Gore Tex Baggy Cycling Shorts With Pockets-Impossible Dream

[RobbyJ]

After my morning commute today in my Endura MT500 so called waterproof shorts I have had enough, there has to be a better option! They just aren’t waterproof and are soaked through again. My t-shirt under my gore tex jacket was bone dry apart from sweat but my shorts are rubbish. All the baggy gore tex shorts I can find don’t seem to have pockets and my pockets are always full to bursting every day. So can someone recommend me any genuine full gore tex, baggy, knee length cycling shorts with pockets?

I found these but can’t find them in stock anywhere, or in the UK:

http://www.trail-addicts.com/nl/product/languardm-...

Help me please!

[richardxjr]

Some of the STW lot rave on about army surplus goretex, cut down from trousers usually. Cheap and v effective. Worth a look about on ebay etc.

Or just take stuff out of pockets?

I've some convertible Gore trouser/shorts which are waterproof (and bulky, I never wear them, I just get wet, but I don't commute) but again, no pockets.

[Foliage]

richardxjr said:

Some of the STW lot rave on about army surplus goretex, cut down from trousers usually. Cheap and v effective. Worth a look about on ebay etc.

Have a look for ex-german army goretex, its some of the best goretex gear ive worn, its triple layered hard wearing as hell.

[AC43]

I share your pain.

I've ended up using two pairs of cheap Muddy Fox baggies from Sports Direct.

I just take a second pair in case I get soaked on the way in.

Rubbish pockets, though.

[RobbyJ]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I have a fair bit of UK & US Army Goretex and I had considered that, the challenge again is pockets. They just have Velcro openings that go through to the pockets on your trousers below. Plus I have to walk into the office wearing it and people may start to form even more opinions of me wearing camo than they have already!

I do usually have a lot of crap in my pockets and removing it would just slow down my commute significantly.

For those interested my pockets on my commute contain:

Wallet (with train ticket)
Keys for bike locks at both ends of the commute
Phone
E-Cig (can’t be away from it for more than 5 minutes)
Change
Work ID Card

And car and house keys for the first part of the journey.

It’s just a pain not having pockets and not having waterproof shorts. I don’t mind doing the getting wet thing on a non commute ride but walking into the office with a sopping wet gooch is no fun for anyone

[Kermit power]

Any reason you can't just wear a backpack on rainy days?

Personally, I ride in Lycra bib shorts. Yes, they get wet, but they seem to work a bit like a wetsuit on the way, and dry out really quickly in the locker room. Worth getting them with gel pads though, as they don't get so waterlogged, which can be a pain to dry.

[RobbyJ]

Kermit power said:

Any reason you can't just wear a backpack on rainy days?

Personally, I ride in Lycra bib shorts. Yes, they get wet, but they seem to work a bit like a wetsuit on the way, and dry out really quickly in the locker room. Worth getting them with gel pads though, as they don't get so waterlogged, which can be a pain to dry.

I wear a backpack every day, it's just the constant taking it off and on again that slows down my commute. Pockets work great for me and I'm not a lycra clad roadie so I'm really not bothered about competing to look like a TDF rider.

I'm wearing lycra (hypocrite) bib shorts as I type (now there's a sexy image)but with my Endura MT500 shorts over the top, to avoid looking like a roadie.

Looks like I'll just have to keep searching for somewhere that sells the shorts I posted in my link in my first post.

Thanks for the help

[AC43]

RobbyJ said:

Kermit power said:

Any reason you can't just wear a backpack on rainy days?

Personally, I ride in Lycra bib shorts. Yes, they get wet, but they seem to work a bit like a wetsuit on the way, and dry out really quickly in the locker room. Worth getting them with gel pads though, as they don't get so waterlogged, which can be a pain to dry.

I wear a backpack every day, it's just the constant taking it off and on again that slows down my commute. Pockets work great for me and I'm not a lycra clad roadie so I'm really not bothered about competing to look like a TDF rider.

I'm wearing lycra (hypocrite) bib shorts as I type (now there's a sexy image)but with my Endura MT500 shorts over the top, to avoid looking like a roadie.

Looks like I'll just have to keep searching for somewhere that sells the shorts I posted in my link in my first post.

Thanks for the help

Yeah, the lack of pockets in my Muddy Foxes is really irritating. For example I have three sets of keys; my bike keys, my house keys and my locker keys. Am forever swapping them in and out of the one small pocket in my shorts and one of the pockets in my rucksack. Which, in winter, is covered by the Hump. Which I then have to unclip and clip back on. I do that when I arrive and then realise I have three lights in my hand which don't fit the pocket in my shorts. So I put them down, unclip the Hump again, find a pocket in my backpack and out them in. Put hump back on. Find security pass, enter building and go to locker room where I realise the keys in my pocket are my bike keys not my locker keys and repeat.......*sigh*

Goes off to find Evans voucher/check prices of baggy shorts with plenty of pockets....

Edited by AC43 on Friday 8th January 09:07

[RobbyJ]

Found some of the Maloja LanguardM shorts on a popular internet retailer named after a rain forest in South America and bought a pair. Not cheap at £124 but hopefully they will do the trick and keep the undercarriage dry

[MC Bodge]

A pannier rack and pannier(s) of some type might not look good, but are very handy for commuting.

I wear army surplus waterproof trousers when it is very wet -I don't care what my colleagues think about camouflage so long as I am dry.

[Kermit power]

RobbyJ said:

I wear a backpack every day, it's just the constant taking it off and on again that slows down my commute. Pockets work great for me and I'm not a lycra clad roadie so I'm really not bothered about competing to look like a TDF rider.

I'm wearing lycra (hypocrite) bib shorts as I type (now there's a sexy image)but with my Endura MT500 shorts over the top, to avoid looking like a roadie.

Looks like I'll just have to keep searching for somewhere that sells the shorts I posted in my link in my first post.

Thanks for the help

I don't generally wear a backpack when I'm commuting, as I have panniers on my commuter, plus pockets in the back of my jersey, but when I'm mountain biking I've always got a pack on.

Keys, credit card and a tenner in one pocket on the waist belt, multi-tool, tyre levers and repair patches in the other plus phone in a breast pocket on my jersey, and I can cope with pretty much any eventuality without having to take my pack off.

Then again, I hate riding with anything in the pockets of my shorts!

[MC Bodge]

Kermit power said:

Then again, I hate riding with anything in the pockets of my shorts!

Me too.

I also have things in the rear pockets of my bike jerseys, if required.

I'm quite mystified by the question of this thread because I have never felt the need for a pair of waterproof cargo shorts in 25+ years of regular bike riding.

[JQ]

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/altura/attack-...

I wear the above, wore them today in fact and have never had a problem with a soggy bottom. They have large zip pockets.

[RobbyJ]

I think in short I find the idea of men in tight lycra disturbing and the roadie look and road bikes themselves just make me laugh, why would anyone want to aspire to looking like that. That said I wear shorts year round with a very very occasional concession to wearing lycra leggings underneath when it’s super cold. I’ve come from a background of mostly downhill biking so a very different scene indeed and despite the perceived impracticalities of riding a full sus bike in London and wearing more baggy gear I still only tend to get over taken by a roadie maximum once or twice a day when I must over take hundreds every day. I just don’t get the whole road bike thing. Yes if you want to cover 100’s of miles then it makes sense but for me, for commuting my way and my bike make more sense. I’ve tried waterproof over trousers but I get to hot and can’t be bothered putting them on, I’ve also tried getting soaked to the skin but neither really appeal that much. It just seemed like a simple request for someone to make some gore tex shorts that have pockets, which I now seem to have found. I may be the odd commuter (I do ride XC at the other end of my commute) but I just want one set of clothes for nearly all occasions, which hopefully with these new shorts I will have

[MC Bodge]

RobbyJ said:

I think in short I find the idea of men in tight lycra disturbing and the roadie look and road bikes themselves just make me laugh, why would anyone want to aspire to looking like that.

I don't aspire to anything, I just wear a pair of lycra shorts or winter longs whilst riding to work on mostly-free-flowing suburban and rural roads.

RobbyJ said:

That said I wear shorts year round with a very very occasional concession to wearing lycra leggings underneath when it’s super cold. I’ve come from a background of mostly downhill biking so a very different scene.

I don't think it matters what "scene" you feel you need to be in. Horses for courses and all that.

RobbyJ said:

I’ve tried waterproof over trousers but I get to hot and can’t be bothered putting them on,

breathable trousers over lycra shorts are fine and what difference does putting them on make if you are going to get changed anyway if it is wet?

Each to their own, but maybe you could worry less about fashion and what other people think of your "look"?

Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 8th January 15:07

[AC43]

MC Bodge said:

I'm quite mystified by the question of this thread because I have never felt the need for a pair of waterproof cargo shorts in 25+ years of regular bike riding.

When I stared commuting by bike 6 years ago two of the first pieces of kit I bought were a Gore shell and some Gore baggies.

They both lasted admirably well for approx 5 years and then finally started disintegrating.

I've just replaced the jacket (yey!) but like the OP couldn't find the shorts.

They're just really useful and look normal.

[deadtom]

I realise it may be asking a silly question, but is it possible that the water is spraying up the end of the shorts?

[Gruffy]

Apologies to the OP for the hijack.

Can anybody recommend some lightweight waterproof cycling shorts that aren't too baggy? I plan to pack a pair on the Transcontinental for bigger downpours and something to wear while I'm washing the bibs/waiting for 2nd place to arrive

[richardxjr]

That's a whole new topic G! I'd alternate with another pair of lycra. Its the old you're gonna get wet, either from the inside or outside conundrum with what you'll be riding.

I do find non bibs really comfy though on a long ride, more adjustability down below iyswim

[Oz83]

Best shorts ever...but they aren't cheap.

https://www.norrona.com/en-GB/Products/7029-15/680...