Endura 8 Panel Shorts

Advantages: Will enhance riding confort and performance by untold amounts
Disadvantages: Quite expensive at c.£50

...Being an increasingly keen participant in cross country mountain biking, I decided to kit myself out with the necessary clothing to ease the pain of those long rides. Not being one who is easily conned by clever marketing, and of course being a lifelong sceptic, it was out of character for me to follow recommendations to buy the Endura MT500 short. These may initially seem expensive at around £50, but believe me, for the money you will not be able to find any better. Long climbs become suddenly more comfortable, and you don't get the chafe around the seams as you would with cheaper shorts. The kevlar seams are fully flatlocked, giving the short superb flexibility, and removes the embarrassing worry of the short giving way when the going gets a bit rough (see gorse grass and bramble attacks!). Further durability is provided by the dual... Read review

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Advantages: Comfortable, quick to break in
Disadvantages: not waterproof, not breathable

...I work in a outdoor shop but I'm not a very outdoorsy person, I'm really fussy when it comes to footwear, and wouldn't really wear walking shoes or boots unless I really have to, Climbing a mountain for example. That was untill the Salomon expert lows came in delivery one day, walking shoes are normally bulky looking and not at all attractive but these are really nice, my ones are light grey,dark grey and black, they have mesh panels and suede panels with a rubber rand around the toe. The mesh panels are for breathabilitly, but they don't have a breathable or wickable lining, so my feet do get quite hot but a pair of wicking socks like coolmax normally sort that out, the downside of the mesh is that if it rains the water gets in easy as they don't have a waterproof lining, spraying them will make them resistant to water but stepping... Read review

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Advantages: Durable and effective
Disadvantages: Very tricky to fit, poor design, inadequate instructions

...Background For commuting I have built up a spare mountain bike frame, into a rufty-tufty singlespeed for hacking round town, up and down pavements, and being thrown into the major entanglement that passes for the bike compartment on the train. Originally I was only going to ride in the dry, until I realised that by taking the bike I could leave 15 minutes later in the morning, and get home 30 minutes earlier in the evening. This was too good a thing to pass up just because I might get wet. Did some research, asked a mate, and brought myself a nice new shiny pair of SKS chromoplastic mudguards in a very fetching black. What's in the box? The mudguards arrived attractively displayed on a flat cardboard panel, meaning they could easily get scratched in the mail. The mudguards are made by sandwiching a thin aluminum foil... Read review

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