REVIEW OF THE REV'IT XENA LEATHER PANTS

• $399.99; my size 36
• Sizes: Euro 34-44 Standard Lengths;  Euro 38-44 Short, Euro 38-42 Long
• Colors: Black, White/Acid Green
• Removable velcro patches for knee pucks
• Tapered pant leg to wear inside race boots
• Hook and snap closure
• Short and long connection zippers (YKK, fits older Revit jackets too)
• Stretch panels along the inner thighs, crotch
• Lightly perforated along the thighs
• Monaco Performance Cowhide (I’m going to guess 1.2mm)
• SaS Tec CE rated knee armor included
• Tryoni Seesoft CE Level 1 hip armor included
• Sample and most photos provided by GearChic.com
• Companion Jacket: Xena Leather Jacket
• Where to Buy: Revzilla.com :)

Overview

For my first East Coast track day (9/20/15) I decided to purchase a pair of Revit Xena Pants instead of buying a full 1 piece suit. I knew that this late in the riding season a riding suit would go unworn until next spring. So I sprung for these instead. They were awesome!

I've only worn these twice, but I wanted to share a few thoughts before winter gets here since I won't be wearing them much until next spring.

The Xenas are your straightforward track / sport riding leather pant. That means they have tapered legs so you can wear them inside your race boots (see pic above). They’re meant to wear on the sportiest of bikes, with higher footpegs and typically below your hips in an aggressive riding position. They also fit much tighter through the legs so they're not in your way when you're on the track or on a sportbike.

My plan is to wear these in the spring, maybe summer if I can make them work in hotter temps. As far as protection, they do come with SasTec Knee Armor and Tryonic Seesoft Hip Protectors, both CE rated of course. I would definitely consider these both top of the line armor options.  The only downside to wearing the Tryonic hip protectors is how much tighter they make the hips feel! But I'll give you a work around for that further down. 

You might be wondering about warmth. They offer little perforations on the legs but I wouldn’t call it a perforated leather pant. In the first pic below, you can see the small perforations on each shin.

And here, you can a few on the top of the thighs.

As faras adjustments go, these have a hook and snap front closure and velcro adjustments on the hips. I really like the strategically placed stretch panels (very necessary for track days or aggressive riding positions) for a little more movement, especially when practicing your body positioning techniques!

One feature which I really like is the tapered cuffs at the ankles. It's thinner along the bottom and the velcros are thin as well. The stretch panel is thin too.

This definitely made them feel less bulky to wear inside my Sidi Vertigos.

Fit

I love wearing my gear tight, as fitted as possible. I hate anything baggy or loose on my body. That’s actually part of the reason why I bought these. My Gear 2’s are simply too curvy for my table booty and non existent hips. (One way you can determine this subtract the difference in inches from your hip to waist/butt measurements. If the number is more than 10”, you may have trouble getting these to fit over your hips so you'll definitely want to size up!). These have a pretty straight cut, nothing like the Alpinestars Stella Missile track leather pants which are more curvy. I’d say they feel fit a lot like Dainese pants, but it’s been a really long time since I’ve worn Dainese leathers. Based on their 1 piece womens race suit fitments, I’d say Dainese is a slimmer option than these. (The women’s 1-piece suits tend to run 1 size small in the hips, so order up a size).

So if you have any booty, or curvy hips, you’ll want to size up from your regular Revit size. Right now, I have a 31” waist and a 38” hip/booty. My butt is so flat, even Revit gear is getting too curvy for me. I love how snug and tight these fit. I haven’t fully broken them in yet, so I know they still need to loosen up.

I bought a 36, and I really had to shimmy to get in there while wearing my baselayer. Also, DO NOT try these on without a Baselayer (really this goes for trying on any leather motorcycle pant). You’ll get nowhere near the right size if you try to get them on with bare skin. If you’re shopping online, you may want to order the two sizes you might need, because depending on your preference of fit you might want to size up.  Since I like them tight, I went with the smaller size. When I tried on 38, I didn’t like how loose they were, specifically baggy above the knees. What I didn’t want is for them to stretch out and get baggier. So that’s why I went with the 36. To be frank, I like my gear tight. On regular people who aren't as anal as I am, a 38 would've been just fine. 

They were definitely tight the first time put them on. So tight I couldn’t zip them up at all. I also took out the Tryonic armor. Instead, I put in these Dainese Pro Shape Knee Protectors. They’re rated CE Level 2, and are way thinner! I wish Revit would’ve relaxed the fit around the hips about in inch to allow for the extra space the hip protectors take up.

Hopefully these pictures show you how much thicker the Tryonic (blue) is vs. the Dainese (black) stacked on top of eachother: there are 4 total pieces in this picture.

I highly recommend the Dainese protectors to use as Hip options in other pants. They’re pretty wide, but they do feel floppy so if your hip pocket is huge then you may need stitch the pocket tight around these.

So how did I get these pants to zip up?!

After sitting on the couch for about 30-45 minutes, (unzipped), I was able to zip them up :)

With new leathers, try just wearing them around the house, or on the couch. As soon as you put them on, they start to stretch. But sometimes they need a little more time.

These are also a much lower rise in the front than any of my other Revit pants like my Gear 2's. The Xenas cut into my hip bones a bit which feels worse Off the bike. As soon as I get on the bike and zip the pants to my Revit jackets, they feel fine.

I also ended up zipping them together with my older Revit leather jacket (a $40 eBay find!) and it was comfortable. In addition to the full 3/4 length wrap around zipper, there's a small 6" connection zipper hiding in the back. 

Since this was my first track day in over 5 years I didn’t bother getting knee pucks. You really aren’t concerned with that on your first track day. It’s all about getting a feel for your bike and concentrating on your entry speeds and lines in and out of each corner. Just focusing on proper technique! Knee dragging comes later.

Overall I love these pants, they just could use a slightly looser fitment in the hips to accommodate the full hip protectors. I'm hoping that by the time they break in, they will allow for me to add the Tryonic ones back. We'll see.  The only other thing I'd like to see is more perforations. I think most of us will be wearing these in spring/summer weather so it makes sense to turn these into a fully perforated pant. Perhaps increasing the perforations where they are now to cover more surface area, maybe around the pant zipper as well.

3/1/17 UPDATE

I've worn these riding about 7-8? times and they've stretched a little bit but nothing at all like my Gear 2's did.  I also rode with them in high 80s and they were pretty decent (although I'm happier in the heat than I am in the cold). 

But I have even better news. The Xena 2 pants are now out! My Xena 1 pants are on sale. I really liked how the 2s fit, a 36 is more comfortable, looser and fits almost like a 38 would have in the 1s. I didn't take any pics of myself wearing them unfortunately, but... I am REALLY tempted to buy the 2s instead. I do like a tight pant but oh man, mine are pretty tight. 

The 2s look pretty much the same. The biggest changes I noticed immediately after trying them on:

• High Rise front and back. For me this was SO much more comfortable. The 1st hit me right at my hipbones and aren't comfy until I get on the bike. 
• Looser thighs/hips. I have a flat ass and no hips. (31" waist, 37" hips). I wasn't filling the hip space very well and they were a tad baggy on me around there. 

The legs below the knees felt very similar, slim fit around the calves, not extra loose or anything. 

I do love my 1s, but man they keep me from gaining a couple pounds. 

Aesthetically, they look exactly the same with a cute new hashed accent down the thigh. Other than that, the material, venting scheme remains unchanged from what I could see. 

I love the new version and will most likely keep the version I currently have... but who knows? The gear closet is always hungry!