SOAS Tri Shorts

I have a confession to make. I have four pairs of these tri shorts. My go to justification for kit purchases is “…but I wear them all so much” – and in this case, I absolutely do!

I’ve been wearing these shorts for two years now, initially purchasing a pair as part of a kit with a top, intending to just wear them for triathlons. I quickly decided I preferred a one piece for the shorter races I started out with, but all was not lost. I have gone on to wear these shorts for all sorts of training sessions – from bike rides (including longer 3Hr + rides); to wind trainer sets; road and trail runs, and runs that finish with a swim in the sea. I also chose to race Busselton 70.3 in the SOAS two piece and it was brilliant throughout.

The beauty of these shorts for me is as follows:

• while being comfy enough to wear on the bike, they don’t have a huge nappy pad included, so they’re also really comfy to run in. I’ve worn them for 3 hour runs with no chafing at all. It’s nice to be able to wear a tri short as a straight running short without worrying about running around with a big pad between your legs! Trust me – you will not look weird running along the street. Well, not  because of your shorts anyway; I can’t talk for the rest…
• in spite of them not having much of a pad, I’ve found them pretty comfortable on the bike. I wore them for 70.3 distance with no problems at all.
•  the waistband is great on these – I like a higher waistband and it sits comfortably, like I would expect from a good pair of yoga tights. I’m kinda self conscious about my tummy and these just hold all of that in, no dramas.
• the shorts include a series of little pockets along the back of the waist which are perfect for sticking a gel or two in if you’re running longer, or even just a house key
• they’re a little bit longer than your average running short (5″ in seam although it seems to sit long on my short arse legs), but not too long and as someone who has some pretty big quads on the go, I don’t find they give me too much of a sausage thigh. It’s a little more noticeable on the solid black than the patterned pairs – I guess the pattern distracts a little more.
• living and training beside the beach, I love how I can finish a long run and jump in the ocean in these shorts, before running the last stretch home (…or just going for coffee).
• I’ve washed these over and over again and they’ve held up really well. Happy days

Yep, the shorts are THIS good… Busselton 70.3 wearing the SOAS two piece.

I really don’t have any negatives about the product themselves. As I’ve outlined above, they sit nicely and work brilliantly across swim, bike and run. SOAS also have a whole heap of designs and colours to choose from which should suit a lot of tastes. I’m sorry to say however that I’ve had quite a number of issues with orders from the Australian distributor, so i’m including a link here to the US website – I’d rather just pay the additional postage now. Sad but true. You can see the range here (note, as with all my reviews, I’m just your average punter buying this kit; I haven’t been asked to write this review by SOAS!).

If you’re looking for a versatile pair of tri shorts and some great colour schemes, go get ’em.

“Aquarius” shorts out on the trail

Post run swim at Noosa National Park. No need to change; just jump straight in 🙂

The first pair I bought – night running around Noosa National Park. Excuse that left hand – it’s how I run.

I do love the bike jersey too…