Review: Showers Pass Elite Roadie Pants

Here in the Burgh’ we get our share of rain and snow. Mix that in with cold weather and my aversion to riding the trainer in the basement means I spend a lot of time riding in bad weather.

I have tried a lot of different tights, the Pearl Izumi AmPhib is nice, but for me when its below 40 those are not warm enough, and do nothing for me in the rain.

I like the Sugoi Sub Zero tights, they are good to around 30, but if it is snowing or raining they can’t keep me warm.

I have tried a cheap pair of Bellwether Windfront tights, which are fleece with plastic on the front. They can keep you warm, but your legs will get incredibly sweaty in them. Talk about no breathability… Plus the wind breaker front makes them fit weird.

Now when its below 25 I had worn Gore Tex PacLite pants which work pretty good but are too big/loose for cycling, but they do keep the moisture out! Not a bad solution but you can’t really go on a long ride with them on as they can hold in too much moisture. Clammy legs are better than numb legs I guess.

As I mentioned before, I like Showers Pass gear. I have been really happy with their elite 2.0 jacket. When looking at their products I saw they had a nice looking pair of winter tights called the elite roadie pants.

I figured I would try a pair of their tights. I purchased the Showers Pass Elite Roadie Pants from Boure. First Boure is a great on-line retailer. They accidentally sent me the wrong item, actually the more expensive eVent rain pants, but after contacting them they sent me the new pants with a prepaid/addressed envelope to return the wrong pair in. I mean no one does that! They are A+ in my book.

You know the drill, usually a company sends the wrong product, makes you pay to send it back, then ships the right one out. So it takes 2-3 weeks to get what you bought… But Boure immediately sent out the right pair and included postage and pre addressed envelope. Great company.

The pants have a combination of their eVent fabric, softshell and stretch fabric making a very comfortable pair of tights, considerably more comfortable than the Bellwether tights.
They are not lose fitting rain pants, they are tights. Well since they have eVent fabric in the front they aren’t lycra tight, just a tiny bit lose. These are mediums here, I am 5’10” 145pds and they fit spot on.

I have used them on rides in the teens for a few hours and they have kept me warm without over heating. I have also worn them in temps up to 40 degrees (hey it hasn’t gotten warmer than that here!) and not gotten too hot.

I have used these in rain and snow and stayed dry, even in a freezing rain snow combo.

And here you can see the reflective trim on the ankle zip and the gator on the bottom which can velcro up out of the way.

I also purchased the suspenders, which are so nice. I buy tights without a chamois so I wear bike shorts underneath. Well with regular tights over top of shorts the tights tend to slip down as you ride and you end up showing off your ass like a college girls thong… So the suspenders on these tights keep that from happening.

I have the my answer to winter cycling tights question. These things are great. The perfect combo of water resistance, wind resistance, warmth and breathability.

Check em’ out at Boure: http://www.boure.com/8256.html

This is what Boure has to say:
Showers Pass Roadie Pants are a Technical 3-Season tight for serious training that has more bells and whistles than the crowd at the Tour de France. Pants feature eVent shell fabric on the thigh and lower leg to protect you from wind and rain, a waterproof-breathable softshell seat and articulated stretch knee panels with overtaped seams for waterproof performance where you need it, fully breathable, heat-balancing stretch side panels and a drop down ankle gaiter. Reflective logos and ankle zips for low-light visibility and are suspender compatible