UKC

Are underrated.

Discuss.

In reply to bouldery bits: Thank you,reminded me to buy some -Wiggle £10 delivered

In reply to bouldery bits:

Got three pair of them, wouldn't be without them.

In reply to Removed User:

Ronhills give pot bellied middle aged men special powers. A bit like kryptonite in reverse.

In reply to bouldery bits:



Agree. Got two pairs for £30. If it's cold I wear both. Budgie smugglers for outdoors folk.

In reply to Dave the Rave:

Yes, they do enhance your bag of carrots, got several pairs from years ago at Magic Mountain £1 a pair, just dodgy bright colours but still going strong.

Top kit

In reply to bouldery bits:

Agreed. They seem to get a lot of hate, but they are comfy, stretchy, fast drying and cheap! Gotta be done!

In reply to bouldery bits:

Yes and no

In reply to bouldery bits:

guilty pleasure

In reply to bouldery bits:

out today running off road with my RH's, awesome

In reply to bouldery bits:

Yes - I'm out and proud. Just click on my profile.

Their reputation is largely because they're only worn by geriatrics. They have that reputation because anyone younger doesn't want to be seen wearing something that's only worn by geriatrics. So that's why they end up only worn being by geriatrics.

Everyone else is missing out on a great piece of kit.

Martin

In reply to bouldery bits:


By whom?

T.

In reply to bouldery bits:

what are ronhills?

In reply to jsmcfarland:
The original tracksters. For the full traditional tick they need to be the blue ones with a red stripe.

https://www.natterjack.co.uk/images/W-Trackster-NBB.jpg

To answer the OP, they're not underrated though. Nobody says they're not good, the ron-skeptics diss them on the grounds that they're hideous.

In reply to deepsoup:

So can we add a whole new genre to our sport?

Bouldering, Sport, Alpinism, Big wall, Trad, and now, Very Trad (Ron Hills below, Helly Hanson fleece on top, rigid stem friends, cowbell hexes, snowdon mouldings helmet, Whillans harness and EBs)

In reply to bouldery bits:
Is it true that you're only allowed to wear them at climbing walls if they are accompanied by at least three carabiners, each festooned with slings and Prussians?

>> Edit - should be prussiks not Prussians; isn't autocorrect a wonderful thing? Leaving it as Prussians above as it's something I'd like to see more of at climbing walls.

In reply to Willi Crater:

Prussians? Only if they're the blue version (see above)

In reply to bouldery bits:

They are the most flexible piece of clothing I own, along with the smelly Helly top. I wear them as a thermal layer under ski salopettes and for skiing and ski touring in warm weather, for walking, for scuzzing around the house and sometimes on the bike. And yes, if you leave the stirrups off they do seem to enhance your packet; I got picked up hitching up the Pass and the girl driver couldn't seem to keep her eyes on the road. It went from flattering to embarassing to worrying in a couple of miles.

In reply to bouldery bits:

My Girlfriend and I both wear them

In reply to bouldery bits:

Not quite the classic Trackster but I also own a pair of the winter tights
https://www.peteblandsports.co.uk/products/ron-hill-trail-winter-tight-all-...
And they are absolutely spot on for winter running, somehow being neither too cold or too hot. They also make a better baselayer for your legs than most baselayers!

vive la Ronhill

In reply to bouldery bits:

I'm wearing a pair of Trackster Treks right now...

In reply to bouldery bits:



I agree, although never wear them now. But as a peice of multi-purpose outdoor kit, they have hardly been bettered.

Often think of them as the Phil Collins of the outdoor clothing world; through the 80's they were everywhere and in the ascendency then at some point it was decided that they were the very quintessence of naff and to be treated with much disdain and ridicule. A tragic and cruel demise. Although Phill Collins probably deserved it..

In reply to bouldery bits:

Much better stuff out there, for running and climbing. I've got a few pairs, haven't worn them for at least a decade. I bump in to Ron Hill on a regular basis, even he doesn't wear them any more.

In reply to bouldery bits:

Back in the late 70's early 80's I was asked by a French Guide if Ron Hills were issued to climbers by the BMC and he was being serious. I wore them back then but to be honest they look hideous. Not sure which is worse, the tight look on overweight men or the baggy look on climbers with skinny legs. Neither is a good look guys. Fair play to those who don't care what they look like but they are verging on the obscene. They are practical but no longer cheap so I can't see what the appeal is any more.

Al

In reply to bouldery bits:

They flatter good quads and glutes. But the fastening system is awful.

In reply to Martin Hore:



Oi leave us oldies out of the debate!

In reply to bouldery bits:

Mine are so importnat to me they are mainly beefed up with knee and arse patches. No one else? Brilliant climbing kit for route cleaning, long UK mountain routes or showery days.

In reply to bouldery bits:
These were th go to pair of trousers for many walkers/climbers for many, good reasons.
You could wear them to
Drive to the crag/hill
Climb, run, bike, walk,etc
Wear to the pub
Sleep in them
Wear as thermals
They came in light and heavier weight versions and not all of them were bright colours.
They dried as fast as most materials and were reasonably hardwearing unless you spent all day thrutching
up gritstone chimneys.
Then the fashion police sent them the way of tweed trousers and climbing breeches.
If somebody knows of a more versatile pair of trousers then feel free to list them.

Pmc

In reply to The New NickB:


Some examples please, and at a comparable price.

In reply to baron:

You wear them to the pub!?!

In reply to Marek:


For running, pretty much any modern running tight. For climbing, it rather depends what sort of climbing you are doing, but pretty much any light synthetic trouser.

In reply to The New NickB:


I was half-thinking of digging out my old pair for a cold run on the bike this weekend...what are the alternatives you recommend?

In reply to The New NickB:


So, no examples then
Besides, I thought Tracksters were a modern running tight (showing my ages here). They certainly match the 'light synthetic trouser[s]' criteria.

In reply to Marek:



I think you are rather proving my point. As I say, Dr Ron Hill, a polymer chemist as well as a 2:10 marathon runner, can see that polymer technology has moved on.

In reply to bouldery bits:

I've got my dad's Ron Hill top which goes with the bottoms of course. I've become quite addicted to wearing it! I certainly still use the bottoms. 20 years old at least. I wear them to run in when its cold and under trousers when its really cold. I don't wear the top and the bottoms at the same time. That would be a bit too much.

In reply to The New NickB:


Just because "polymer technology has moved on" doesn't mean the old stuff isn't perfectly good. Especially when the new stuff is 2-3x the price (ref: Wiggle). All to often 'progress' mean expensive marginal gains in increasingly niche applications.

Still no explicit examples of better products?

In reply to The New NickB:
Not any more. I was an early victim of the fashion police.
Now in order to look fashionable I have about Four different pairs/types of trousers.
Each pair is more specific to the task in hand and each one performs better than the Ron Hills but I still haven't
found one pair that does multiple tasks as well as the Ron Hills.
However, I am in no way arguing that Ron Hills ever made any male look 'cool'.

In reply to Marek:


I never claimed it wasn't, but there is plenty of cheap kit available that performs better.

In reply to The New NickB:


Better than Tracksters (£10 at Wiggle)? Enough with these generalisations! Examples please.

In reply to Marek:


For running for example, £15 asics winter tights from sportshoes.com are far, far superior.

In reply to bouldery bits:

SWMBO (the chief of fashion police in our house) binned my somewhat ragged Ron Hills several years ago, but I still have (and wear!) the derivative 'Bikesters' as part of my cycle commute wardrobe. I also have some similar Endura (or Altura, can't remember which) troos, which look and feel very similar.

A memory from the '80s - I used to wear 2 pairs of Ron Hills for winter walking/climbing and also for winter road cycling. On one Saturday afternoon Snowdonia loop, the headwind from PyB to the Pen-y-Gwryd was bitter and I was almost stopped in my tracks by the most excruciatingly painful, cold-induced, balls-ache! I stopped at Pen-y-pass and rummaged in a bin for something potentially windproof. Finding a carrier bag, I nipped into the loos and said bag was fashioned into a makeshift 'windproof nappy' sandwiched between the 2 pairs of Dr Hill's finest. The carrier bag's handles protruded at the waist, which enabled the slippery nappy to be pulled up, but added nothing to the overall sartorial elegance. Nevertheless, I was suitably protected for the high speed descent of Llanberis Pass and the ride back to Bangor.

If I recall correctly, before the introduction of Tracksters there were few alternatives: Adidas tracksuits (only available as top and bottoms) and a similar 'tracksuit' from M&S.

N

In reply to baron:

I remember there being tongue in cheek stuff in climbing magazines about Jason Myles 'making bouldering unfashionable' when he was working on Brad Pitt in his Ronhills. It might have been in On The Edge.

I feel like a stalk in them.

In reply to Timmd:


Haha, I'm gonna think about that every time I see someone wearing them now.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Is rigid raider your porn name?

In reply to lone:


That must be a snug fit!

In reply to Offwidth:

I have thought of doing this with mine. What material have you used to beef them up? Hard job?

In reply to joe.wahab:
Other dead Ron Hills... inspired by Frankenstein. It retains flexibility and the movement of the layers means they just dont wear out again as fast. I do a lot of crag cleaning and lower grade and obscure route checking.

I mostly climb indoors in stretch Rab cargo pants these days, my desert climbing trousers of choice. I'm a kind chap and the modern indoor mob struggles with patched tights.

In reply to Offwidth:

I can remember being a teenager and stopping to chat to a guy in Ronhills bouldering in my local park, and being vaguely disconcerted by his meat and two veg visibly jiggling as he came up to talk.

It's less 'fashion' and more the 'perturb factor'.

In reply to bouldery bits:

Thank goodness I've found the Ronhill's fetish thread on a Friday night. Ooh how well they stretch.

In reply to bouldery bits:

I remember a friend seeing her first pair of Rons at the crag - an old boy with the full look (possibly including a Whillans harness). She went very pale indeed and made some strange noises. When he pottered off to talk to someone else she croaked "good god... you could see his frenulum..." and fainted.

Happy days.

I had three pairs in rotation, two pairs in winter and one for "best" thank god thats all over...

b

In reply to bouldery bits:

The Amazon product description for ronhills. I shit you not.

"The Ronhill Classic GT Trackster Running Pants feature Exertec 100 Fabric for a more comfortable and snug fit. These trackster pants are made from a durable and hardwearing material that will stretch to the contours of your body ensuring that you remain comfortable while on your runs. With an additional key pocket located in the interior of these pants, you can keep your small valuables safe and secure while you run."

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Brilliant

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:



So your big valuable will slip out and wave around? Really, that's not good is it?

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:


Many years ago, Outdoors Magic gave me a stove for a review of Ron Hills; they were running a monthly 'best review' competition at the time.

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/reviews/other-clothing/walking-trousers/ron-hi...

My opinion of them hasn't changed.

T.