Spidi J-Fit Superslim jeans in dark blue

We have always had a soft spot for Spidi jeans. In fact, the single-layer jean was pretty much invented by the Italian company. They do a high-end jean made with Dyneema. They also produce a jean that hits a lower price point, but that has always worked well for us. And that jean is the J-Tracker Tech.

 

Which brings us to this new Spidi jean: the J-Fit.

 

We were first introduced to this jean when we went over to the factory last year to view the Spidi 2025 collection. In truth, we weren't really looking for another jean. But they asked us to try it on; and it was so comfortable that we thought we would have to give it a go.

 

The fit of the jean is somewhat slimmer than the J-Tracker. Now that will be what some people are looking for, but it won't be for everybody. The stretch in the fabric, however, means that some of those who might have thought that a slim fit was not for them will find that J-Fits might prove to be the exception to the rule. We have always thought that our Rokker Legend jeans were comfortable, but these are, in some ways, next level. You won't find a more comfortable bike jean. Although that will still depend, to an extent, on how they fit you. They won't work for everybody.

 

The jean itself will pass for a street jean. It comes in two colours, but we've gone for the darker version. There are some very subtle 'whiskers' at the top of the jean, and there's a bit of fading in the knees, but there's nothing about the J-Fit that looks 'out there'.  Anybody, of any age, could wear these jeans.

 

The armour fits into an external pocket through a thin gauge zip concealed in the outer seam. And what this means is that, in theory, you could easily remove the armour when you get into work, for example. 

 

The armour is Spidi's own. It's not like D3O. In fact, it is very slightly shaped, but it is very flexible. And it is large. You would not swap it out; in fact, nobody else's armour works in Spidi's knee pocket.

 

Now for some people the issue will be that the jean is only rated A for abrasion resistance under EN17092. And many people these days look for the reassurance of an AA rating. But the story here is the same as it was when the J-Tracker first came out.

 

Now the Italian market is very price conscious. It's also a market that cares not a jot about CE certification. And if you've ever been overtaken by a motorcycle on the Autostrada, you will appreciate this. After all, very few shorts are CE certified! And so what this means is that Spidi has left out the hip armour to bring the price down. And when you do this, you can only obtain a single-A rating under EN 17092. This, it would seem, is what works for Spidi in their home market.

 

But what we have been told is that the material passes the Darmstadt test at the AA level. Now as they eventually did with the J-Tracker, we hope that Spidi will review this, add hip armour to the package, and move the jean up to AA. But as this is a new model, that decision is perhaps a little way down the road. But buy the hip armour for an extra £19.99, and you have what is, in essence, an AA rated jean.

 

Here's the issue, though. Not all AA-rated jeans are the same. Our AA-rated Rokker jeans, for example, were tested on a Cambridge machine and recorded a slide time of over six seconds. But the AA-rated Spidi J-Tracker jeans only achieved a slide time of just over two seconds. And what this tells us that not all AA rated jeans are equal.

 

So, what you need to accept is that the J-Fits are not the strongest, most abrasion-resistant jeans on the market. If that's what you want, you'll need to pay a bit more. And so, in our view, this is the jean for the urban rider, the jean for somebody on a smaller bike, the jean for the guy who potters about about on a Harley or a Bonneville. It's probably the perfect jean for the youngster, or indeed anybody on their first bike. If you're a speed merchant, don't like to get overtaken, and never miss an apex, this isn't the jean for you.

 

Anyway, that's the way we see it. We really like this new jean. We will have to see what customers think about it. But please make sure you know what you're buying. We hate the idea of people riding in the wrong gear. If the Spidi J-Fit doesn't sound right for the kind of riding you, don't buy them.

 

In terms of fit, the waist goes from a 28" up to a 40". There is only one leg length. It's 34", and that's quite long, although if you wear a 32" in a pair of street jeans you would probably need a 34" in a bike jean. In the shop, we do any alterations for free. But there's a final point here. You can only shorten a jean by so much. And that's because if you shortened this jean to, say, a 30" leg length, the armour would almost certainly sit too low.