Patagonia Nine Trails Shorts Review

First, I want to say the following: I bought my second pair of these shorts, price be damned because I ran a 50k in the first pair with zero chafings. That, combined with the zippered pockets, make these shorts a must-buy for me. One of the reasons I purchased the first pair was for the zippered pockets. I run commute about 8.5 miles from work to home about twice a week and wanted to be able to carry my phone, keys, and a gel securely without needing any extra gear. These shorts fit the bill perfectly. One front pocket fits my iPhone 8 Plus…although it is clear that you have a phone in your pocket. The other front pocket easily carries a gel and a bar, and the back pocket carries keys, my license, and my debit card. When carrying all of this I have to tie the cord that runs through the waistband. Otherwise, the shorts start to fall down, and the fit of the liner makes a difference when it comes to chafing. The DWR finish has so far kept things dry from the elements…the only way things get wet is from my sweat.

When it comes to fit, I initially tried a small, which is what I usually wear in shorts without the boxer brief liner. The small was too form-fitting in this case and I needed to move to the medium. Patagonia does have an interactive fit guide on the Nine Trails product page that, had I used it, would have let me know that 80% of the people in my height, weight, and age range purchase a medium. The more you know. Going back to what I said about fit and the liner, I have found that you do need to pull the shorts all the way up. There have been a few times when, after peeing, I have not pulled my shorts up enough which meant the liner was not fully able to do its job. It was easy to notice the fit was off as all of a sudden I started to feel the beginning of chaffing. Making an adjustment by just pulling the shorts up a bit fixed the issue and I was able to run without any chaffing feeling yet again.

There are a lot of running shorts with liners out there on the market today. I chose these shorts from Patagonia in part because I respect the mission behind Patagonia’s business and I want to support that mission. I also know that they stand behind the products that they make with a stellar warranty, and that makes spending $65 on a pair of shorts an even easier choice. These shorts are now a standard part of my running kit and I highly recommend that you consider them for yours.

Since this review was posted Patagonia has updated the shorts. Once I have had a chance to fully test them out I will post an updated review. In the meantime, I do know that the zipper pull tabs are longer which negates my quibble regarding gloves. Hooray!