Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to REVIEWS
review
Underwear
Vulpine Women's Extrafine Merino Boyshorts Vulpine Women's Extrafine Merino Boyshorts
Vulpine Womens Extrafine Merino Boyshorts

Vulpine Women's Extrafine Merino Boyshorts

6
by Tass Whitby
UPDATED Fri, Oct 13, 2017 15:47

First Published Oct 13, 2017

2
£55.00

VERDICT:

6
10
A decent option to slip under your civvies for comfort
Weight: 
90g
Contact: 
www.vulpine.cc
How we test

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

Vulpine's Women's Extrafine Merino Boyshorts add a noticeable degree of comfort when riding in civvies/jeans compared with going unpadded, but they are expensive and, like the Women's Urban Cycling Jeans, come up larger than expected.

The cushioning in the pad is quite soft, but it does mean if you're keeping the shorts on while you're off the bike they don't feel too bulky. The Extrafine merino is also soft and non-irritating.

> Buy these online here

I found the most annoying thing was keeping the legs in place when pulling a pair of trousers up, especially tight-fitting jeans. You have to spend a bit of time pushing the curled-up hems back down flat, inside your trouser leg.

The slightly-too-big sizing probably doesn't help; there is a strip of silicone on about a third of the hem (over the only elasticated section of hem), sitting on the outer thigh, but it isn't that grippy. A tighter fit might help, but there's nothing to stop the inner non-siliconed two-thirds from rolling up.

Vulpine Womens Extrafine Merino Boyshorts - back.jpg

Once you've got them in place under tighter jeans/trousers, the legs of the shorts stay there quite well, though you have to do the flattening by hand business after going to the loo. Or wear a skirt.

All the seams – bar the one on the pretend fly – are flatlock stitched for comfort (and the seam on the 'fly' sits flat anyway), but being slightly bulky the hems do tend to show through lighter, thinner-fabric trousers like Vulpine's Summer Capri Pants.

Is £55 a lot to pay for padded undershorts? A quick look at the selection we've tested on road.cc suggests they are pricier than most, though only £6 more than the Urbanist Padded Brigittes.

The Vulpines are currently on sale at £20, which makes them more appealing, but only available in sizes L and XL; and be aware that they come up on the large side.

Verdict

A decent option to slip under your civvies for comfort

road.cc test report

Make and model: Vulpine Women's Extrafine Merino Boyshorts

Size tested: Medium

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Vulpine says: "On the buttocks of every swish city cyclist, there's is a great set of undies.

"Long commute? Don't fancy bib shorts, or a sore posterior? You need padded underwear. Anti-bacterial merino is warm in winter, cool in summer, breathable and fast drying. We use the extrafine pure Merino wool. No compromise. Add a women's Italian Cytech chamois with a slim profile and great breathability. All this clever stuff combines to ensure you'll forget you're even wearing padding."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Vulpine lists these details:

EXTRAFINE MERINO

100% pure extrafine merino wool. Fast drying, ultra comfortable & odour resistant.

DETAILED COMFORT

Our outstanding attention to detail means we use flatlock stitching & print care info inside the garment, so you're never irritated.

CYTECH PAD

Industry leading CyTech of Italy provide the slim, superbly comfortable sex-specific pad.

CYCLING FIT

Flattering, real world fit, that's comfortable on & off the bike.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
6/10

Definitely better under jeans than nothing.

Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the product for fit:
 
5/10
Rate the product for sizing:
 
4/10

Came up larger than the size guide would suggest.

Rate the product for weight:
 
5/10
Rate the product for comfort:
 
6/10

Definitely more comfortable than riding without. Legs need careful positioning within tighter trousers, otherwise they can ruck up and be uncomfortable. And if they'd come up slightly smaller (more like I was expecting), I suspect they might have felt that bit more snug.

Rate the product for value:
 
4/10

How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

Easy. In the machine with other sports wash at 30 degrees.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Useful for a bit of short commuting under civvies. Could get a bit uncomfortable around the thighs on occasion.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The padding.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The legs moving up and feeling uncomfortable around the thigh.

Did you enjoy using the product? Mostly

Would you consider buying the product? If money was no object, yes (in a smaller size).

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Maybe

Use this box to explain your score

Looking at performance, price and comfort, I'd say they come out above average. They're expensive, and the sizing was a bit out, but they do an okay job of keeping you comfortable on shorter rides under civvies.

Overall rating: 6/10

About the tester

Age: 51  Height: 169cm  Weight: size 10-12

I usually ride: Vitus Venon  My best bike is: Paulus Quiros

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, sportives, general fitness riding

Vulpine Women's Extrafine Merino Boyshorts 2017
Vulpine Women's Extrafine Merino Boyshorts
Vulpine 2017
Vulpine
womens clothing
Tass Whitby

Tass is our production pedant, who boldly goes hunting for split infinitives, rogue apostrophes and other things up with which she will not put. She joined road.cc in 2015 but first began working on bike magazines way back in 1991 as production editor on Mountain Biking UK, then deputy editor of MTB Pro, before changing allegiance to road cycling as senior production editor on Cycling Plus. She's ridden off-road but much prefers on, hasn't done half the touring she'd like to, and loves paper maps.

Add new comment

2 comments

Avatar
beezus fufoon | 7 years ago
1 like

I got the male version in the sale and they're disappointingly comfortable - not the ascetic experience I was expecting at all!

ps - I don't wear skintight jeans, though I would consider a skirt if it's not too revealing

Avatar
StraelGuy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Merino under-crackers  ? That's luxury!

Latest Comments