Joe Rocket Ballistic Ultra Pants (SOLD OUT)

We measured various sizes and inseam lengths in these pants and developed the chart below. Just as an FYI, this chart matches Joe Rocket’s official size chart exactly for waist, however the inseam lengths we measured were just about 1” shorter than their standard chart indicates.

There is a range listed for waist because there are two adjustment straps on the side of the waist that allow you to snug these pants down below the max waist size list (but they don’t adjust bigger than the range).

You’ll be wearing these pants as “overpants” so you’ll likely wear pants or shorts underneath so measure yourself over whatever clothes you think you’ll wear underneath. I’d recommend you measure yourself just below the navel and buy these pants accordingly. Motorcycle pants like this ride a little higher on your body than some jeans, so it is best to measure, particularly if you have a bit of a belly.

Need help measuring? Get it here.

The Ballistic Ultra pants add a second removable liner…. one waterproof and one thermal. With the ability to use either a waterproof liner or a thermal liner, the Ballistic Ultra pants will take you from the coldest, wettest weather up through warm and dry weather. For use in warm weather, the pants have two front zip vents and two rear zip vents too. Those will extend the comfort range up a few degrees. For hot summer weather, you’ll want to get some mesh overpants. Any solid textile pant like this, even with vents, will get warm in the summer.

These pants will be ideal for commuters and touring riders since they are designed as “overpants”. They have leg zippers on the inside of each leg, and when zipped up, they will allow you to pull them on easily over your pants or shorts. One slight flaw I see with the design and their convenience as overpants is that the thermal liner and rain liner have substantially shorter zippers (starting about mid-calf), so when you use those liners, it won’t be easy to get them on and off over boots. I’d guess they limited the liner zipper length to make sure the liner remained watperproof, so I guess it was a design trade-off. I did confirm that the use of the liners is an “either/or” situation. You can use one, or the other, or both.

The pants are equipped with a very nice armor setup. The armor is CE approved in both the knees and the hips. It is a softer compound of rubber and feels more like the very popular D3O armor than past designs which used a more firm rubber compound. The knee armor is situated in a pocket that allows you to adjust the height of the armor up or down a bit to fit where your knee falls in the pants. Like any other pant like this, the armor will fall down a bit on your leg while standing and rise up into position when sitting on the bike, so you’ll want to adjust the armor to work best when you are in the riding position. At the ends of each leg there are a couple Velcro tabs so you can snug them down to your liking over your boots.

I like how the waist on the pants can be adjusted with the two side Velcro tabs and then there are some expansion panels on each side of the hips to make room for the hip armor and to give you some room when you sit. With that design, the pants can be cut a bit more trim and have a better appearance while standing. For storage, I see two zip-close hand warmer pockets and there is also a zip connection in the back that will mate to Joe Rocket jackets that also have a zipper. Check our photo gallery to see the nighttime reflectives included.

I think these pants are a very affordable choice for somebody who needs the full range of removable liners. For a pant that includes both liners and four pieces of armor and the long over pant zippers, I think these pants are a very good value. :: Paul, 05-09-17