off-road.cc

The Andorra Comp women's shorts from big bike brand Specialized are a neatly designed and workmanlike pair of mountain bike shorts erring towards XC missions or gravel bike adventures. 

• Review - We look at the matching Spesh women's jersey
• Winter riding kit essentials - our Buyer's Guide is here

The Andorra Comp shorts from Spesh are, like the matching Andorra jersey, an understated article built with function over flash in mind. Specialized say these shorts are designed to be practical, durable, lightweight and have a fit that doesn't get in the way. For the most part, I'd agree they've hit most of their own targets. 

• Buy now from Evans Cycles

10.5" inseam means these sit above the knee

Specialized have made the Andorra Comp shorts from a woven version of their VaporRize™ fabric, a material designed to be light and breathable. It works, the shorts are cool and comfortable with quite a lot of 'give' making them easy to move about in. The stretch included in the fabric is much needed though - these shorts fit somewhere between very fitted XC shorts (you know the type, over shorts that look sprayed on) and pair of looser fitting baggies. I'm a dress size 10 for shorts and found them loose enough on the legs, they don't rux up or twist round, there are no seams at the gusset and they dry quickly all adding to the overall comfort factor. The fabric is said to be water repellant, pleasingly water still beads over the fabric now even after a fair few rounds with the washing machine, but give it some heavy spray or consistent rain and water will find its way through. 

Specialized say these shorts will accommodate light kneepads, which they will, but the short length of leg (10.5" inseam) means that unless your kneepad has a very long upper cuff you'll be bearing skin when you pedal. I either went knee pad less on the gravel bike or paired the shorts with some Race Face Charge Knee Guards for longer XC rides on my Specialized Epic where a bit extra warmth over the knees was required. 

Fastening the shorts is an easy affair with two heavy duty poppers keeping the flexible waistband secure. The fit can be fine-tuned using the waist adjusters at each hip which are attached to elastic at the rear ensuring there is still some movement available once the tightening up has taken place. The hip adjusters sit nice and close to the body and don't interfere with your jersey which is great. When these are pulled in a substantial amount they do tend to rux up, it's not a problem where the function is concerned just a small aesthetic issue.

The waist straps rux up when pulled tightly

As I mentioned I chose a size medium short as I usually find that my 'cyclist's thighs' don't fit into a smaller size even though that may be more applicable for my waist. This may have added to my issue with the wait adjusters, as you can see I had to pull these in quite far to get the required fit but I don't think I could have sized down comfortably in the leg department. Where the waistband is concerned I also noticed the material 'bobbling', something you don't expect for a £65 pair of shorts, this is restricted so far to the rear of the shorts that would be hidden under a jersey, I'll report back if it spreads further. There is a small patch on one upper thigh but this occurred due to a misplaced pair of kneepads and their velcro attachments in the wash - oops.

Big pockets....

The Andorra Comp Shorts feature two large hip pockets, two at the rear and one zippered pocket on the right leg. Aside from the leg pocket, the other offerings don't have secure closures so these are for non-valuable items only. 

Extra leg pocket fits a phone easily

If you are sans kneepad kind of rider and want a pair of shorts that breaths well, conforms to the body nicely and want to spin out the miles in comfort you'll be happy with the Andorra Comp shorts from Specialized. If, however, you are a bit more of a gravity fiend with a penchant for a bulky knee pad and a bit more length in the leg they might not be the short for you.