Alpinestars Andes Drystar Pants

The pants are sold in ordinary US Alpha sizes and Alpinestars offers a chart to estimate the waist size for each alpha size. The conversion estimates are about what you’d expect for each US alpha size but the actual pants are a bit smaller than what Alpinestars estimates. In our Fit Check with Huey and Dewey, we had to do our feature photos with the XL pants on Huey (who would usually wear a Medium) because the Medium pants wouldn’t fit over his bum!

To help you get the right size, we’ve developed a chart which shows Alpinestars “official” estimate of size and what size we observed. Please note that we are listing a waist size range for each pant. That is because the pants have adjustment tabs on the waist that allow you to snug them down if needed.

Need help measuring? Get it here.

The Andes Drystar pants by Alpinestars are of course made to be paired with the Andes Drystar jacket. Like the jacket, these pants also are made with the integral Drystar liner to achieve the waterproofing capabilities. And like the jacket, these pants will be ideal for those that ride in wet and/or mild to cold weather. The pants are made waterproof by way of a “drystar” lining that is installed in the pant between the outer shell and the inner lining. This type of waterproofing is very effective, but the permanent liner means that the pants won’t have a lot of venting capability. You’ll see that the pants have a couple vents on the sides of the thigh but because of the liner and the vent position, I can’t see how these vents would be effective. So for mild to cold or wet weather, you’ll really like this style. For colder weather use, the pants are equipped with a removable thermal liner that feels plushy and nice.

And like the jacket, I really like the overall construction and look of the pants. The materials are high quality and reasonably priced. One thing you get with these pants that I’ve always been a fan of is suspenders. Now, some of you may scoff, but I invite you to try the suspenders on a long tour. You can wear your pants at a comfortable tightness for long term sitting, and then they’ll also fit good and “stay up” when you are off the bike because of the suspenders. Now admittedly, I have a bit of a belly but so do a lot of you and if you do, all the better to have those suspenders! But if you aren’t buying my sales pitch on the suspenders, they are easily removable. Take the “View Larger Images” link above and you can see how those remove and also see shots of all the other features of these pants. I think the Andes jacket and pants both are very nice looking, have a lot of features and are value priced. :: Paul, 06-24-13