopped pulling halfway through to ask myself if I should even continue.
But continue I did.
I finally managed to get these things on. With what little blood flow I had left, I managed to take a few photos of the fitment. Crushing my legs, calves and waist as if I had shrunk down and lodged myself into a device that measures my blood pressure, I looked myself in the mirror with horror. They could not have been uglier and more uncomfortable. Furthermore, the fly of the crotch fabric was permanently open despite having both buttons and zipper securely shut.
I had enough at this point and decided to analyze the protection. They came with hip sliders and knee pads for crash protection and advertise a CE AA rated slide protection. If there is any direct correlation between the overall quality of my experience so far and the protection when things actually go awry, I think I would rather take my chances with my old Kevlar riding jeans that I have used for the previous 10 years.
I genuinely couldn’t find any positive aspects of my experience. I like to give manufacturers the benefit of the doubt and provide a fair shot, so I sent an email to customer support about the issues at hand and received no reply. That was a week ago.
