Making great-fitting women鈥檚 shorts isn鈥檛 easy. Making bike shorts? Even harder. They have to breathe well, because pedaling across mountains generates a lot of sweat and body heat, but they also have to be tough enough to withstand a butt-slide on granite. And fit affects a lot more than our vanity: Shorts that pooch out in the hips and crotch tend to get snagged on the bike saddle when you shift around, which is distracting and dangerous.
Fortunately, women鈥檚 bike shorts keep getting better. Club Ride, Shredly, and Wild Rye, all based in the United States, make solid performers that fit many women well. But my favorite mountain bike shorts currently come from companies headquartered overseas. Yep, the Europeans are killing it when it comes to women鈥檚 mountain bike gear.
I鈥檝e been testing shorts from POC听(based in Sweden), Sweet Protection (Norway), and Maloja (Germany). The fit is dialed, and the fabrics survive hard rides. Plus, they鈥檙e crazy comfortable.
I can鈥檛 explain why the Euros seem to be making better bike shorts than the Americans. Maybe it鈥檚 a question of demographics: European women tend to dominate both the XC and gravity competitions worldwide, so maybe European companies have a better perspective on the compelling women鈥檚 market.
Or producing awesome women鈥檚 bike gear might result from having a significant number of women on the design teams. Maloja and POC听both have women working at all levels of production, with mountain biker Amanda Dallhof leading as POC鈥檚 apparel product manager. A six-woman team created Maloja鈥檚 bike line.
Here are my favorite shorts听from these brands, all of which I鈥檝e been riding in for the past three months.
POC Resistance Enduro LT听($90)
Made from four-way stretch fabric that鈥檚 tough but light, feel airy and unoppressive on hot rides. I love that the polyamide-spandex blend is supple, not stiff (a common downfall of super-durable MTB shorts). And the cut accommodates kneepads: The leg opening is just wide enough to fit over that extra layer, so the shorts don鈥檛 flap around when I ride bare-kneed. The hips and waist hit the ideal balance between baggy and tailored鈥攔oomy enough to let me move freely, yet not so sloppy that I get hung up on my saddle. I like the Velcro tabs that cinch in the waist. Plus, I鈥檝e worn these shorts through poky scrub and rock (not always on the bike), and the fabric doesn鈥檛 show so much as a scuff.
Maloja RosinaM.听Shorts and TaisM. Chamois ($99 and $95)
I like the heathered fabric of the , but fit is what makes me reach for these over virtually all the other shorts in my closet. The elastic panel at the lower back keeps the waist from bagging or pinching, and all those seams across the hips accommodate curves. Zippered thigh pockets? Brilliant. Perfect for my phone.
Maloja does make shorts with cutesy prints, , and judging from another pair of boldly patterned Maloja shorts I tested (which aren鈥檛 sold in the United States), I can say that this company does a great job of pairing function with style. Plus, the pattern has some sass.
And the : Why doesn鈥檛 everybody make a ventilating chamois? Shredly makes something similar (the ) but the TaisM.鈥檚 holes are bigger, so they do a better job of venting. I like to pair the TaisM. with sturdy overshorts鈥攖he kind that generally feel hot and stifling when worn over standard Lycra bike shorts. The TaisM.鈥檚 chamois is also plusher than that of the Yogacham. But Shredly鈥檚 version uses flatlock seams; the TaisM. does not, which is my only nitpick. Its leg seams create little raised ridges inside the shorts. Surprisingly, they haven鈥檛 actually bothered me鈥擨 expected those seams to dig in and become uncomfortable after several hours of wear, but in reality, they鈥檙e A-OK. Flatlock seams for extra comfort would make this chamois a perfect ten, but it鈥檚 still a 9.5 without.
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Sweet Protection Hunter Enduro听($130)
Those thigh zippers look flattering, and they鈥檙e functional, too: One zipper exposes a mesh-lined vent, and the other opens a pocket that鈥檚 big enough for my iPhone. The fabric is even softer than the POC shorts, but so far nothing has succeeded in shredding it.
I also love the streamlined fit. It鈥檚 body-hugging but with full freedom to bend and shift around on the bike. The cut allows enough room for a muscular set of thighs and glutes, but like the Maloja, use a stretch panel across the lower back and hips to accommodate all kinds of movements and body shapes. The Velcro tabs that tighten and loosen the waistband are less bulky than some, and because they don鈥檛 clutter up the back, there鈥檚 nothing to collide with a hydration pack.