These liner-less bike shorts from Ground Effect are designed for the kind of riding you’ll find in New Zealand — which is thankfully pretty similar to ours in the UK, so they’re perfect for British trail riders. The longer legs are great for keeping you warm, while the stretch waist means these casual fitting shorts work on trail and in the pub.
We found the crotch a little low, which is cool if you drop your saddle bossing the downhills but if climbing’s your game you might struggle to slide back on to the saddle. They come without a liner so you can use them with three-quarter length bibs, full winter tights or with a chamois in the summer, offering good versatility.
The fabric’s tough too and they saw us through a number of stacks, heaps of mud and a clothes-wrecking washing machine without any major problems — plus they come with a secret tube repair patch, which is a neat touch.