I've got a couple pairs of Swrve knickers, and they work great for me. The thing I like about them more than anything else is the fact that they're snug around the leg. If you carry stuff around in your pockets (which I do all the time), then you know what it feels like when that stuff goes swinging around on a pair of shorts when you're pedaling. If you're really mashing, stuff can fly right out of your pockets. The Swrve knicks (and many other brands, I'm sure) resolve this by making everything a bit more snug. If you're on the slimmer side, they look really good. Add in the reinforced areas and articulated knees, and you've got something that pretty damn good on the bike, and looks really good off of it too. I walk around work all day in my knicks, when it's chillier and I've got knee high black socks on I look like baseball player. They're technical enough to be utilitarian, but not so technical that they look ridiculous at the coffee shop/bar/record store/bar-mitzvah/cock fighting match/etc.