Sugoi Zap Jacket
December 28, 2010
I was excited about this high-vis addition to my cycling gear, but unfortunately I was ultimately extremely disappointed. This is so obviously just a men’s jacket cut smaller that it’s just unwearable. Hello? I have a WAIST and I don’t care to have yards of extra fabric flopping around in the breeze as I ride. I don’t really need a parachute brake, which is pretty much all this jacket is good for if you are not shaped like a man. See the picture above, showing the jacket shaped like a woman? That is a LIE. It was so big in the body it was just ludicrous. I would have gone down to an extra small but the jacket hem was already well above my hip bones in my regular size small, so the extra small would just have ended up a flappy bolero. Boooo. Take the time to cut your women’s clothing for, I don’t know, women, or just don’t bother.
Sugoi Lucky Bike Shorts
September 24, 2010
OK, so I like to ride bikes. You get that by now, I know you do. If you’re a longtime reader, you also know that I don’t like to wear bike OUTFITS. I don’t really like shiny spandex, huge logos, and crazy colors. I always feel like a poser wearing stuff like that, and I don’t like doing free advertising for whatever company is on the loud, logo-ed jerseys and shorts.
I also do not like the sausage-casing look that bike clothes tend to lend. I’m fine with tight stuff but I don’t like bulges and lines on my legs from the grippy things on bike shorts. Those grippy things…sometimes I just don’t know. They ride up anyway, and if they don’t, they just pull on your legs leaving the aforementioned lines. Plus, they are not that comfortable.
So I was STOKED when I got these shorts from Sugoi. These shorts are AWESOME. They are soft and comfortable, well cut, and flattering. They don’t have tight grippy things or an annoying drawstring on the waist. They don’t pinch, squeeze, bind, or shift. I love them! The waistband is cut on a bias so that it’s low in front and high in back, you know, perfect for bike riding position. The legs are fairly short, just about in the middle of my hamstring, but that’s OK because they don’t squeeze and bind like other shorts. I find them a little short for mountain biking because when I stand up, the seat hits my leg just at the end of the shorts which, after a few hours, can get annoying. But in hot weather, the shorts are great because they don’t get that slimy spandex feeling when they get wet with sweat. They are even fairly quick drying though if you get one of the lighter colors you will find that you end up with some sweat marks in embarrassing places, though I can live with that because, hey, I’m riding a bike and sweat goes with the territory. As with all Geargals-approved bike shorts, they have a nicely padded chamois that is kind and gentle on your parts, which is vital because something has to make up for all that abuse heaped on us by those horrible bike seats.
All this adds up to a super comfortable, super flattering bike short with performance advantages to boot. Good luck finding some, because I’m buying them all up.
Sugoi RS Short
June 24, 2010
FINALLY some bike shorts I can say only good things about. Except for one thing: these shorts snag on stuff. Stuff like Velcro, brush, sticks, etc. So there, the bad stuff is out of the way. Now I can tell you the good: the RS short is a lighter weight short than your typical spandex offering. It’s also kind of textured, as in, not really smooth and shiny. Which is good! At least from my perspective. I think this is some sort of aerodynamic roadie thing to which I say pffffft. Stop worrying about the texture of your shorts and start worrying about your training. Seriously, the aerodynamics of spandex shorts CANNOT be the deciding factor here. What can I say, I’m not a racer and not a roadie. Maybe I just don’t get that fussy roadie thing where you have to worry about whether your spandex is textured. I like the fabric because it’s nice and light in the heat. I’ve taken these out mountain biking and I really like them for hot weather, especially because the chamois has little ventilation holes that provide a refreshing breeze on the downhills. Now, you have to understand; heat is not typically a significant problem in Alaska so heat-reducing features are all new to me. But I like this one, because there is no chamois in the world that has enough ventilation for the fairer sex, believe me. And the way my boyfriend’s laundry smells, there’s not enough for dudes either, but let them hash that out on a dude blog.
Like most bike shorts, the magic is indeed in the chamois, ventilation holes or no. Sugoi seems to really “get it,” or at least gets the simple fact that women’s chamois should NEVER be textured. Soft and gentle is the only option, and Sugoi chamois are smoother than most. They are pretty nicely padded, too, and I’ve not yet experienced any significant discomfort from the RS chamois. As is typical, I am left feeling as if the, um, frontal central area as well as the seat bone area can never get enough padding, but I pretty much feel that way about ALL bike shorts so this small weakness is not a standout. Others with less sensitive nether regions might not even notice.
A Sugoi strength is the length of their typical bike short, a category in which the RS fits nicely. It’s a lovely length, juuust after the hamstring tie-in, reducing muscular discomfort and self-consciousness-induced discomfort as well. Since I’m a mountain biker, I spend a lot of time out of the saddle, and I don’t like shorts that are so short that the saddle rubs my thighs. The RS does not ride up or cause such unfortunate chafing. The fit is standard; I’m not a fan of insanely tight shorts so I stay with a medium and all is well. The RS is not too snug in the thigh for ladies with big biker quads, and even if you do have bigger legs than most, the well-thought out length will ease your mind since the legs hit at the slimmest part of the thighs.
My pair came in chocolate brown which is unusual for bike shorts but also kind of fun. The short comes in other great colors including of course the standard black, but watch out for the white, because it is, like most things white, see-through especially when wet. Er, good luck with that. Oh, and speaking of wet, when these shorts get sweaty they will regale you with some pretty interesting squeaking when they rub against the seat. If only Alaska was hot; squeaky bike shorts would be a good bear-avoidance method. Don’t let the squeak factor deter you, though, these are good shorts.
Sugoi Neo Pro Bike Shorts
June 15, 2009
As I’ve recently discovered, bike shorts aren’t the most convenient things to wear out, especially when one is in the middle of a 30 mile XC ride. It is always sad when a favorite piece of gear wears out, but bike shorts’ failure can be catastrophic. Why? Come on, you all can figure this out. Was a tad awkward. I should have seen it coming from the fraying hems and weakening spandex. Ah well, at least I was with friends.
Anyway, the sad passing of my Sugoi Neo Pro shorts made me realize that I’d never reviewed them for the site. Strange, because these have been my favorites for the last year. Yep, I wore out a pair of bike shorts in one year. And the bike season up here is only really four months long! I’ve pretty much lived in these shorts, having worn these for 90% of my rides. I can see how much I’ve been wearing these from the intense tan lines on my legs. Perhaps it’s time to try a new length to even out the tan situation, but I do love this length. They are (were) just right, hitting just at the end of the hamstring muscle – a nice length because it doesn’t feel like a boa constrictor around the muscle. They have (er, had) great padding and a nice soft chamois. The waist (about the only thing that’s left) is cut on the bias, so it’s higher in back to allow for the road-biking-hunch thing, if that’s your bag.
I really loved these shorts. Now that I’m thinking about it, it’s pretty impressive that they lasted as long as they did, because I’m not too gentle on any of my bike gear. I ride every day, sometimes more than once a day. I crash a lot, get really dirty, and greatly enjoy thrashing through bushes and tree branches. Bike shorts do not have an easy life in this household. So I can attest to the lasting power of these shorts, even as I’m off to buy another pair.
