Actin' like life is a big commercial

I've had some people ask me about these shorts I recently procured/made.   In person.  At work.  Out and about.  At Wheels to the Farm.  On the Internet.

photo cred: Chris Kelly

I like baggies for goofing off, just not baggy baggies.  Problem being, most baggies are just that.  Baggy... hence the name.

I like the casual look, but I don't like the wind tunnel that leads directly to my crotchal zone.  I've bought plenty of shorts over the years for work, casual wear, and mountain biking, and very few of them have fit me the way I liked.  So, when my friend hooked me up with a discount code for an online purchase at Mountain Khakis, I checked out what they had to offer.

Same old, same old. I know this is what most people want. I'm not most people.

So, since I was already on the site, I checked out their pants (also known as "shorts that are yet to be freed from the bonds of excess material"). I found these:

Mountain Khakis Camber Commuter Pants. I know what you're thinking. Buying $95 pants only to take a pair of scissors (or a razor blade in my case) to them seems nuts. Well, the coupon code did reduce the price to the point where it was almost reasonable if I really liked them... not that it made it any easier to start hacking them just to find out.  Still, it's the most I've paid for a pair of shorts that didn't have a chamois sewn into them.

I really like them.  As pants, even Bike Rumor's Tyler "Tool Bag" Benedict thought they were pretty groovy.

Apparently, this is how you test commuter pants.  I don't understand this, but maybe this is just another reason why I'm not in the "industry" anymore.

I bought two pairs of  Camber Commuter Pants, but I only cut the one pair when I got them right before Thanksgiving.  I had to wait three days before I could commit to whacking the second pair... so much commitment.  Like marriage-level.  I'm now glad I did (just like the marriage thing).

Best feature?  The gusseted crotch... just like you'd find on a pair of Chuck Norris Action Jeans...  which allows the wearer to do some sweet-ass, face-clocking karate kicks.

I reached out to my friend who works for Mountain khakis and asked why they don't make a short like this.  Her answer?

"We actually have the short coming for Spring!"

I'll wait with baited breath and will let you know whenever I see them on their site.  I think.  If I remember.

And in case you missed it, Bike Radar did a sweet little write up about the Backcountry Research Mütherload strap and Tülbag.

Probably the only reason I point this out is because of this:

"This rough surface is designed to help stop the bag from inadvertently flying out of your jersey pocket while riding and is one of those incredibly simple, but deeply satisfying “I wish I had thought of that”, solutions to a problem that we imagine most riders have faced at some point."

Because, as I can say with deep satisfaction, I actually thought of this.

Of course, my concept was improved about ten fold as far as materials and construction go, but still...

I'm proud of my little Tülbag, and I take great delight in the fact that a lot of people actually use it.

And yeth, I still have the O.G. Bike 29 coozie prototype hanging on my pegboard.

So I have that going for me... and true slim fit Mountain Khaki short pants.  Also me.