MONSERAT GRAVITY PANT REVIEW

EXCELLENT COOL WEATHER PANTS

Words by Robert Johnston  |  Photos by Adam Lievesley

Monserat’s ridewear collection is fairly simple, all following similar principles with clean designs and some eco-friendly credentials. Their Gravity Pants are intended to offer riders with some extra protection and comfort on shuttle or lift-access days, with their more durable fabric and slight weatherproofing. They absolutely nailed their brief, and in doing so made one of my favorite pants for autumn/fall mountain biking to date.

ABOUT THE MONSERAT GRAVITY PANTS

The Monserat Gravity Pants, or GP1, are tailored towards mountain biking on colder days. They’re made with a tougher fabric than the rest of their lineup, with some insulation to keep the chill off on colder days in the saddle. The fit is regular, with the slight stretch in the durable 90% recycled plastic fabric offering sufficient flexibility for dynamic moves on the bike.

The fabric used for the Monserat Gravity Pants has natural water repellency to keep light rain and puddle splashes from soaking through. Durable abrasion resistant paneling is added to the knees to prevent crashes from causing damage, and there’s a stretchy abrasion-resistant material added on the inside of the ankle cuffs. There are three zippered pockets: two in the typical hand pocket position; and one on the right hip. There’s an additional, smaller, un-zippered pocket on the left thigh, which is questionably useful. The waist features a ratchet buckle to cinch things up and keep them in place.

In addition to using 90% recycled plastic for the fabric, Monserat uses a Spanish textiles manufacturer for the fabric and has them sewn into the final garment in Poland, reducing shipping and ensuring quality construction. Monserat offers sizes Small (30” waist) to XL (36” waist), with Small through Large receiving a choice of regular or long (+4”) lengths. Available in Black only, the Monserat Gravity Pants retail for €159.95.

THE DIRT

I’ve had the Monserat Gravity Pants on rotation for the majority of the year, seeing pedal action – primarily on eBikes – on colder days, and some chairlift-fed gravity mountain biking on warmer days.

I’m a tricky man to size for, with proportionately chunkier legs than typical for my awkward 33” waist measurement. I also have relatively long legs. With the longer fit unavailable when testing commenced, I settled for the Large (34”) in the regular fit. These were on the absolute limit of how tight I could tolerate, saved only by the medium stretch present in the fabric and sufficient space in the knee area for the likes of the Fox Enduro Pro D3O knee pads. Even so, they offered a little too much restriction to keep me happy when pedaling a mountain bike, with an eBike being tolerable.

The slightly brushed, insulated fabric used in the Monserat Gravity Pants is excellent. It strikes a great balance of heat management, keeping things toasty enough when sat on a chairlift on a damp and muddy day, without sweltering on pedal days up to around 13C (55F). They’re not going to be your ultra-lightweight summer pants, but for your spring and autumn (fall) riding conditions in the UK, northern Continental Europe or the PNW, they hit a sweet spot that’ll make them well suited to the cooler days.

The construction is high quality throughout and Monserat have covered almost all of the details very well. However, I take issue with the unzippered thigh pocket on the left leg. It looks a little unrefined, and I don’t exactly understand why they’ve opted to fit it. You’re unlikely to store a lift pass or tool in there for fear of it falling out, and I managed to catch the dropper post lever on a couple of extremely steep technical climbs when pedaling out the saddle, which was a little dangerous. I’d love to see a zip added to this pocket, or at very least a velcro flap. But in reality, I’d likely remove it altogether and settle for the three other zippered pockets that offer ample storage space.

The Monserat Gravity Pants have been holding up exceptionally well to the highly abusive muddy days they’ve typically found themselves called upon. There’s no sign of detrimental wear and tear, and they continue to resist light rain and puddles.

The Wolf’s Last Word

I’m a big fan of the Monserat Gravity Pants. I’d love to see a slight increase to the overall volume to reduce how tight they are for my legs, but most riders are likely to enjoy the fit, and I dislike the unzippered thigh pocket. But the material performance and overall quality push them right up to the top of my kit pile, especially for the colder days of aggressive mountain biking.

Price: €159.95
Website: Ridemonserat.com

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