MEATengines Ride-O-Vision (Update): MEC Mochilero Stretch Pants
I wear them almost every ride, all twelve months of the year. Mountain, ATB, groad, commuter, and whatever sort of bicycling I do on Steve’s ruined Talbot. I wear them every day in the shop to wrench. I wear them to dig in the woods – though lately under a pair of Showers Pass rain pants. I wear them to Claire’s hockey practice. They’re not the only pants (and shants) I own but the only ones I need.
I have four pairs. The initial review pair I received over a year ago and three more I’ve bought since. Two are chopped down to a knicker length, and in most conditions that’s what I prefer for riding. You know shants (short pants) instead of lorts (long shorts). They wear incredibly well, but with 6-7 days a week and super-regular washing, down to my use case, I could probably justify another pair or two.
{Cover image by Steve & Meg @Hardtail.Life}
The Mochilero Stretch pants are either bombproof for something so stretchy or stretchy for something so bombproof. I won’t claim they’re self-healing, but two of my pairs have obvious scars in the back of the right calf from slipped pedals that haven’t spread at all despite months of more use and washing.
Okay, fine, they aren’t ‘Mountain Bike Pants’ but any pants that are comfortable to pedal in – seated or standing – and can survive the mastication machinations of a pair of NSBillet Daemon pedals are worthy of a mountain bikers’ considerations. Belt loops? F*ck yeah, belt loops!
Did I mention they also dry out faster than any pair of pants I’ve owned?
And yeah, some friends think I’m crazy, but when it comes to pedaling it’s not just me that thinks the 96% nylon, 4% spandex pants work great. There’s Larry Talker, okay fine, Model-T is biased. There’s the Clairebarian…
So actually, the Clairebarian has the Terrena Youth which, like the Terrena Women, uses the same magnificent material as the Mochilero models but has shittier pockets. I mean, might as well learn ’em young about the pocket-gap? Actually, Claire rocks the Terrena because the sale price is too rad to ignore and the material is exactly as excellent.
When it comes to the adult options the front hip cellphone pocket (left) and zippered card pocket (right) of the Mochilero are awesome. I don’t want to over-mention the difference here, but I’m an ally in the ongoing fight for pocket equality.
If you’re thinking there’s any kind of ‘separate by equal’ thing going on, see for yourself:
- Mochilero Stretch (Men’s)
- Terrena Stretch (Women’s)
- Mochilero Stretch Youth (Boys)
- Terrena Stretch Youth (Girls)
I seem to know more and more folks riding, working, & living in these pants and everyone agrees that they’re easy to amortize in terms of wearing in the CA$90 purchase price. I’m the only person I know of who has hacked them down for more comfortable three-to-four-season use but on a recent grind up the No Quarter Climb on Fromme (thank you, OMPete & NSMBA) I’m almost positive I convinced Terry and Brian to consider possibly hacking theirs.
Anywho, I was going to roll them into my next ‘Things That Are Still Awesome’ update but given they’ve become my (almost) everything pants I figure they can stand on their own. Now if we could get a few decent (read: dark) colours for working people. Toyota Tan and Almost White are nice and all, but they don’t really hack it for my work at the shop, pick up the kid; go ride the bikes in the same pair of pants lifestyle.
Bring back dark blue! Maybe add a midnight purple? Okay, so I’m probably the last person who should be suggesting colours but you know what I mean.
{Drewitors note: I neglected to mention that I always mountain bicycle in knee pads – because I always mountain bicycle in knee pads – and both my Chromag & my Kali knees fit fantastic under the Mochileros.}
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