Review of The North Face Downieville Colab Shorts and Wrencher Jersey

In the past few years The North Face has been tiptoeing into the mountain bike clothing market to cater to the off-season whims of their pro ski athletes, such as Sage Cattabriga-Alosa. Then, at last year’s Interbike Show in Las Vegas, the company jumped in with both feet by announcing a partnership with Pro-Tec and unveiling a new line of padded apparel. The centerpiece is the rugged Downieville Colab Short which incorporates a padded inner chamois featuring Pro-Tec’s proprietary flex panels. The whole concept behind this short is to withstand as much abuse as you can throw at it, which is exactly what I did on a recent rainy ride in Rossland, BC. The area had been experiencing record-breaking rainfall and the trails were slick, fast and water-logged. More than once my tires slipped out around a corner and I landed on my hips. And in one memorable instant I naively rode through a creek with water levels up past my knees and endo-ed onto the far bank. In every instance I was happy to have the added protection of the Downieville Short.

To read the entire review, log on to Backcountry Skiing Canada.