Hannah has been grinding these 7Mesh Revo waterproof shorts through a winter of slop. Is her bum still dry?
7Mesh is a clothing company based in Squamish, British Columbia. If you are British, this is of interest, because they have weather that is not too far removed from ours. There can be days and days of rain – there’s none of that ‘Oh, it’s raining, we’ll wait and ride tomorrow’ that you can get with brands based further south. This means the folks behind this kit – keen riders and fabric nerds – want kit that works for them, and their weather. So if it works for them, there’s a reasonable chance it might work for us.
One of the noticeable features of 7Mesh clothing is that it can look a bit odd on the hanger. That’s because they cut their patterns specifically to suit a riding position – not a shop dummy. There’s a lot of attention to detail in cut, seams, length where you’d want it to cover a gap, and simple fastenings. That all comes at a price, but my experience has been that their kit does last, and functions well – falling into the category of ‘buy one good thing once’, rather than opting for cheaper with more frequent replacements. So how did these shorts fare?
In Use
These Goretex shorts with taped seams, carefully placed to avoid chafing in key areas, are the best waterproof shorts I have ever had. They are actually waterproof, and have remained more waterproof than any others I’ve ever had after a whole winter of abuse. Now, for the price you would hope that would be the case. But, I have previously experienced waterproof shorts that are waterproof until you sit down and grind some mud into the fabric, or until you wear them more than once, or until you look at them sideways. These? These are waterproof.
Not only are they waterproof, but they are comfortable and breathable. Even when the wet stuff isn’t coming out the sky, a few puddles can soon give you a muddy bidet and cause all kinds of discomfort on a big day out. So, I wore these for a rather long ride which proved to be somewhat warm, and, in the event, almost completely dry. The shorts were perfectly comfortable as ‘normal’ baggy shorts – if slightly warmer – but nonetheless entirely adequate for an autumn ride with a pair of Lycra with a chamois underneath.
I’d tried on a pre production pair in a Medium, and they were definitely too tight. These, in a Large, are on the edge of being too big on my 99cm hips, but the adjustable tabs at either side do allow me to cinch them up enough to keep them round my (79.5cm) waist. The many (many!) belt loops will also help if you need more security. Perhaps I should have eaten a little less cheese and stuck with the Medium? The size chart puts me right on the cusp of both sizes, so it’s perhaps no surprise the fit in the Large is large, and the Medium is snug. It’s pleasing to note there’s an XL too, and an XS – so a proper range of sizes. There is also a Men’s Revo short, for the same price, that ranges from XS to a substantial XXL.
Sizing choices aside, the cut is good. It’s low at the front, which might seem a little odd standing up, but makes sense when you lean forward on the bike and don’t have a waist bad bothering at your ribs. The knees are tapered enough to not be flappy, but still provide ample room for knee pads. If I’ve got a complaint, it’s that the (sole pair of front) pockets are slightly shallow, and in any event without any closures I didn’t find myself wanting to put any belongings in them for the ride. They’re also nice and trim through the crotch, keeping them off your saddle when you head down steep sections, dropper down.
7Mesh is a company of extreme fabric nerds, so they’ll probably be horrified that I’ve worn these shorts all winter and just dusted or hosed them off after each ride. Goretex face fabrics need cleaning to keep the fibres all pointing in the right direction to maintain waterproofing… I’ve only machined washed these once. Oops. But nonetheless waterproofing has remained excellent, with only the merest dampness seeping through after a long and drookit ride. Definitely not a full squishy chamois though, or enough to cause chafing.
When I washed them, I did so with a pair of hippy harem pants, which bled dye all over everything in the machine. As a result, you can now helpfully see pink patches where the fabric is showing some signs of wear. On the points on the crotch where the most layers of fabric meet at the seams, there are a couple of bald patches developing, which no doubt will compromise the waterproofing. How quickly these patches will expand into true holes remains to be seen. I guess I’ll find out next winter – or this summer if I’m really unlucky.
Overall
I barely do any uplift riding, so these shorts have been submitted to a good amount of seated muddy grinding and have stood up to it better than any other waterproof shorts I’ve tested. To make them truly worth the money, in my eyes they’d need to make it through another winter before really starting to leak. But if you’ve got a multiday ride to complete where you simply must have dry nethers or face days of misery, I reckon these would be well worth the investment.
Review Info
| Brand: | 7Mesh |
| Product: | Revo Shorts |
| From: | 7Mesh.com |
| Price: | £165 |
| Tested: | by Hannah for 6 months |
