Are pockets on the Specialized Men's Prime SWAT Bib Shorts worth parting with extra cash? Perhaps

Part of Specialized’s Prime collection for both men and women, like other SWAT products, these cargo bib shorts are for riders looking for innovative storage solutions beyond the conventional pockets in the jersey. For bag shy cyclists out on a day trip, these extra pockets can provide welcome storage solutions by spreading the load, and increasingly this style of short is seen as de rigueur for gravel riders by manufacturers.  

The shorts come only in black and are available in five sizes for men (S – XXL) and women (XS – XL). 

Specialized Men's Prime SWAT Bib Shorts construction

Judging by appearances, the Prime SWAT bib shorts are essentially the Prime range’s normal cycling bib shorts, plus four extra pockets. 

There are two cargo style pockets sat on the side of your thighs, which are sufficiently capacious to easily hold a phone (my iPhone SE fitted fine, but larger phones on smaller legs might struggle) or a snack or two. Additionally there are two hidden pockets which sit either side of your spine on the lower back. I call these pockets hidden, as I wouldn’t have realised they were there if not for visiting the Specialized website. I didn’t find these especially useful, given I’d usually wear a top making them inaccessible on the ride, but they could be handy for storing something soft such as gloves or a spare gel. They feel somewhat superfluous unless you tend to ride without a jersey and therefore need the space. 

Those pockets while handy, will cost you £35/$20 more – so probably only worth it if you feel your current ride is suffering due to the lack of minimal storage they offer. 

While pockets are always pleasant, the important thing about any cycling short is, of course, the chamois. Fitted with Specialized’s Triple Density Body Geometry Contour 3D Chamois, means you have less padding around front of crotch, so no full nappy look when wearing, and more substantial padding where it matters for each seat bone.

The main body and leg of the shorts are made up of 46% Polyamide, 38% Polyester, 16% Elastane, and with one seam per leg designed to provided a supportive but not restrictive fit. The cuff is elasticated and has two vertical tablet style silicon grippers that you fit and forget about once on.

The waistband is fully sown, and I found stayed up easily and without discomfort even without the straps. The straps themselves are a good width designed for comfort at 4.5cm, with a tricot suspender anchor designed to hold them in place.

Branding is unobtrusive in daylight, with Spesh’s distinctive “S” on the back of the right hand cargo pocket, and some wording that sits above your left hip but likely for most obscured by clothing when riding.

The branding is made of the same material as the two 10cm long reflective stripes on back of each thigh – a welcome addition for those riding in the twilight and night time hours.

The ride

At 5’ 8” with a 32” waist and 38” chest I went with the medium fit as advised by the sizing chart, and was not disappointed by the fit which was true to size. 

In fit, the shorts are the right side of snug without being restrictive. Changing into them in a toilet cubicle after a meeting one day wasn’t as much of a dance as it can be with tighter shorts. A bit of adjusting of straps, pad and thigh grippers after getting them on was all I needed for the duration of all my rides with no mid ride faff and adjustment required.

While the single seam on outside of each thigh helps prevent any irritation on the ride, unfortunately there is an incredibly long instruction tag. Despite removing most of it, a bit remained which scratched a wee bit on initial rides, and only stopped after the shorts had gone through several washes.

My incompetence with tag removal aside, on the legs, the shorts feel like a second skin. This is aided by the silicon grippers at the cuffs which gripped and did not shift, all without being restrictive. Post ride, while of course there were the tell-tale gripper imprints, these were much fainter than other shorts in my wardrobe and seemed to fade more quickly.

Similarly the waist just simply fitted well and there was no pressure on the belly during the ride or off the bike. The tapering of the chamois, where it is thicker where your seat bones meet the saddle, but thinner towards the front of your crotch made it very comfortable in the saddle. I genuinely had no complaints even on the roughest of terrain after multiple miles in the wet and dirt.

My one complaint about the chamois was for when there were periods of hike-a-bike. Disconcertingly (and apologies for the image this might conjure) the chamois would frequently be sucked between my cheeks. While this might be my peculiar body design, this has not happened to me before with other shorts. Given where you might end up wearing such shorts, when out gravel riding or bikepacking, walking with your bike could well be on the cards, so I did find this a touch disconcerting.

As you’d hope with nice wide straps, the pressure was evenly spread across the shoulders and genuinely from start to finish I barely the short’s presence. A good sign.

How these shorts will hold up in the warmer summer months is not for me to say given I tested them in one of the wettest late winters and early springs of recent memory. I’d warrant the dual layering for the lower back pockets could become wee heat wells, but riding in temperatures between 5 and 15 degrees celsius, with waterproofs at times, I never suffered any discomfort and felt they managed to keep me at the Goldilocks of temperatures when in motion.

Testing shorts in on British “gravel” in such seasons is not ideal, so at times I teamed them up with a pair of Rab Cinder Kinetic Waterproof pants, and was pleased to find the side pockets easily accessible through the trousers’ vents. Based on such compatibility I would envisage this to be the case with many trail trousers.

Equally despite the horrid conditions they’ve encountered, multiple washes later they’re still holding up strong with no loose threads or real signs of wear.

Value and conclusion

At £165/$220, the Specialized Prime SWAT Bib shorts sit somewhere between Endura’s GV500 Reiver bibshort (£139.99) and Rapha’s Cargo Bib shorts (£240/$310 – though their well respected CORE range is priced at £130/$165). 

Given the pocket premium of £35/$20 compared to Spesh’s pocketless Prime bib shorts, you do need to be sold on the benefits of pockets if you find the Prime range works well for you. 

These are of course a premium product made by a reputable firm, so it does feel a bit churlish to get hung about price. They are incredibly comfortable and my short of choice at the moment, but I’m not sure they’re nearly £100 more comfortable than my other favourite bib shorts made by Howies.

I also see these very much as day ride shorts, and despite their comfort would probably not consider them for multi-day bikepacking trips. That’s down to personal preference and the inconvenience of bib shorts for rides where nature comes a calling.

For those fortunate enough to be able to spend £165/$220 on a pair of shorts, I do not think you will be disappointed. While I’ve only been testing these for two months, they’ve put in the miles in grotty conditions and I envisage they will last long and well. 

For those who would prefer to spend half that amount and get a similar short, then the Specialized/Fjällräven Adventure Bib Shorts are still available, offering similar features (in the green colour) and reduced to £80 - in the UK - while stocks last.