Casual road / "gravel" shorts recommendations please

[Cycleops]

Should be plenty of cargo shorts in the Charity Shops.

Quite honestly they're as good as anything, as long as not too baggy.
I buy mine here, they get sent from the UK and US. It's called 'Obruni Wahwu', clothes from the dead white man.

 

[All uphill]

Endura Humvees for me.

Good pockets (velcro, open and zips), good fabrics (light where you need it and tough where you need it) . Put them on and forget about them.

 

[ColinJ]

Endura Humvees for me.

Good pockets (velcro, open and zips), good fabrics (light where you need it and tough where you need it) . Put them on and forget about them.

Except on hot summer days, when one ends up bucketing sweat... At least THIS one does!

 

[wafter]

I see that Prime offer a 'Try before you buy' option. I wonder what happens to the ones that don't get bought... Do they get passed around potentially lots of people until somebody finally accepts them?

A moot point for me as I refuse to by from Amazon in any case. That said; I believe you can return stuff without reason within 14 days under distance selling regs anyway? Might get stung for return postage though. Makes a good case for actually being able to buy from a shop tbh!

Get padded undershorts then wear any slim fit outdoor shorts of choice.

Thanks - generally because I'm hardcore I ride with no padding anyway and have looked for outdoorsy shorts in the usual (discount) places but so far no luck. That said I'd not say no to a bit of padding as my arse does suffer; especially currently as the little riding I manage does little to promote any increased resileance in this area!

Stolen goat gravel shorts?
https://stolengoat.com/product/mens-anthracite-gravel-shorts/

Sport pursuit have lots of options eg half price Rivelo

Thanks - they look good and I'll add them to the shortlist!

Should be plenty of cargo shorts in the Charity Shops.

Not that I can see; and tbh most cargo shorts are usually cotton and I suspect would be a sweaty mess in no time. I'm not averse to spending a bit of money as long as there are tangible benefits and the product is decent value.

That said I have had the odd cycling-relevant charity shops score - the most recent being a nice orange Finisterre mostly-merino base layer for a fiver that would have been £60 new



Thanks for all for the recommendations - seems the Humvees are (mostly!) well-thought of too so I'll check these out as well

 

[vickster]

If you pay with PayPal, yiu can claim back any return postage costs once registered with the scheme.

mountain warehouse have lots of shorts (they also have shops)
https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/mens/shorts/

 

[andrew_s]

I'm using Gore C5 Trail shorts, which I find very good (just M&S Y-fronts under).

Having decided I liked them, I did what you should always do, and went out and bought a second pair. A good thing too, the current model is different; they've dispensed with the zipped leg pockets and added a couple of inches to the length.

I've got a pair of Hummvees too, but I don't use them much as they are a heavier fabric than I like.

In overall terms, I'd always look for something with a bit of stretch to the fabric, which knocks out a lot of basic charity shop type shorts.

 

[rivers]

I have a pair of DHB mountain bike shorts from wiggle. They're not too baggy and are quite comfortable.

 

[Gunk]

You’re over thinking it, any lightweight shorts will be fine, I wear Decathlon own brand lightweight shorts with Lycra cycling shorts underneath.

 

[R_nger]

Another vote for the Gore C5 shorts. They’re light, stretchy and have useful pockets (I also have the running version). Blacks always seem to have a decent deal - and have 15% off at the moment.

I have various Rapha touring and commuting shorts and 3 lengths of Humvees - but, as mentioned by other posters they can get a bit warm and clammy outside the colder months of the year.

 

[Reynard]

The mid range MTB shorts from Decathlon - they're about £30 a pop. Unlined, but you can buy padded liners for them. I bought a couple of pairs of the blokes ones three years ago at a time when their ladies' ones were ridiculously... short. I prefer knee-length shorts.

I also wear them as shorts off the bike when it's hot as well, as they don't scream "cycling shorts"

They wick decently, have elasticated (adjustable) waistband and have good deep pockets. I think the style might have changed a bit in the interim, but worth a look.

Of course, they now do knee-length ladies' ones as well...

 

[wafter]

Thanks all - looks like a decent shortlist is emerging

If you pay with PayPal, yiu can claim back any return postage costs once registered with the scheme.

mountain warehouse have lots of shorts (they also have shops)
https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/mens/shorts/

Ta - looks like Mountain Warehouse have some apparently decent / suitable offerings so I might give them a go; worst-case I can hopefully re-purpose them for some other outdoorsy activities.

You’re over thinking it, any lightweight shorts will be fine, I wear Decathlon own brand lightweight shorts with Lycra cycling shorts underneath.

Of course I'm over-thinking it - that's what I do.. think I'll give the MW efforts above a go before I try anything more exotic. They can't be any less unsuitable than what I'm using currently

 

[Brandane]

Another vote for Decathlon shorts. The only criticism is that the "MTB" specific shorts that come with the padded shorts incorporated into them are a bit rubbish... Presumably most cyclists who want padded shorts will already have better quality padded shorts, so just buy normal shorts and wear your own (better) padded shorts underneath. I have shorts similar to these, about £25 from Decathlon:

 

[Sallar55]

Picked a pair of Assos gravel shorts that were reduced. Bought my usual size but the are a very loose fit, better to go a size smaller very light and 2 well placed pockets for cycling. No belt straps just the silicone grippers around waist band.

 

[wafter]

Thanks all - since the cheapest options are also the most accessible (Mountain Warehouse and Decathlon) I'm going to sit on this (no pun intended!) until I'm next in the city and will hopefully try some on to sidestep the pitfalls of buying blind by mail order. If I get no joy I'll start looking at the more expensive "proper" options

 

[wafter]

So... I took a look at Mountain Warehouse's offerings - all but two of their walking shorts were a pretty heavy material so ruled out, the one pair of others I tried rode up excessively during a normal cycling-esque leg movement and by far the most promising looking (I think "explore") weren't present in my size..

At least I ruled a few out however, while I also found that they apparently do cycling-specific kit (jackets in particular); but got kicked out before I'd really had much of a chance to try it on.. will take another look when the opportunity presents itself.

Exciting stuff indeed