Sheila Moon Riding Britches and Carbon 8-Panel Shorts

Sheila Moon is relatively new on the cycling apparel scene and she’s made a colorful splash with her eclectic and stylish performance fabrics and fashionable apparel cuts. She focuses primarily on women’s apparel but has expanded to men’s cycling apparel as well. Her riding britches, a knicker-length cut, come in more muted carbon (gray) and black colors, but still have a more fashionable and less boxy cut than most commuting knickers. For my six-mile ride to work, time and again I found myself grabbing these knickers, made of a comfortable cotton fabric, and throwing them over my Lycra shorts. The durable finish holds up well on the road and off-road, with deep pockets that confidently hold your house keys, even when going through a technical trail section. The articulated knees fit well over the knees without pinching. I kept these knickers at the top of my pile of cycling clothes from late winter through early summer and never had a problem walking past the boss’s office on my way into work—well, except that time I forgot that I was on my way to work and kept going on the trail and skipped the cutoff to work…sure was a good ride, though.

As for the Lycra shorts, Sheila Moon makes a stylishly designed women’s short that is definitely worth trying. The 8-panel short is a soft Meryl nylon and Lycra mix, comes in carbon or black, has a wide waistband across the top of the shorts and a feminine V-cut in the front waistband. Yes, these shorts are stylish, but are they functional for the road or trail? After numerous shorter rides with them, the big test was a 60-mile road ride. The shorts proved to be breathable and the chamois comfortable through the miles. I’ll definitely keep these next to the Sheila Moon’s riding britches at the top of my cycling apparel heap from now on.

More info at: www.sheilamoon.com

Retail prices:

Women’s Riding britches $89 Women’s 8-Panel short: $85