Hoss Technical Gear’s Stallion Shorts Review

When I first got on my bike wearing the Hoss produced Stallion shorts, I swore—in both good and bad ways. On one hand, I cussed at myself for all the rides I had been on without a pair of mountain biking shorts; for all the discomfort I endured in the name of fitting in with or paying my dues to the greater mountain biking community (I thought I was enculturating myself…or earning my stripes by appreciating the purity of the ride in the absence of technical gear). On the other hand, I swore as a kind of reflex—a reaction to the astonishing comfort I felt the first time I took the saddle. Bottom line…these are a great product.

But let’s rewind this review. Before I ever took these riding shorts to the trail I had to have some sort of initial reaction to them, right? I must have had an original judgemental moment, a commencement of thought and possibly of opinion. Well, I think that moment went something like this; “Holy good-lookin’ shorts Batman!” Yes, these shorts have style. They have what I call post-ride functionality; they beg you to wear them, not just on the trail, but beyond it, to your favorite post-ride gin mill, a BBQ brisket and ribs lunch, or just around the house for the remainder of the day (I have done all three).

The Particulars

I did have some concerns as I held them out in front of me. I was immediately struck by the fact that yes, these are definitely a multi-function short; especially since the essential riding component—the padded spandex compression piece—is removable. Admittedly, at first glance this feature looked a bit odd. The shorts are essentially a two-in-one combo. The inner piece is attached to the outer shell at the hips by two thin, fragile strips of fabric with two small button-fastened loops. If you’ve ever seen Transformers, the inner piece hangs from the inside of the outer shell’s waistband like the mangled Megatron hangs from helicopter cables just before he’s dropped into the ocean. By prompting such a comparison, this feature immediately raised some durability concerns. “There is just no way these shorts will stay together when I ride,” I thought. It turns out these straps are really more of an organizational feature as they literally keep the two pieces together. Once I figured out that this odd and frail-looking suspension was not permanent—that the pieces were meant to be worn together but not attached at the hip (literally) — I felt much better about their durability. Twenty miles of testing under their belt, they have to this point held up perfectly.  Read more

Swiftwick Four Merino Sock Review

They say one advantage of wearing wool socks is that they will eliminate foot odor.  Wool breathes better than most other materials which means it removes moisture from the skin faster.  This reason alone should be enough to make the Swiftwick Four Merino riding socks worthy foot garments.  Believe it or not though, there’s more to them that might convince you of this.

The Swiftwick Four socks fit like…well, like something that fits perfectly (I want to say like a glove but a glove probably wouldn’t fit a foot very well).  They are a combination of cotton, nylon, and spandex which not only makes your feet smell better (or at least less like sweat), but also form-fits the socks to every contour of your foot.  I usually don’t like tight fitting clothes of any kind but the way these things grip your feet is surprisingly comfortable…especially when you’re on the trail and suddenly realize that your sock isn’t slipping off or bunched up in the toe of your shoe.

If you regularly or even occasionally get blisters from riding then you might consider getting yourself a pair of socks like these.  In addition to some extra padding underneath the foot that might help correct this problem, the Swiftwick Four has a “no seam” design which means, as you might have guessed, there aren’t any unnecessary pressure points or ridges irritating your feet.

With that said, the one gripe I do have about these socks is that the cuff is particularly tall (it stops about four inches above the ankle).  The more I think about it, the more I think that this feature likely does not suggest this is a winter specific riding sock.  If that were the case, the whole thing might be a little thicker.  This leads me to the conclusion that the tall cuff serves as an anchor; to prevent the rest of it from sliding around inside your shoe.  This cuff is mildly uncomfortable and given the way these socks grip the rest of your foot (especially the bear hug they give your arch), this might be a bit of an unnecessary feature.  However, this is more of a personal preference thing than a design flaw.

The bottom line is that the Swiftwick Four Merino is my new favorite riding companion.  The combination of the ultra-comfortable “no seam” design and breathability has me wanting to use these socks not only every time I ride but also for everything else I do.