What makes a pair of shorts mountain biking specific? I'll be candid: nothing. That said, there are shorts that excel and shorts that don't. Stretchiness, breathability, pocket location, length, and cut are all considerations in the broader equation …
What makes a pair of shorts mountain biking specific? I'll be candid: nothing. That said, there are shorts that excel and shorts that don't. Stretchiness, breathability, pocket location, length, and cut are all considerations in the broader equation of suitability to our little sport. At the end of the day though, it's a pair of shorts. So do they work well for mountain biking? I think that Curious Creatures' Ramble Scramble Shorts do, and they don't look too bad around town either.
One drop in side pocket with one secure zipper side pocket
Drawcord adjust at inside waist
Light weight low bulk fabric used on all facings and pocket bags
Hanger loop at back
MSRP: $139
Out a'ramblin' and a'scramblin.
Curious Creature Rides a Bike
Like most soft-goods, the Ramble Scramble shorts' primary feature is their material. It's a polyester knit, and it is supremely stretchy. The shorts don't restrict movement whatsoever when I wear them. That matters a lot for shorts aimed at mountain biking. We move our legs constantly, making weird shapes all the time, and little hang-ups in those movements are a distracting hindrance. These shorts allow all movement though, which is a big check-mark.
Check number two for the Ramble Scramble shorts' material is breathability. If they're shorts, they're for warmer weather… So how do they handle the heat? Decently, is the short answer. They're thicker than other shorts out there, like the Backcountry Slickrocks, so they don't feel quite as airy, but they do an acceptable job wicking nonetheless. I wore the Ramble Scrambles in temperatures up to about 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and they were consistently comfortable. With that said, they certainly shine in the 60-75 range most of all. When 90 degree weather eventually rolls around, I won't be wearing them. I'm too hot-blooded for that.
All the stretchiness you could want.
It's time to talk about snags. Over the course of testing, I rode through some bushes and fell on some dirt. It happens. The shorts' material snagged in places, but otherwise held its constitution without tears or anything of the like. The impact was purely aesthetic, really, and those snags are minor at most.
More important in my view are the saddle snags I had while testing the Ramble Scramble shorts. When the dropper was down and I was mentally in descend mode, I snagged on the seat a couple times per ride, catching the tip of the seat in excess material around my inner thigh. This tended to happen at my most dynamic moments, while I was absorbing the hits of the trail with my legs. It was unnerving and distracting. I haven't had this issue with many other pairs of shorts I ride in. I believe the length of the inseam, the looser cut around the quad, and the stretchy material all have a hand in this, but the result is the same regardless of cause: some scary moments getting caught up when I need freedom of movement.
After 3 months of hard testing, they do show a little wear in places.
Another thing to know beforehand is that the front pockets are fairly shallow, at about 5". If you're thinking, "But that would leave an inch of my iPhone 13 exposed", you're right. Pockets should really be about 9" deep (about enough to fit a hand), but pockets on women's shorts tend to be shallow for some reason. And while the fact that the Ramble Scramble shorts are designed for women is no issue whatsoever in any other regard (even fit, I was surprised to find), the front pockets are an unfortunate exception to the rule.
All other pockets are great though. There are two open-top pockets on the seat of the pants and two side pockets on the right, one open-top and one zippered. The zippered pocket is the perfect size for a phone. I would've preferred a zipper on at least one other pocket, since objects in the overhead compartment may shift while the plane is in flight, but one zippered pocket can suffice.
I'm not pale. You're pale.
Initially, I said that nothing makes a pair of shorts mountain biking specific - that it's just a matter of how well-suited any given shorts are for the activity. Well, sometimes in the pursuit of the perfect fit for the activity, mountain biking clothing can corner itself into a sole use for mountain biking. I have some MTB shorts, pants, shirts, and glasses that I would never, ever wear out and about. They're too out-there, odd, or just plain ugly. They only get used when I'm on the trails, where they excel. The Ramble Scramble shorts suffer no such fate. They look good. And for just shy of $140, you would hope they'd live a life off the bike as well.
Fit: I'm 5'11" and a lean 170lbs. I typically wear pants with a 31" waist and 32" inseam. I tested a size 10 here, which was perfect for me.
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