Review: Royal Racing Signature Shorts

As promised at the tail end of last week… Check out Angus’s review of the awesome Royal Signature Shorts he’s been riding and reviewing for the last few months.

First Impressions

I have grown to expect fantastic build quality from Royal Racing shorts of late so I wasn’t disappointed when I got my hands on their premium trail short offering, the Signature! The Signature shorts are constructed from a material that I would describe as a sort of crisp yet soft affair with the 94% Nylon and 6% spandex mix.

Fit

I’ll split this category into 2 as the fit of the shorts is a completely different kettle of fish to the fit of the chamois that comes included with the signatures.

The shorts themselves couldn’t be much better from a trail short point of view. They sit low on the waist with adjustable elastic and Velcro straps to dial in the comfort on the waist and make sure they stay in place.

Length wise they fall just below the knee but don’t interfere with kneepads which is a problem I have experienced in the past with other brands on my slightly shorter than average legs.

The material the shorts are constructed from itself has a good amount of stretch that ensures unbeatable comfort all the time but I suppose that’s what you would begin to expect from a top of the line short!

The chamois liner included with the shorts is a slightly different kettle of fish…

It’s not a massive gripe for me as it’s a bit of an added bonus included with the shorts but the chamois included was so big it was similar to wearing an adult nappy… Admittedly I went up by one size to a medium for these shorts over the Matrix to add a little extra growing room for a piece of after ride cake but the chamois felt about 3 sizes bigger!

Baggy in all the wrong places and straight out aggravating! It began to feel like the wrong sized chamois had been sent with the shorts. It was a real disappointment after how well I got on with the chamois in the Matrix shorts.

Styling

The Signature shorts tick all the boxes for me in the styling stake! I’m a big fan of simplicity and the added practicality of black shorts as you can match them with nearly any jersey you like… The signature shorts feature a good number of deep pockets simple styling and non-intrusive logos. The Signature shorts aren’t one to shout about their performance in the styling stakes.

Think of the signature shorts as a technically advanced blank canvas to add whatever jersey takes your fancy. I opted for the Athletic Ride jersey which we reviewed at the tail end of last week which I think looks pretty sweet!

Technology

The Signature shorts are constructed from “Ergo-Active, Strategically arranged directional stretch paneling” with “Dual hook and loop waist adjusters” that together really make for a flipping comfortable and more importantly robust pair of shorts! If your going to be spending your hard earned cash on a new pair of shorts you want the piece of mind that they are going to go the duration! Royal reckon the original samples have been with their research and development team for 15 months and are still going strong. I haven’t had 15 months with the shorts so I cannot validate this claim but they are still feeling pretty damn good!

Naturally they feature all the other little things we have learnt to expect from Royals pretty comprehensive range of trail bike orientated shorts like the Non rattle snap lock zippers and Bar tacked stress points.

The Ride

Riding in the Signature shorts has been a pleasure. I dropped the slightly baggy chamois after a single ride in favour of the smaller one included with the Matrix shorts but after that I never looked back.

Across all types of riding comfort levels were at an all time high with the added water repellency no doubt an added a string to their bow when the conditions turned against us. I made good use of the waterproof zippy phone pocket in the shorts that took the possibilty of a flooded iPhone off my mind when riding!

They also fit in with my feel good, ride better principles I talked about in the last review on the Athletic Ride jersey.

Conclusion

Royals top end offering in the trail short department certainly doesn’t disappoint. It has everything that I think you could ever look for covered in one stylish and practical package.

Fantastic build quality and functionality in a good looking short from Royal Racing. There top of the line Trail short the Signature certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Royal is distributed in the UK by the Decade Europe LTD.

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