I’ve been obsessed with a little brand called Ripton ever since I learned about them at the Sea Otter Classic last summer. I met founder and CEO Elliot Wilkinson-Ray at his booth and he generously offered me a pair of performance jorts to try out.
With an insane 54 percent stretch, they are nearly as comfortable as spandex, which I learned while wearing them during an e-mountain bike race the very next day. I didn’t come close to winning, but I scored plenty of style points, and I’ve been rocking Riptons on rides around New York City ever since.
But as groundbreaking as these jorts are, today the brand launched a potentially even more earthshaking new product: jeans. Or, as Ripton calls them, jants. The potential is promising, as the jeans boast similar elements to the jorts, enabling them to transition seamlessly from the trail to the road to the bar, while covering all of your legs instead of just half of them.
These new pantalones are available in a couple of different varieties. The classic jeans feature 32 percent stretch, two mesh front pockets, a low-profile zippered side pocket and laminate-reinforced rear pockets. The performance jeans (for men) and hiker jeans (for women) get burly with reinforced articulated knees, a zippered cargo pocket and that same generous 32 percent stretch. All jeans are available in two of three colorways — Indigo, Stone and Vintage — and look perfect for all sorts of outdoor adventures.
Having spent a bit of time in both the classic jeans and the performance jeans, I can say I am just about stoked for these long fellows as I was about the original jorts. It’s too warm in NYC for long pants at the moment, but I’ll dish more details this fall, when the temperatures drop, I pull these puppies on and get more of a chance to put the rip in Ripton. Stay tuned.
