Endura Superlite Shell Shorts

Water proof shorts are one of the best investments I have ever made in terms of cycling clothing and the recent Endura sale at Chain Reaction gave me a chance to pick up another pair. Getting totally soaked wearing baggies can at best get pretty uncomfortable and at worst can leave you sitting on a rubber ring for days afterwards trying to not aggravate the chaffing. I’m not saying that water proof shorts will keep you 100% dry but for me there is a huge difference between the damage that damp Lycra and saturated Lycra does to your soft bits.

Cycling specific clothing is almost always expensive but this is one area where I can really say it’s worth buying the real deal. I borked at the price of £60 when I bought my first pair of Endura Superlite Shell Shorts a couple of years ago. However since then I have worn these shorts so much that I have certainly had my monies worth from them. Two winters in, and they are still perfectly usable, although they have seen better days. In that time I have used Nik Wax Tech Wash on them twice and Nik Wax Wash In re-water proofer (real word?) once. I have also had my girl friend make a couple of minor repairs to the seams and stitch a couple of tears from crashes but I think I have worn them so much (this is the UK remember) that some wear around the seams is perfectly acceptable. Interestingly though I was expecting them to wear around the seat and inner thigh area where the most rubbing occurs and actually this wasn’t the case. This is where most of my other riding shorts have failed so I was particularly impressed by that. These shorts have kept me fairly dry (dry enough) and most importantly kept me comfortable. The last thing I specially want to point out is that they seem to be well vented and very breathable.

I can highly recommend water proof shorts in general as they have saved my ass many times and if you are in the market for pair take a look at the Endura Superlite Shell Shorts, in my experience you can do a lot worse.