We love nothing more than mountain bike riding gear that doesn’t look like riding gear. You know, something that is both practical and functional on the trail, but also looks good at the local watering hole post-ride.
The Fox Sergeant short fits that bill perfectly. Not only do they look like any other pair of shorts you might have in your wardrobe but they are also packed with lots of functionality to make them perfect for any trail adventure.
First off, they come with a removable liner (chamois). We cut ours out right away as it makes the short/liner interface fit better and also means you can use the very comfortable Fox Evo liner with your other riding shorts. In fact, we found the liner in these new shorts much better than previous versions of Fox shorts. Thumbs up for that improvement.
The outer of the Sergeant is made of a stretching material that was super comfortable to wear and noticeably flexible and followed with our body position well. Some people say they don’t like riding in baggies as the shorts are sometimes stiff and almost work against you, but these really did feel the opposite to that.
The short outer does have less ventilation than other shorts we’ve worn, and the material did feel slightly heavier than normal, but we didn’t notice any extra heat, weight or discomfort. Also, Fox has converted all the internal material from the packets to a mesh material that actually contributed to making the shorts feel cooler than expected.
There are two zip-up pockets on the front, two velcro cargo pockets, and two velcro pockets out the back. We generally find cargo pockets pretty useless for riding but they did come in handy for easy temporary glove storage on trails stops (for repairs etc.). The zip up front pockets were perfect for holding our phones and keys, and the zip up feature made it all a little more secure.
The shorts are adjustable at the waist and the tabs are located inside the short. This feature is really nice as it keeps the shorts neat and also gets away from the old problem of your jersey grabbing on the velcro tabs. There are belt hoops but we think that’s more about fashion than function and we found there was ample adjustability with just the tabs.
There is a hidden bonus to a short that looks so good off the bike as well. You can pack less stuff in your gear bag and get 2-for-1 out of the Sergeant short.
If you ride in baggies, we recommend the Sergeant shorts. If you ride in lycra, we also recommend the Sergeant shorts. The Sergeant short from Fox has quickly become a favourite of Flow. Some much so, we just throw them on to wear casually around the office (without the liner though).
