It's a lot of work to pit the best bike shorts against each other, but someone has to ride their bike 20 hours a week to do it. The Endura SL Pro Bib Short got the heaviest single day of our in-depth testing, an eight-hour, 7,000-foot-of-climbing slog in Oregon's Elkhorn Mountains. As we've stated, that might have been a bit much for it—really, not many bike shorts hold up to that kind of abuse—but the real question is: How does it do for the type of rides most people want to go on? We'll get into our thoughts below.
For short to medium rides, the Enduras take the cake. The thin yet dense chamois features gel padding and is quite supportive, wrapping the saddle without much play. It doesn't give you the plush support of the Pearl Izumi Expedition Bib Short, which has the thickest chamois that we tested, but for riders who want a better connection with their saddle, it's hard to go wrong with this one. On techy, bumpy uphill mountain bike rides, the chamois reduced trail chatter and ate up small bumps.
Strap style is a personal preference, for sure, but the Endura's straps weren't the friendliest for our long-torsoed tester. They're thick and sturdy, so they stay in place like a well-trained dog, but they were about an inch too short for him and put a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Could a person size up, you might ask? Yes, but the shorts are a great, tight, comfortable fit, so looseness, and potentially a drop in comfort, could accompany a bump in size. We recommend trying them on to find the perfect fit for you, as your normal size may not be what you want to choose.
We'll get our gripes out of the way first. As mentioned above, the straps are stiff and a bit short for taller riders. The whole bib has a performance fit (ie, tight), but while that's a bonus in the shorts, it's not as great for the uppers. Burly straps will be durable for the long term, but they are rough on the shoulders when worn under a mountain bike jersey and were too short to want to wear over a thinner baselayer, at least for our gangly tester.
Beyond the straps, however, the other features make them great for hard riding. Big panels made with 22% elastane (Holy Lycra!) interwoven into nylon move with your body, no matter if you're cranking on steep pavement or uphill tech. Big hems with grippers are the rage right now, but Endura eschews the trend for a hemless design with about an inch of silicone inside. We felt no discernible difference between the chunkier hems and these throughout our testing.
Some bike shorts with good compression can be tough to pull on or will have noticeable pressure on the lower thigh. Not so for the Pro SL. Despite being easy to pull on and comfortable on the leg, we found they stay in place well, no matter how hard we were cranking. On a matter of personal inclination, the Pro SL have a high waist, which our tester is not fond of because it is noticeable across the belly when hunched in the saddle, but others may feel differently and enjoy the high waist. However, the soft fabric—just the top of the panel folded over to make a flexible seam—was quite comfortable for that style, so if a high-waisted option is your jam, the Pro SL might be one of the best around.
The youth today use “mid” as slang to mean mediocre or boring. We'd argue that a new definition of “mid” applies to the Pro SL, one that implies middle-of-the-road performance, but not meant pejoratively. They aren't the most breathable, but they aren't hot either. You could wear these for a five-hour ride in the sun and probably be pretty comfortable, temperature-wise. But there are better options, like the Louis Garneau Carbon 3 Bib, if you plan on riding in those conditions often. For everyday use in the bulk of climates, the Pro SL holds up well and has lots of features designed to improve breathability.
Though the upper fabric is high-waisted, the lumber panel has holes that allow airflow next to the skin, and the lower back section of the straps is a stretchy, breathable material that wicks sweat away from your back. Given that the chamois is a gel foam, it is much hotter than other pad materials, kind of like how a gel foam mattress is always hot, but Endura includes a vented section in the pouch at the front, which allows a good bit of airflow through the saddle region. The 78% nylon fabric is densely woven and does not wick sweat away very well, but it is thinner than the face fabric in many other options on the market, so it balances durability (more on that in a second) with keeping the mercury down.
We believe we could run these over with our car. Just kidding, no one would do that to a pair of bike shorts, but they are built to last.
Infinitesimal bits of fraying on the seams aside, nothing more than a stray string, the densely woven fabric looks like it could take a beating and shows no sign of wear after months of use and washing. That durability comes at a cost, a drop in breathability, but following the hang-drying instructions, which seems to be the norm in high-end bike shorts, should make them last for years. They held up to scrapes from rocks and trailside trees without giving up any of their external sheen.
In addition to devising new slang, the youth are wearing lots of high-waisted pants these days. Is Endura following suit? We didn't ask, but we do know that these will cover your belly button. Our tester doesn't love that style, but he recognizes he's not the ultimate arbiter of style. You are. If you're stoked on that look, keep reading, because everything else about these is class. Our all-blue tester pair looked crisp, and the straps have a chunky look to them, like a great pair of suspenders.
The hemless leg, without the honking strip of fabric at the bottom, also looks clean, like a chino short, and elicits head turns at espresso stands and convenience stores on mid-ride snack stops.
If you have money to burn or you're looking for a race-style performance, they're a great short. They're not the cheapest, nor are they the plushest, so some riders may find these do not fit their needs. On the flip side, they're durable with a slim chamois that provides comfort for many hours in the saddle. Serious cyclists who want a chamois that won't compress or soak up a lot of sweat should check them out, and since they blend breathability with a bit of wind protection in the tight fabric, they're a versatile short you can wear most of the year. Now that we consider that they satisfy most riders' needs and are likely to last a long time, that price tag looks a bit less intimidating.
