No-one needs to see me get down to my boxer shorts when I arrive at work. Thankfully, the Rev’It Enterprise 2 jeans mean no-one needs to see me get down to my boxer shorts when I arrive at work.
The textile jeans make it easy to wear them over regular denim jeans, with a wide entry zip at the leg that makes it a breeze to slide them over the top. This zip also makes it a doddle to pull them over riding boots. Fasten the zip, secure a Velcro strap at the bottom and off we go.
I’ve been using this tactic of wearing oversized textile jeans on top of denim for years of bike commuting, but the Enterprise 2 make it easier than any others I’ve tried.
There was no need to go up in size to make them fit over my denims, although I’ve primarily worn them over a thin pair of modern slim-fit jeans and thicker, baggier denims may need a bigger size to go over the top.
I wore the Enterprise 2s for the vast majority of a 2500-mile round-Britain odyssey that took me from my Lincolnshire base to Land’s End, up to John O’Groats and then back home over an 11-day span.
Photography: Will Brodie
I’m sure Rev’It would say the jeans are not designed for such touring antics and they’re more suited to lighter duties. But the weather forecast for my trip was surprisingly positive and I didn’t want heavy-duty touring kit. I wanted something to give me proper protection against weather and potential mishaps, but that would be light enough to wander around in the planned long stops on each day’s rides.
My plan was to spend most of the time in Kevlar-lined denim riding jeans and put the Rev’It trousers over the top when it rained. But the Bull-It jeans I chose were too bulky for this plan, so I spent almost the whole ride with my casual jeans under the Enterprise 2s instead.
I wore the jeans with the Rev’It Lucid textile jacket, which is similarly light in weight, and the combination worked well. The jeans made it especially easy to strip out of riding clobber when arriving at the campsite each night to pitch my tent.
The waist adjusting band makes it simple to fine-tune the fit to suit whatever is underneath, including the removable thermal liner supplied with the jeans.
Confession-time: I’ve not tested the thermal lining as the weather didn’t demand it and my rollbag didn’t have room for it. But it is a thick example, not the apologetic flyaways seen in some jeans, and I’d expect it to offer a good level of insulation.
Perhaps unbelievably, I rode 2500 miles around Britain in 11 days and saw barely a drop of rain (and this was a month before the ‘Great 2018 Heatwave’), so I only learnt how good the breathability is. In temperatures up to 22 degrees Celsius or so, I was fine in the Enterprise 2.
Wearing denim jeans underneath helped comfort, providing a barrier between my skin and the Hydratex waterproof membrane that’s fixed inside the Enterprise 2 jeans.
The weather soon changed on my return, which gave me chance to get out and test the jeans’ waterproofing qualities. They performed faultlessly for a week of wet commuting, resisting all water.
The only downside for use in heavy rain is that a short connecting zip means there’s more chance for rain to creep between the jeans and jacket, meaning a damp midriff.
By the time the weather turned back again, delivering the Great 2018 Heatwave, I found myself having a spin out to take the photos for this review. This time I wore them without denim underneath (assuming it would be cooler), but the 29-degree temperature was too much for the jeans.
Within minutes the lining was damp, which wasn’t the most comfortable experience. I’d recommend wearing a layer under the jeans whenever possible. There are two reasons why I wouldn’t criticise jeans for struggling in such temperatures: 1) It rarely gets that hot here in the UK. 2) I’ve never found waterproof jeans that work brilliantly in that heat.
To get perfection across all weather conditions is an impossible task for something in the Enterprise 2 price range. These jeans cover the bulk of climates we’ll never face in Britain, and do a brilliant job of it.
I can usually move on quite easily from one piece of review kit to the next, but the Enterprise 2 jeans work so well, and offer something so useful, that I found myself wanting to keep on using them rather than trying something new.
Fit & Comfort
The fit is regular and ideal, offering enough room to go over regular denim jeans while still remaining well fitted if worn without jeans underneath. Another plus is the choice of three leg lengths – and a choice of two heights for the knee armour, ensuring it sits in the right place. Comfort is only diminished slightly by the lack of venting, which makes riding in high temperatures a bit sticky.
Protection
I can hardly quibble on this count. Knee and hip armour (proper CE hip armour, not flimsy foam) comes as standard and the material on the knees is a high-denier overlay for extra protection.
Waterproofing
My commute to work is a 65-mile round trip and the Enterprise 2 jeans resisted steady rain throughout two or three of these journeys to and from Boston. I wore the jeans zipped to a matching Rev’It Lucid jacket. They did exactly what I wanted them to.
Build quality
The construction quality is high, with neat and tidy stitching throughout and the right materials in the right place. Classy touches like a clip-in waist fastener, fit adjuster and long opening zip to accommodate boots all belong on pricier jeans.
Features
The main lack is a full connection zip for attaching to trousers (it has a short attachment zip), but the features list remains impressive for a pair of day-to-day commuting jeans.