Troy Lee Skyline shorts review

Troy Lee Skyline shorts review

Well-thought-out baggies

Our rating

3.5

68.00
60.00

James Huang/Future Publishing

Published: May 28, 2012 at 9:00 am

Our review
We love the material, cut, design, and features of Troy Lee’s trail short. Plus, they’re a decent value. Just remember: BYOC (bring your own chamois)

Troy Lee Design’s Skyline trail short is basic, but offers a near-perfect fit and good value.

We found the gravity-inspired Skyline provides ample coverage — via a longer inseam — to prevent the dreaded ‘knee pad gap’, but with a slimmer upper cut to ward off any chance of catching extra fabric on your saddle, even if you’re high-posting it on descents.

The waist is particularly good. With a high back we found could be snuggled in to a close fit with the generous side adjusters. They pull from back to front, giving a secure fit that’s only helped by a knit, rear-yoke panel that allows you to drop off the saddle without tugging the waistband down.

Simple front pockets and a zippered, padded, key pocket out back provide reasonable storage for essentials. If the Skyline is lacking, it’s in the department of a larger secure zippered pocket.

The design features are what you’d expect from a manufacturer with ‘design’ in their name. The waist is cut higher, very comfortable, and sports well-placed and well-working TPU-Velcro tabs for adjustment.

We do have a small gripe: We'd prefer a zipper to the the Velcro fly. Others may point out that the short doesn’t sport any additional ventilation. We didn’t miss the vents, though, even on 90°F-plus days.

The Skyline provides a longer inseam to mesh well with pads, but Troy Lee added a double hem on the bottom of the leg if you want to cut the lower inch or so off — without ruining the overall integrity of the hem, or the short’s warranty.

The skyline's adjustable hem: the skyline's adjustable hem James Huang/Future Publishing

The Skyline's adjustable hem

Last, but certainly not least, there’s the four-way stretch fabric Troy Lee use for the Skyline. It strikes us as something Patagonia may tout for rock-based adventurers, and it is supremely comfortable on the bike. The brushed nylon material has a bit of stretch to it, too, which adds to the comfort and all-day pedal-ability. The Skyline dries supremely fast — thus making a seamless transition to post-ride river dips — and, so far, has proven easy to clean in our testing.

We’ve managed to acquire some small snags already though, so it’s not as bramble-friendly as it could be. All in all, the comfort wins out on this style.

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