Joe Rocket Stealth Sport Pants Review | Leather Plus

February 16, 2017

Joe Rocket Stealth Sport Pants Review

Although I like to ride fast when I’m on a sport bike, I also have to admit to falling prey to the desire to be comfortable when riding. Kevlar jeans have certainly been my pants of choice on days when I really should have been wearing something a bit more substantial.

The thought of full track gear—either a one-piece or two-piece suit—seems excessive unless I’m planning to ride at race speeds, so I’ve often felt like I wanted a bridge between technical riding jeans and the ultimate in protection.

Joe Rocket Stealth Sport pants are my new favorite pants when I’m on a high-performance sport bike and I want to ride fast, thought short of all-out. The Stealth Sport pants give me the abrasion protection of top grain cowhide leather (ranging from 1.3 to 1.1mm in thickness), and the impact absorption of CE-rated knee armor, along with large textile stretch panels that are built for comfort.

Putting on the Joe Rocket Stealth Sport pants gives you a good feeling immediately. The weight signals the gravitas of the protection, but the stretch panels make the pants easy to get on and they feel good once inside.

Securing the pants so they stay on when you need them is a robust snap and steel clip up front. From there, the pants are further secured by a hook-and-loop closure integrated belt, which also allows customization of the fit, along with the self-adjusting stretch panels on the side of the waist. Finally, there’s a fly zipper that seems on the dainty side, given the robust build of the rest of the pants.

The stretch panels focus on areas you bend, naturally, including the crotch area and behind your knees—areas that aren’t likely to need abrasion protection. Additionally, your lower front trunk has textile for comfort, and your lower back has a large accordion panel for flexibility. Whether riding, walking, or sitting, these Joe Rocket Stealth Sport pants are truly comfortable.

Along with the aforementioned CE knee protectors, the Stealth Sport pants have hip padding, but it’s not CE-rated. As I didn’t feel those pads were going to help me much if I went down, I removed them (they’re held on via hook-and-loop); Forcefield Body Armor makes CE-rated hip armor for those who feel the need. There are also large hook-and-loop patches on the outside of the knees, so you can add Joe Rocket Knee Sliders ($40/pair) if you are so inclined.

Finally, the Stealth Sport pants have two options for attaching a compatible jacket. There’s an eight-inch zipper in the back, along with a beefy zipper that goes almost all the way around the waist. I have run the pants with Joe Rocket’s Meta-X jacket, and the eight-inch attachment gives a bit of extra security compared to running unzipped. Zipping it on and off successfully behind your back, however, will be determined by your dexterity.

The Joe Rocket Stealth Sport pants I tested were the non-perforated version. Even in warmer weather, enough air passed through the textile portions to keep me comfortable as long as the temperatures were in the double digits. If you are more sensitive to heat, or ride in the warmest locales, there is a version with perforated leather for plenty of airflow.

Very much a companion piece to the excellent leather/textile hybrid Meta-X jacket, the Joe Rocket Stealth Sport pants offer both comfort and protection for the serious sport rider. Most importantly, they make it appealing to step up from the technical riding jeans to something more protective and, in many ways due to the stretch panels, also more comfortable and flexible.

Joe Rocket Stealth Sport Fast Facts