Scott Trail Vertic Pro shorts review: high-performance, longer-leg all-rounders

Scott’s bikes are known for pushing high performance as a priority and their Scott Trail Vertic Pro shorts clearly follow the same mantra. They’re a great balance of durability, length and weather-shrugging protection on one side, but easy-pedalling mobility and epic, ride-proof liner too.

Read on for the full review and you might also want to check out our guides to the best mountain bike jerseys and best mountain shorts once you've finished.

Design

Scott has largely relied on a really good stretch fabric (DUROxpand) rather than a fancy cut for the Vertic Pros. That cut takes them right down over your pads, so there’s no danger of an embarrassing gap or burns if it gets hot. The leg volume is baggy enough not to look weird/gravel but not billowy at speed or loose enough to hook onto frame parts or saddle. 

They stay up thanks to a broad, lightly elasticated waist with an alloy hook engaging with a webbing daisy-chain strap. That only gives five options spaced at 2.5cm / 1in intervals, though, so it’s a fairly crude adjustment. There’s no open fly either, just a flap across the gap. 

It’s worth noting that the shorts are slim for a given size too. That was great for our skinny testers who’ve grown used to Medium feeling like a potato sack, but if you’re more adipose than athletic in composition you might want to size up.

Performance

The relatively soft-feeling fabric isn’t immune to pulls from into-the-bushes incidents but it’s quiet and really comfortable against the skin. It’s DWR-coated to shrug off showers and splashes when new, and it dries reasonably quickly if it gets proper wet. That means reduced cling and rub on soggy slogs, while late-running laundry isn’t a disaster either. There are laser-cut perforations up the inner thigh for a bit of Victorian porn skin flash, but these shorts are definitely best suited to intermediate/shoulder-season weather rather than scorching days

The two zipped hand pockets have mesh backs and an extended depth so you need to be careful about what you put in there to avoid personal poking or cargo fighting with the crease of your legs. There’s a ”glove pocket” on the left cheek too, but the open top means it’s definitely not best used for valuables - that’s probably why they call it a “glove” pocket not a phone, keys, cash or family heirloom pocket, then. 

The shorts include a really good liner in the form of a pair of padded hot pants. These are fast breathing to keep sweat at bay and the +++ Trail Pro pad is much better quality than most. If you’re into longer rides that inner comfort goes a long way to justifying the higher cost of the shorts compared to sets with simpler, couple-of-hours-and-you’re-shifting-around-awkwardly liners.

Verdict

We can see how people could have some fit and pocket/feature issues with the Vertic Pro shorts so we’ve scored accordingly. If they work for you – and they definitely did for us – they’re a great set of long-leg performance shorts that pretty much vanish once you’re on the bike, even on epic or changeable weather days. Quality liners mean the price is better value than it might look at first too.

Tech Specs: Scott Trail Vertic Pro shorts

•  Price: $99.99 / £126.99
•  Colors: Midnight Blue (tested), Smoked Green, Black
• Sizes: S-XXL