• Endura MT500 baggy shorts
• £59.99
• Endura
• 01506 497749

Endura’s MT500 range has a sound reputation for durability, and the latest incarnation of the company’s flagship baggies looks set to continue in a similar vein. They’ve got a detachable liner, which attaches at the waistband with low-profile press-stud fasteners – they’re the same as the ones in other garments in the Endura range, so the liners are interchangeable. The liner itself is pretty heavy – we’ve seen standalone Lycra shorts made of lighter stuff. It’s fine most of the time, although on warmer days we’d appreciate a lighter, mesh-style liner – it’s hidden away under the shell, it doesn’t matter what it looks like.

The outer shorts are of robust nylon construction, held together with Kevlar flatlock stitching. The fit is particularly good, with a nice just-above-the-knee length. You get a proper zipped fly and there’s an integrated waist belt to keep them up. The legs are wide without being ridiculous – there’re Velcro tabs to snug them up if you find them a little too flappy.

The MT500s certainly aren’t short of pockets. There’s a large zippered pocket on each side, plus a smaller zippered pocket at the bottom of the right leg (described as a phone pocket, but we’re too paranoid to carry easily-smashed phones in short pockets while riding), a little Velcro cargo pocket on the left leg (no idea what that one’s for) and two “map pockets” at the back. They’re called map pockets, but they appear to be too small to put a map in. Handy place to stash your gloves in the caff, though.

The outer shorts also feature zippered vents at the front, a hanging tab at the back and reflective logos. The whole ensemble is very comfy and we see no reason to suppose that it’ll be any less durable than the rest of Endura’s MT500 stuff.

Positives: Comfy, good fit, well-judged bagginess, handy adjustment options, interchangeable liner

Negatives: Possibly doesn’t need quite as many pockets, lighter liner would be welcome on very hot days

Verdict

Endura’s top of the range baggy offering is at least as good as anything else we’ve tried – all else being equal we’d go for our all-time favourite Sugoi Gusto shorts, but the MT500s are considerably cheaper and there really isn’t anything in it performance-wise. Top stuff.

Performance: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Overall: 5/5