GROUPTEST TRAIL PANTS
Why wear trousers rather than shorts? Well, chances are, if you’re reading this, you live in the UK, where, aside from the summer months (which seem to go by in the blink of an eye), our weather is best described as “meh”. Covering your legs fully makes a lot of sense, especially when the temperature drops and the trails become muddy. Being able to simply peel off your trousers once your ride is done is very convenient and means you don’t have to spend loads of extra time washing caked-on mud off your shins and knee pads. And, even when the weather does pick up, that bit of extra protection can be a real plus, especially if you’re riding overgrown trails.
But hold on – aren’t they hot and restrictive compared to shorts? Well, no, is the easy answer. Long gone are the days of riding around in ill-fitting motocross pants that weigh a ton, or paper-thin, billowy waterproof trousers that do little more than make your legs overheat and occasionally snag on your saddle. Modern trail pants have come a long way.
This test focuses on 11 pairs of trousers designed to be great do-it-all options that’ll work for most types of riding. They’re not reserved for those taking the uplift to the top of the trails, having been designed to give you ultimate freedom of movement, so you can pedal in them all day long. We’ve chosen to focus on great all-rounders rather than waterproof pants here. That’s mainly due to the fact that, while waterproof trousers are great, you often only need them for a short amount of time each year. The versatile nature of the pants you’ll see over the coming pages mean that they still offer better protection against the elements than shorts, and can be worn for most of the year, unless the temperature really climbs.
So, what should you be looking for from a decent set of trail pants? For starters, just like bike geometry, the shape needs to work. If they’re overly baggy, there’s a chance that once laden with mud or soaked through, they’ll get seriously heavy, flap about while you pedal or droop down. Equally, if the cut is too tight, you won’t fit knee
