Product review: Royal Enfield Rev'It Darcha pants

The Royal Enfield Rev'It Darcha pants are meant to go with the eponymous jacket but are a vastly simpler design than the jacket. In theory they aren't a set but we tested them together, starting with the Royal Enfield Himalayan first ride in Shimla

Ignore the dirt patch on the knee - that's just my native inability to keep riding gear clean. The Royal Enfield Rev'It Darcha pants present a fairly simple looking profile. But inside is a waterproof liner, top-spec armour and a removable thermal liner as well

What is it

The Darcha pant is a simple waterproof pant in design. It offers a polyester shell with a stitched in waterproof liner inside. Knox brings knee armour to the table and there are pockets for hip armour if you would like to add some. The pants offer a simple snap-fit closure, Rev'It's oft-used webbing and slider-style waist adjustment, two deep pockets on the thigh and an 8-inch connection zip at the rear. The legs are cut slim and a zipper hides a boot gusset that runs from the knee to the hem allows you to zip the pants closed over boots for a tight, draught-free setup. Royal Enfield and Rev'It also bundle a zip-in padded insulating liner that adds warmth to the Darcha's talents.

What we liked about it

The Darcha pant promises to keep you dry and warm and it delivers this without any doubt. On our day out in Shimla, neither I nor Rishaad got soaked or cold.
The pants are cut slim and they look great. The zipper at the bottom also holds the shell close to the boot which looks great and more importantly, keep water and wind out very effectively.

Here are both the things I didn't like about the design and construction of the Royal Enfield Rev'It Darcha pant. The pockets are an odd shape which push everything inside towards the inner side of the thigh which is distinctly uncomfortable. The sliding waist adjuster is fiddly. The materials and finish though are excellent

What we didn't like

The webbing and slider waist adjuster doesn't retain its setting and is extremely fiddly to cinch after the pants are on. This is true for all Rev'It gear that uses it, not just the Darcha pant. Rev'It's thigh pockets, similarly, all are unusually shaped and cause phones to slide to the inside of the thigh which is distinctly uncomfortable - again not restricted to the Darcha.

The Darcha pant, unlike the jacket, doesn't have any vents at all. This is wonderful for cold and wet conditions but it makes riding with them in summer very sweaty indeed. If you don't normally wear a baselayer, it feels much worse - you are literally swimming in your own sweat.

Verdict

Rev'it uses this slider on webbing as a volume adjustment and I've come to find it fiddly to use. It also seems to lose its 'memory' and you keep having to reset it

Like we said for the Royal Enfield Rev'It Darcha jacket, the pants are also terrific value and bring great capability and performance in cold and wet conditions. However, they're very warm and sweaty and summer use will be hard. The legs, fortunately, are less sensitive to temperature than the torso so I'd say the Darcha pants will still be wearable in slightly warmer conditions where the jacket might be just too sweaty. That said, the Darcha pant (and the jacket) is a well-made, extremely capable piece of riding gear in its element - the cold and the wet - and it's hard to beat. However, unlike the Jacket, which doesn't have much competition, there are pants priced well below the Darcha pant that offer similar levels of performance. The Royal Enfield Rev'It Darcha pants are priced at Rs 13,500 at store.royalenfield.com

Rs 13,500 at store.royalenfield.com

Click here to read our Royal Enfield Rev'It Darcha jacket product review