Every major bike brand these days makes one or more pairs颅颅颅颅 of baggy riding shorts. I鈥檝e ridden in a lot of them鈥攕ometimes several per week鈥攂ut I always find myself returning to my seven-year-old 听蝉丑辞谤迟蝉.
Made from a four-way stretch nylon, the Union聽does everything you want a good short to do and nothing else. The fabric has a soft hand that drapes well yet is as tough as a canvas tarp鈥攏o holes, scrapes, pills, or blown seams after all these years. The tailoring is trim but not tight, meaning the shorts don鈥檛 flop around when you pedal but don鈥檛 make you look like some costumed weirdo off the trail. The front pockets are deep, and the single rear pocket has a button to keep your phone or wallet in place.
That鈥檚 pretty much it.
There are much higher-tech shorts with many more features. If you want lots of zip pockets and vents and adjustment mechanisms at the waist, the Unions are not for you. They don鈥檛 come with a chamois, which I consider a boon because I鈥檇 rather not pay extra for a cheap pad I鈥檓 just going to pitch anyway. And though there are belt loops, there鈥檚 no belt. Again, that鈥檚 fine by me because I can ride with a nylon sport belt like the , then swap to leather with a nice buckle for going out.
This versatility is the thing I like most about the Unions. These are shorts that are good for both biking and everyday use. I live on the road and have very limited packing space. The Union is the one pair of shorts I鈥檇 never give up because I can wear them on the bike, to the bar, in the pool, and, in a pinch, even to bed.
The fact that Chrome is still making these shorts鈥攑retty much unchanged since their inception except for a slightly trimmer tailoring鈥攕peaks to their quality and staying power. And while I鈥檓 often tempted to buy another pair just to have them around should Chrome, God forbid, ever discontinue them, my originals are in such good shape that there鈥檚 no need. Planned obsolescence be damned.