SCOTT TRAIL TUNED
£119.99 www.scott-sports.com
Thanks in part to their four-way stretch construction and pre-shaped cut, these lightweight pants are ridiculously comfy. They articulate really well as you pedal and the fabric glides smoothly over knee pads. However, they’ll suit taller riders best. Scott provide a nifty fit-finder guide on their website – once you’ve input your height and weight, you can select your preferred cut on a sliding scale ranging from tighter to looser. The 32.5in inseam on our small size felt overly long, though, leaving excess material around our ankles. Thankfully, the relatively tight fit of the Trail Tuned pants, combined with how light the fabric is and the tapered cut, meant we didn’t have any issues with the lower legs flapping about as we pedalled. These trousers also feature four-way stretch Cordura reinforcement panels and laser-cut ventilation holes. With a decent amount of give in the fabric and an elasticated section at the ankle cuff, getting them on and off is easy. Considering the high price and tech on offer here, the very basic waist fastener/adjuster is a little disappointing, though. While two-thirds of the waistband is elasticated, which helps with fit, fine adjustment is limited to a metal hook that slots into one of four fabric loops. This means that if you need to use the far loop (to make the waist as tight as possible), you gather up a lot of material, which bunches at the front – not ideal. It isn’t uncomfortable, so we can forgive the Swiss brand for this, but we would hope for a neater solution on a pair of trousers as pricey as these. The hip pockets are well-positioned and big enough to stow essentials in, with the zips (which use extended pull-tabs to make them easy to use with gloves on) keeping the contents secure.