Over the winter I bought a pair of Oxford jeans, they are the SP-J5. I have only started wearing them since the weather, and temperature, has improved and while they are comfortable the knee armour sits in totally the wrong place. When riding the armour knee pads sit on the inside of the knees leaving the outside, the bit that's going to hit the ground in the event of an off unprotected. I can see why the pads are where they are, it's because the pocket is sewn in up to the outside seam as can be seen in the picture when ideally it should straddle it. Do other makes do this? Does anyone have a pair where the knee pads sit where you'd expect, protecting the outside of the knee and if so what make are they?
Hi Mr Toad, have you considered un-picking the existing pocket and sewing it in a different position? Or alternatively get some suitable material and just sew in some new pockets in the correct position ?
Yes, that's the plan but I need to speak to the girlfriend, she's an absolute whiz with a sewing machine. It just bloody irritates me that a product specifically designed to do a job fails. When standing the pads sit correctly, they are central over the knee and extend below it to allow it to move up into the perfect position when riding. In reality the legs of the jeans twist slightly putting the pad on the inside. If they twisted the same amount the other way they would be perfect. I have emailed Oxford for their comments and will post their response when I get it.
My knee pads on my jeans are separate items, in a sleave which is worn under the jeans. Bit like skateboard pads. Then you know they are on the right position, no matter how loose fitting the jeans are. Think they cost about £20 from sports bike shop.com. You could always ditch your knee armour and just get a pair of them.
Got to say that this seems to be true for all my jeans. The last pair I bought my wife stitched in a wider velcro strip so I could try and position them. It made them a bit better, but the pocket itself just shifts over to the inside when I sit on the bike.
Unfortunately the pockets are fixed and only just big enough to hold the pads. Option 1 is to unpick and move the pocket, if the girlfriend will do it. Option 2 is to go with Mr Orange's suggestion.
Update. I emailed Oxford about the jeans and I have to say their customer service is excellent. I could have had a refund but I like the jeans, the fit and finish suit me and were the best of the many pairs I tried. My girlfriend is going to relocate the internal pockets and fix the problem, apparently a real easy fix. Oxford tell me they have passed this on the their product development people to look at. As a thank you for highlighting this issue they have very kindly offered me 40% off my next purchase. I am going to use it to buy a tank bag to match the X40 tail pack I already have. I had already decided before I emailed them that I was keeping the jeans and getting the pockets sorted so I wasn't expecting any sort of refund. I just wanted to give them customer feedback in the hope that improvements would be made in future.
Yes, I can't imagine getting any kind of result from one of the cheap and cheerful internet dealers selling barely adequate kit.
Cheaper and less painful than having your kneecaps surgically re-positioned to suit the armour. Great result Mr Toad
