WHAT MATTERS MOST ABOUT GRAVEL SHORTS

Beyond the pockets, how different or similar are gravel bike shorts to road bib shorts?

Let’s just say that gravel shorts are different and similar in the ways that gravel and road riding are.

On gravel rides, you’ll go through a lot of dust and dirt and may ride or hike through water. Gravel and clumps of dirt or mud will kick up on your kit. You may brush up against vegetation on single or double-track sections or scrape across a tree or rock in tighter technical sections.

And, you’re more likely to slide out or take a spill on dirt or gravel surfaces than on pavement.

For all those reasons, the materials used in a good pair of purpose-designed, gravel bike shorts will be more durable and abrasion or rip-resistant than road bib shorts. The yarns are often slightly stiffer, thicker, and more water-resistant than those in road bib shots. While some aren’t as supple as road shorts, in my experience they breathe just as well and dry as fast.

Cargo bib shorts or gravel bike shorts that have bib straps and pockets take care of another set of differences between the average gravel and road bike outing. Gravel rides are typically longer, less accessible to coffee shops, convenience stores and bike shops, and often take routes that cars don’t travel.

Pockets allow you to carry added nutrition and tools that you wouldn’t normally need or have access to on a typical 2-3 hour road ride or could stop or call for if needed on a longer one. Some cargo bib shorts have considerably more storage than others, either with more or larger pockets.