xg5a

I guess I'm here a little to rant and a little for a sanity check. My wife and I have been riding together a lot since last summer. In the fall, we upgraded her clothing, with a pair of Pearl Izumi "attack" shorts and bibs. She's worn each a handful of times, maybe ten at most, and they've basically lost all of their elastic properties already. The shorts don't stay in place while riding, and they are actually baggy at the leg openings (they initially fit well, nice and tight).

The fabric is super flimsy too, way thinner than all of my shorts. The inside thigh area of the shorts has almost been rubbed through, I guess from contact with the saddle.

I feel like this is WAY too early for these shorts to be stretching out and falling apart, right? It was $180 for the set, I had expected much better. She pretty much can't use them, they don't stay in place while riding and provide no compression.

I emailed Pearl Izumi, they want me to pay return shipping for their warranty service, with no guarantee that they'll agree there's a problem (and a >30 day turnaround, which I guess is understandable with the pandemic). I'm really annoyed with the return shipping part. Plus, if they don't see the shorts actually on her I don't know if they'll decide there's a problem, they look sorta normal when someone isn't wearing them (and might fit someone who needs 1-2 sizes up)

genejockey 

The one time I had shorts get really loose quickly, it was when one of my kids 'helpfully' tossed my bike clothes in the dryer. My new bibs, ruined. Any chance that happened?

The worn area looks like it's rubbing something particular on the saddle. Saddle clamp? Something else under the saddle?

Atlas Shrugged

The worn area looks like velcro. Seat bag strap perhaps?

big john

That chaffed spot looks like it was rubbing on the Velcro strap on a saddle bag. The stretched out leg opening sucks, I have a lot of PI shorts that did that, along with other stretching. The latest pair I have seems much better and hasn't started to stretch yet. They also fit tighter overall, almost too tight and I use XXL.

xg5a

They didn't go into the dryer, good question though. That being said I've had some of my own cycling shorts in the dryer on extra-low heat and they came out fine, is that not typically ok to do?

You could be right about the saddle bag velcro rubbing, honestly that's the least of the problems though, the stretching is the big issue I'd say.

xg5a

Oh interesting, I've never had PI shorts for myself so I didn't know they have this tendency to stretch. It really sucks though!

genejockey 

It may have been the specific brand and model. Suffice to say that the nice, tight, "Lycra Power" fit became loose, baggy, and useless.

Yep! That happened to me! Made an actual hole and consigned a nice pair of bibs to indoor cycling only.

ARPRINCE

They probably won’t replace that with the chafing. The lost elasticity they will replace. I had the lower part/grippers of my elite bibs lose elasticity. 2 of them they replaced and I used it (although sparingly) for 2 summer seasons. I think I did pay for the shipping to them but that’s about it.

oris

I noticed the same with PI shorts is that they tend to stretch and lose the fit. My PI stuff is relegated to indoor workouts due to that.

Honestly for the money of their mid to higher end clothing, I would just go with Castelli if the fit floats your boat.

Mojo31

I have 4 pairs of PI shorts, a bib knicker,and pair of tights. Wife has similar. No sagging at all after about 18 months of frequent year round use. They get hung to dry - no drier. Washed in cold water.

Troul 

the shipping is a hassle & business bank on most for being discouraged in acting on the warranty.
I make sure to use non hard cold water on the gentle cycle. As soon as the washing is done it's promptly moved to a tumble with no heat dry.

mwdilday

I have 2 pair of PI shorts and was experiencing pain in my sensitive area. I took suggestions on the forum and bought a pair Aero Tech All Day Cycling Shorts - problem solved. Going to order a couple more pairs.

canklecat

Some cycling apparel makers recommend washing only in everything-free detergent (no softeners, brighteners, perfumes, etc), in cold water, and dried on very low heat, or air dried.

I hand wash all of my cycling and jogging apparel in cold or lukewarm water, although I'm not picky about detergent other than using Tide or Gain. I often let it soak in the wash water for up to an hour -- the enzymes in good detergents work better when given time. And I air dry everything by hanging them over the tub with a fan blowing. So far, so good, my cycling apparel that's 7 or 8 years old is still in good shape.

Even if I machine washed my gear I'd still avoid hot dryers -- that's what will kill elastic. I do machine wash my boxer briefs (Champion, Under Armour, Ironman, others) and while the fabric lasts for years (same Lycra and Spandex used in cycling apparel) the elastic waistband dies after only a year or two even on the lowest heat in the laundromat -- which is pretty high compared with good home dryers.

Koyote

OP is venting about PI's customer service. But it's pretty standard for a company to want you to send in a warranty claim for evaluation, and to pay your own shipping. Nothing to complain about.

77Eric

That’s surprising to me. Any chance those are counterfeit? When I think of PI I think above average quality at a competitive price, although i don’t have any PI shorts or bibs. I do have socks, gloves, arm warmers, etc., and in general I have found PI quality to be more consistent than that of its competitors.

rsbob 

On other cycling forums, I know I have been unfaithful, there are constant rants against PI clothing after they sold to another company and they gutted the quality and boosted prices. The new owners did the classic, buy a great company, gut the quality and boost the prices. They will have a good run until their rep catches up with them.

I bought PI everything for years and it was excellent quality and super durable. Davis Phinney was part owner. I still have a few items that are several years old and still perform like new - but am down to the last pair of shorts. Most people aware of the new owner’s strategy avoid the brand like the plague. Sorry to have to break the bad news (not about me being unfaithful to BF)

Sy Reene

Not sure when Pearl Izumi made the leap to premium tier pricing.. Last bib I bought of theirs was the PRO version about 3 yrs ago, was $75 albeit on sale. Today it seems selling everywhere at over $200? It was maybe worth the $75 I did pay for it. Attack level bib for $100 now? Better options out there.

xg5a

Good thought, but I bought these items directly from the PI website. Like you, I also have gloves, shoes, etc from them which are all of good quality, that's partly why the low quality of these shorts was so surprising.

xg5a

Shimano are the ones who bought them, right? Based on shimano's other products, cheapening the product to increase profits doesn't make sense. Based on the product quality and prices of Shimano, I wouldn't be surprised about raising the prices but I wouldn't think they'd kill the quality.

And there's my mistake, I thought this was a "you get what you pay for" situation, in that $100 attack bibs means they would be great quality. :-(

xg5a

You have a very fair point, and yes I'm definitely frustrated/venting. But on the other hand, this isn't exactly the normal warranty issue of "it broke", this is more like "your product randomly sucks". So I guess that's why the return shipping thing bothers me. That being said, I'm probably gonna do it as soon as my wife orders some other brand riding shorts as replacements.

knobd

Good to know but sad. I also have been using them for years and for me it takes around 3 or 4 years for them to start to loosen/fade. I purchased some new last year from Amazon but the build date on the tag was 2017 so I guess that is why they are holding up so well so far (old owners).

Iride01 

I'd want to know why they are so baggy. I've used PI shorts and bibs exclusively for over a dozen years and still have my first pair. I retired them a couple years ago but keep them for emergencies. They still fit very well. However if I was to wear them then the OP of this other thread see-through shorts - to tell or not to tell? and a few others might not like what they see.

I never ever put any of my cycling clothes in the dryer. If I need them dry quickly, then a fan moving air around them will do that if you just hand them in front. However since they are going to get sweaty anyway, I don't worry if I need to put them on wet...... unless it's winter.

LibertyFLS

Meanwhile my $25 shipped on alibaba fake vintage Heylett Leroux bibs and a plain black pair I’ve worn about 100x each, machine wash and dry still fit and work like day one.

Which makes me wonder how anyone can justify what some companies charge for a bib short. And jersers for $100? Come on, unless it’s custom one-off.

I worked in apparel manufacturing, Motorsports safety apparel, which included dye-sub crew shirts and MX jerseys. 100% of cycling jerseys are dye-sub other than wool kit or solid colored vat-dyed, and I can tell you all no matter what fabric they use, which are all poly blends, the fabric is dirt cheap. Wool retro kit yes, that’s justifiably pricey. The rest is all marketing or non Chinese labor.

Order some kits on alibaba express which will arrive in 2-3 weeks usually and get back to me.

rsbob 

OMG Their products are insanely affordable! Never knew: https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale...ing+jersey+men THANKS!

blacknbluebikes 

side note: everyone around here has their approach to washing. here's one that works well for me and I'm getting the longevity I expect:
Atsko Sport Wash laundry detergent for tech fabrics (Amazon); Delicate cycle only; Hang dry only.
I have only retired one pair of shorts since 2013, since "no one wants to see that."