POC W’s Ardour All-Weather Pants review: sometimes great, sometimes…

POC W’s Ardour All-Weather Pants are great for light trail splashes or deep snow. Just don’t wear them on a RAINY day…

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By amandawishart

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great review. Greetings from POC obsessed Sweden.

A mudhugger on the back would keep your bum drier and cleaner (certainly for the days when the problem is splashes up from the trail rather than stuff falling from the sky), which also means clothes, saddles, and seatposts last longer. (though I see these have worn from the inside).

Amanda if you eventually find the holy grail of waterproof trousers do share please ! I worked my way up to £120 Madison DTEs and they wetted through after 6 weeks 😞 I hear good things about Troy Lee Resists , Fox Water is supposed to be good but one of my mates destroyed his in the ahem area 🙄 You’d be forgiven for thinking that £230 for POC would do the trick ? I have to say £120 is my limit I’m afraid . One review of the MT500 revealed that since Endura has used a greener production method theirs aren’t as good .
If only the 7 Mesh Thunderpants wasn’t so eye wateringly expensive ! 😳
I’ve now resorted to Altura waist tights with DWR under my bombproof Endura Singletracks to see how that goes 🤔

A mudhugger on the back would keep your bum drier and cleaner

Mudhuggers are essential for me nowadays in winter. Against the gritty paste that covers yer bum, otherwise it’s really unfair to expect any clothing to last and ridiculous to spend so much on it (IMO). However a reinforced seat is still an essential feature of riding “pants” – once Alpkit add this, I’ve found my holy grail of riding trou (short enough, close fit & reinforced ankles).

I just wear winter road bib tights in the wet and a mud hugger – the handle being warm whilst wet very well – better than any trousers I’ve come across.

Although I like the look of those PoC trousers….

I’m disappointed to find wear in the seat
That’s ridiculous, they should last forever for that money.

@oldfart

Amanda if you eventually find the holy grail of waterproof trousers do share please !

Dirtlj are the holy grail

Johnlj
Did you tell me that before? I’ll take another look thanks .

Hi Amanda

Having a look at the pics of the worn seat area and reading the POC website would suggest that the seat area is meant to be waterproof. Taping seams of a material that isn’t waterproof would be a bit out of the box. I’m wondering if your pair have been defective from the start?

Have to say that I am a big fan of mudguards like @jimmy

Cheers

Sanny

Pants generally are all weather if you wear trousers over them aren’t they?

@josh

Those would be your underpants. You wear them under your pants. 😉

Back to the POCs, surely for the money these should be beyond reproach, albeit maybe fit as people come in all shapes and sizes?

Pants = american. Trousers = UK!!

Pants = America and north west england

Stating the reviewer’s relevant measurements and the size the size worn, should be minimum requirement for any clothing review. Chapeau!

That wear rate though… I would expect trousers that expensive to last 3 seasons of daily use, at the very least.

Does anyone know how to keep their gear’s DWR coating to stay effective?

I thought I was pretty thorough about
– Rinsing off mud after claggy rides, and regularly rinsing out the inside after sweaty rides
After a handful of messy rides/single ride of proper filth:
– Rinse cycling the washing machine first
– Wash with Grangers or Nikwax
– Dry over a warm-but-not-hot radiator (I don’t have a tumble dryer)
– Occasional spray on reproofing from the outside

But I always find that the water no longer beads after a few minutes of rain, which I take to be the DWR being ineffective.

For reference, I am a bit of a fanboi of Endura, Race Face and Alpine Stars, and have the same issue with all three brands.

They seem so nice, and I am thinking about buying them myself, but the price is kinda high, so I am not fully convinced yet. But thanks for the review!

@oldfart

Johnlj
Did you tell me that before? I’ll take another look thanks .

Yes :-) When I find a product I am genuinely impressed with, I do bang on about it a bit. Doesn’t happen often enough though

Johnj
The only thing that puts me off is nowhere in this country seems to sell them ?

I just wear winter road bib tights [ ] better than any trousers I’ve come across.

The one advantage I’ve found with trousers is that if you get some that has a cuff that goes over your shoes, you don’t get the water running into your shoes as much as you do with tights.

The POC Ardour All-Weather pants are waterproof from the knee down, where POC believes we need the most protection. The seat is reinforced Cordura for durability, and the rest of the trousers (can we stick with ‘trousers’ from here on?) is a highly breathable and mildly stretchy polyamide elastane blend.

POC is welcome to it’s beliefs, but his just seems entirely back to front (or top to bottom) to me. When you’re riding, the most miserable bits to be wet are your arse (from wheel splash/spray) and thighs (as they get the rain/wind the most as they’re pointing upwards/forwards). That’s where I’d want waterproofing. I couldn’t really GAF about having dry shins.

The one advantage I’ve found with trousers is that if you get some that has a cuff that goes over your shoes, you don’t get the water running into your shoes as much as you do with tights.

Put the footloop of the tights over the shoe, rather than over your foot within the shoe.

Inside of the lower legs is where all the big globby bits that fall in the car footwell are. Arse is usually the dirtiest though.

@oldfart Sent you a message with some links…………………not that kind!