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cycling chinos wideMarks & Spencer launches cycling chinos
Forget MAMILs, stockbrokers and mass media claims that cycling is the new golf/squash/bar billiards. You know that cycling has finally cracked the mainstream when that most conservative of clothing stores Marks and Spencer introduces day clothes with cycling features.
That’s exactly what’s just happened with Marks and Spencer’s introduction of cycling chinos. The High Street giant describes the new trousers as ‘Tapered Water Resistant Cycling Chinos’ though there are very few other details about the cycling features on Marks and Spencer’s website.
Made from water-resistant cotton with two percent Lycra to give some stretch, the big game-changer here could well be the price: just £39.50 for trousers that look normal, but are comfy on the bike.
You can see them on the Marks and Spencer Website here.
Road.cc forum user ceepeeee drew the chinos to our attention. He got a pair yesterday and wore them for the first time this morning. He writes:
“First impressions are good - they fit well, are stretchy enough, the poppers to tighten the ankles work well, the reflective details are subtle enough. Can't comment on the showerproof-ness as it was dry.
“Two big plus points: they only cost £39.50 and they come in larger sizes. I have no idea how they compare to similar offerings from Rapha or Vulpine, for example, but as I can neither afford nor fit into them it's not a comparison I can make. Maybe one of the cycling magazines or website will review them but maybe M&S haven't sent any out - until yesterday they weren't even being sold as cycling specific even though there's a big label inside that says ‘Cycling Chinos’.”
Unusually for niche trousers, a large range of sizes is available, and two colours. They’re offered in 30in to 44in waist, in 29in, 31in and 33in leg length and in ‘charcoal’ (dark grey) or ‘stone’ (that horrid light brown that’s the inexplicable default colour for chinos).
As yet, though, there is no women’s equivalent.
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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From the article above.
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45 comments
Rule of thumb - if your waist size is bigger than your inside leg, you need to lose a bit from around your middle
That be a rule of thumb, but for those of us who are somewhat challenged in the height department, were we to follow your advice we would have to find somewhere else to store kidneys, liver, muscles, etc.
Heightist git!
I'll go along with that one.
Jeeees
What is wrong with the internet....
If you don't want to buy M&S trousers, don't buy them. Personally, I think it's good that cycle-specific clothing is being made by the high street big names. I can only see this being a good thing overall. I've worn out too many pairs of jeans in the crotch department riding my bike around town.
Bloody hell, I must be abnormal with my 32 inch waist.
So because they don't stock your size, you hope they don't sell a single pair.
Also dark blue cycling chinos. Under a tenner if you can still find them
Levis do their Commuter range, almost half the price of Rapha at £85 though some slim fit or dot of shame potential light chinos at £46.
Like them. Don't seem to have a reflective strip which would be nice. Game changer? Not sure how this expression covers M&S making trousers but hey, it's the phrase of the moment. In the past M&S used to kick problems into the long grass, throw the baby out with the bath water and getting back on top has been a big ask. Hopefully all clothing manufacturers will soon be singing from the same hymn book...
The reflective detail is hidden away - both legs have a strip which is revealed when you roll them up and both back pockets have reflective flaps which can be popped out when needed. I would post a picture but I'm worried I'll get strange looks if I start taking photos of my own arse when I'm at work.
What an absolute sizing balls up. No 28x32, I thought cyclists were supposed to be slim.
Some cyclist are on the more rotund size. Not "all" cyclists are slim
Mmmm, I spy an active waistband.
I suspect that any waterproofing is applied to the inside of the beige version to avoid embarrassment.
Need some in 34-35 inch leg please!
'M&S still haven't realised that the latest generation have longer inside legs than 33".'
nominally, yes. However they also wear the waist of the trolleys somewhere around their knees, so a 33" inseam should be more than enough
M&S still haven't realised that the latest generation have longer inside legs than 33".
I wonder how they compare with the latest Levi offering?..
http://www.levi.com/GB/en_GB/collections-home/men/commuter
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