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- Verified Buyer
This was just an unfortunate experience...I bought these because of all of the reviews that compared them to the Soffe's. (I already own 2 pairs of the Soffe running shorts.) It seems like the majority of those reviews rate the Soffe's as better, but they still put them pretty close. And given the price difference, these seemed worth it.Well, to give you the punch line before the story: I threw them away.Fabric. I will say that I kind of liked the fabric, and I really do wish they'd worked out, but... *shrug* Where-as the Soffe's are soft, silky, and kinda sexy feeling; these are a little more of the "slightly-discernible plastic feel, kinda like your high school gym shorts". They're nice enough, don't get me wrong, they're just not AS nice... Honestly, if I didn't already own the Soffe's I probably would have given these a higher score in my own mind. But, to me, the Soffe's feel a bit more like mother nature and these feel just a bit more man-made. It's a small gap, but to me it was there... However, they did have a really light glittery tone to them that I liked... Basically though, wherever you placed the Soffe's on a scale of 1-10, I think these are probably a half, and maybe a full notch down on that scale. Still good fabric though, for sure.Comfort. This was the first issue, and it was an immediate one the second that I put them on. Now, I'm a tall, thin guy with a fit, but skinny build. I don't have huge thighs. I immediately disliked the way the inner "underwear" (I guess you would call them) fit. First of all, there was almost as much material in those as there was in the outer shorts. There's not a man on this earth that needs as much room in there as the pair that I got had, unless that's where he plans on carrying the sandwich and snacks that he's taking for lunch! And of course those "underwear" have elastic around the bottoms of the leg holes. So there was all this extra fabric that was now bunched up against my upper thigh and crotch area due to the elastic, and I just didn't find it pleasant at all. Honestly though, I pretty much instantly shrugged that off as I took the shorts back off and grabbed a pair of scissors... Problem solved, no more inner lining.Confession time. I'll be honest and admit that I've removed that lining on a lot of my shorts. I get it that it's all about a guy's junk bouncing around as he's running, but every guy knows what a jock strap is and how to wear one. A jock strap takes care of the transparency issue as well, so what more is there to be concerned about? And the shorts are FAR MORE COMFY for lounging around the house without that lining as well, so it's a win-win. So, moving on...I put the shorts back on and... that's when I noticed the fatal flaw. Wish I had paid more attention before picking up the scissors... As the luck-of-the-draw would have it, the pair that I received hadn't gone through the sewing machine correctly and that seam that goes up the front of the shorts, from crotch to belly button, didn't line up. It started out right at the bottom, but then the seam moved outward, leaving extra material out in front, before moving inward again once it got to the waistline. So the entire front section had this extra fabric that should have been sewn together tighter, but instead just looked fat and frumpy!! It was terrible! There was no way in HELL I was going to wear those out in public! And I thought about taking a pic for the sake of this review but, honestly, I didn't want that image immortalized and attached to me!! Call me vain, whatever. (You'd at least be a little right...) Sorry, I just couldn't do it. And since I'd already cut the lining out, I couldn't return them either. Brilliant.So, my new shorts were unfortunately in the trash can about ten minutes after I got them. I'm a practical guy though, and I'm very realistic about things like this. It happens. Sometimes things go wrong and someone out there gets to be the unlucky consumer to receive the dud product. It was my turn. Oh well. I feel a little bit bad about the 2-star rating, because it seems that so many other people like these. But, honestly, how could I give them any more than that given my particular experience? So, take all of that and do with it what you will. I'm going to order another pair of the Soffe's and just forget that this even happened. And thank freakin' gaud there's no picture to prove that it did...!It looked as though the shorts would be a deep red the shorts are not red but more of a orange-ish in colorVery comfortable, and light weight, which is what I was looking for. Great shorts for a long run.The only down side is that since they are so thin and breathable that they're basically see through during mid day sun. They do have an liner/brief built in but really all that does is make it look like you're wearing the same color briefs under the shorts. At which point, why not just wear breifs and not have the liner? The briefs are the same lightweight material so they also breath well, but don't expect them to offer any support. You'll still need to wear something beneath these.Pros:Very light weight, which is ideal for long runs.Loose in the leg allowing for an easy comfortable stride.A ton of colors to chose fromInexpensiveCons:They're shear. Unless you're an exhibitionist they're not suited for brightly lit runs. Like I said before even with the liner, it just looks like you're wearing briefs beneath your shorts, and it will be visible with the sun behind you.I wish they made these with a double layer of material throughout and skip the built in briefs. Then they'd still be light and breathable, without being see through in bright light. That said, with 4 pros and 1 con, they're still nice shorts and worth 4 stars. You just have to think about the conditions before you venture onto a public trail with them on.Update:I've been wearing 4 pair of these shorts for several months now, and they still look/feel like new. I liked them so much I bought more colors, so now I have a total of 6 pair. As noted, in my previous review I've been wearing them for long runs to prep for a half marathon. Even after a 12 mile run there is no chafing, they don't bind, etc. Very comfortable, and can't be beat for the price. I'm bumping them up to 5 stars. I only gave it 4 originally because they're semi-sheer. However If you're trail running where there is shade, or you run in the morning/evening, they can't be seen though.These shorts with the side vents, and the very similar ones with the split sides, are great favorites of mine. They are very lightweight and comfortable and frankly are the nearest thing to running with nothing on while yet preserving modesty. They are very non-restricting and have a pleasing silkiness to them. I have actually worn them on occasion as underwear as well, with great comfort. They are very inexpensive and offered in a range of colors (the side-vent ones in a much wider range of colors) so I have half a dozen pairs. Since they dry very rapidly I had considered them for swimming in as well. It turns out they are not ideal for swimming. I would have to caution that the lighter colors become very translucent, nearly transparent when soaking wet and thus cannot be recommended for swimming at least in public. Fortunately I tested this in private, saving myself embarrassment in public. You could probably get away with swimming in the darker colors such as black, Navy blue and probably royal blue but when emerging from the water they are plastered to your skin and look like they are painted on you until you pull them away from your skin. A good toweling fixes this problem quickly but you should try this out at home before wearing them swimming in public to see what you're comfortable with. So my take on these is, terrific running shorts, suitable swim suit for those backcountry canoeing trips where people are not too nearby. For the short price tag it's hard to go wrong with these.
