CHAMOIS REPORT, PART ONE!

So - despite the possibility of publicly declaring myself an idiot I am compelled to offer this endorsment of the new-for-2009 Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Octane bibshorts:

It's my habit to test potential new stuff for the shop in the only way I really know how - I use it. In the off-season I like to try out new shorts 'cuz I've always felt that if I can find shorts or bibs that don't bother me on the rollers or trainer then they're gonna be great out on the road. (By the way - that theory applies to saddles, shoes, cleat placement and any other positional changes you might be contemplating. There's no better place to experiment than the trainer!)

So - I've been putting a pair of these new bibs from Pearl to the test. They are pretty good lookin' - featuring the oh-so-trendy black and white look that 90+% of the bikes, bibs, shoes and helmets we saw @ Interbike had - w/ a zippy little red stripe. They are 100% Italian in a departure from PI's US roots and I'm kind of digging them so far.

So.......we had a 2 hour indoor ride scheduled for last Sunday. I thought it'd be a great chance to really check them out so I made sure that they were washed that morning. I had to leave for the shop early so I got grabbed them outta the dryer and threw them in my bag w/ just a quick check to make sure they were dry.

Oops.

90 minutes later I'm kitting up for the ride and notice that the chamois is soaked. Not just "not dry"......................soaked. I figure that I'm screwed, 'twas my bad so I resign myself to a l-o-n-g uncomfortable ride and jump on my bike.

Well.............it wasn't until we had 10 minutes to go in the ride that I remembered the wet chamois! I never thought about it the entire ride! Pretty impressive, I gotta say.

Still stupid, sure............but still.............impressive.

Thanks for savin' my ass, Pearl!

Now - are we gonna carry them? I dunno yet. After all - they are $275 and there are some other bibs I wanna try in that price range. I'll let'cha know.