John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
Bought From: Chain Reaction Cycles
Price Paid: £35.99
Note: The review refers to the short version of the Humvee, not the 3/4 version.
On my commute, I quite often wear a pair of baggies over whatever bib 3/4s or bib shorts, largely for the pocket space, which is handy for stashing my train ticket, bike computer (whilst not riding) etc.
My last pair were Altura Ascent shorts, which were ok, but their pockets didn't survive scraping along the tarmac at 20 miles an hour, and so a replacement pair were needed. Having read around a bit, I decided to go for the Endura Humvee, on the basis that they met my main requirement (lots of pockets, some of which can be closed by zips) very well.
First Impressions:
The fabric of the shorts is very nice indeed, and feels slightly nicer than the Ascent's swimming shorts like material (there is some of this stuff in the Humvees, but it seems to be on the back of the shorts. The Pocket arrangement is two zipped hip pockets, two velcro tabed rear pockets (large enough for a folded OS map), a key clip, a flap + velcro cargo type pocket on the left, and a zipped cargo pocket on the right. The cargo pockets aren't the cavernous size of the pockets on the Ascent short, but fit my ID card for work and train ticket in quite nicely.
You also get zips with mesh behind at the outside side of each thigh (open the zip to allow more airflow though the legs of the shorts) and velcro tabs on the short legs to close them up if things get a bit chilly. This last feature seems a bit superfluous to me, and probably of more use on a 3/4 short, but you never know...
The only reflectives on the shorts are a printed Endura logo on the belt tab, which seems a little pointess to me (it's covered by your jersey).
Also worth noting is the sizing, which seems more or less spot on. A year of cycling has seen my waist drop from 34" to 32", and the medium humvee (30-32) fits nicely (Altura's medium is far too large for me) - the belt on the shorts seems good too, not the overly thin, easily twisted afterthought that you get on Altura's Ascent short.
In Use:
I should preface these remarks by saying that I don't use the Humvee's liner - that said, the "clickfast" system seems pretty good, and I would think it would hold the liner in place well if you did decide to use it.
The pockets seem to be well arranged, and I've not noticed any discomfort whilst riding (wallet in the hip pocket, train ticket in the right cargo pocket). I've not used the rear pockets as yet, and don't use the key clip - landing on hard, sharp things like keys if you do come off is no fun at all, and I'd suggest not carrying anything like this in shorts or jersey pockets.
Edit: Just rode in them for the first time in rain - that lovely soft touch fabric is not particularly good in the wet - it ends up holding a fair bit of water and feeling quite clammy. The shorts did dry out fairly quickly, but the way they felt when wet would put me off riding in the 3/4 length version in the rain. (Not too bad in the short version because the wet part is against whatever lycra you're wearing underneath).
In Summary:
Quite expensive (it seems to me) but well thought out, comfortable and practical baggies. The cargo pockets could be bigger, (if the ventilation zips were omitted) but they're adequate.
Price Paid: £35.99
Note: The review refers to the short version of the Humvee, not the 3/4 version.
On my commute, I quite often wear a pair of baggies over whatever bib 3/4s or bib shorts, largely for the pocket space, which is handy for stashing my train ticket, bike computer (whilst not riding) etc.
My last pair were Altura Ascent shorts, which were ok, but their pockets didn't survive scraping along the tarmac at 20 miles an hour, and so a replacement pair were needed. Having read around a bit, I decided to go for the Endura Humvee, on the basis that they met my main requirement (lots of pockets, some of which can be closed by zips) very well.
First Impressions:
The fabric of the shorts is very nice indeed, and feels slightly nicer than the Ascent's swimming shorts like material (there is some of this stuff in the Humvees, but it seems to be on the back of the shorts. The Pocket arrangement is two zipped hip pockets, two velcro tabed rear pockets (large enough for a folded OS map), a key clip, a flap + velcro cargo type pocket on the left, and a zipped cargo pocket on the right. The cargo pockets aren't the cavernous size of the pockets on the Ascent short, but fit my ID card for work and train ticket in quite nicely.
You also get zips with mesh behind at the outside side of each thigh (open the zip to allow more airflow though the legs of the shorts) and velcro tabs on the short legs to close them up if things get a bit chilly. This last feature seems a bit superfluous to me, and probably of more use on a 3/4 short, but you never know...
The only reflectives on the shorts are a printed Endura logo on the belt tab, which seems a little pointess to me (it's covered by your jersey).
Also worth noting is the sizing, which seems more or less spot on. A year of cycling has seen my waist drop from 34" to 32", and the medium humvee (30-32) fits nicely (Altura's medium is far too large for me) - the belt on the shorts seems good too, not the overly thin, easily twisted afterthought that you get on Altura's Ascent short.
In Use:
I should preface these remarks by saying that I don't use the Humvee's liner - that said, the "clickfast" system seems pretty good, and I would think it would hold the liner in place well if you did decide to use it.
The pockets seem to be well arranged, and I've not noticed any discomfort whilst riding (wallet in the hip pocket, train ticket in the right cargo pocket). I've not used the rear pockets as yet, and don't use the key clip - landing on hard, sharp things like keys if you do come off is no fun at all, and I'd suggest not carrying anything like this in shorts or jersey pockets.
Edit: Just rode in them for the first time in rain - that lovely soft touch fabric is not particularly good in the wet - it ends up holding a fair bit of water and feeling quite clammy. The shorts did dry out fairly quickly, but the way they felt when wet would put me off riding in the 3/4 length version in the rain. (Not too bad in the short version because the wet part is against whatever lycra you're wearing underneath).
In Summary:
Quite expensive (it seems to me) but well thought out, comfortable and practical baggies. The cargo pockets could be bigger, (if the ventilation zips were omitted) but they're adequate.