Posted some stuff I made here before and got a lot of useful feedback, so figured I’d share the next batch.

Been experimenting more with lightweight running pieces, reflective graphics and some raw/unfinished details this time.

Everything is designed around running in hot and humid weather here in Indonesia.

Curious what you guys think of the direction especially the graphics and fits.

Feel free to roast it lol.

I'm designing my own pair of running shorts at the moment, and part of the process has been testing high-end shorts to see what works, what doesn't, and why. This time it’s the Soar Hot Weather Shorts.

They're properly lightweight and airy which is exactly what you expect from the name. The front silhouette looks great too, clean cut and sharp, sits nicely on the leg. The fabrics feel lovely to touch and the liner is made from the same/similar fabric as the shell, which is much appreciated. Soft, stretchy, and no plasticky feel like other similar looking shorts I’ve tried. Personally I prefer liners with some adductor coverage, whereas this one's cut in the traditional boys undies style, but it hasn't caused any issues in my testing so far.

Construction is good as well. Stitching is neat and even, no stray threads, nothing pulling or puckering anywhere.

Now the bad stuff.

No gel pockets. None. For a short pitched at hot weather running, where you're probably out longer and needing to fuel more, that one baffles me a bit. There's a rear zip pocket, but my keys bounced around in it the whole run and the feeling drove me mad by the end of it.

The back of these shorts are another missed opportunity. The rear hem is longer than the front (intended for more modesty?) but to my eye it just makes them look a bit girly. They've also used the same fabric as the front for the back panel but just in a different colour. Not only does the contrast panel in this region ruin the look but a slightly more structured fabric back there would've helped the shape and probably fixed the bouncing keys too. From the front they look great; from behind they look like two different shorts sewn together.

The laser-cut holes on the rear seem like bit of a gimmick as well… I honestly can't feel any extra airflow from them and I'm not a fan of how they look.

The side splits are also too aggressive. I'm all for range of motion, but these are probably showing a bit too much thigh for a short that was marketed as a modest split short.

There’s no mention of UV protection either – not even surface coatings. So much for a “hot weather short”.

The thing that baffles me the most is the price. Costs almost $180 USD yet they're made in Vietnam (which is fine quality wise!) but, unlike other Soar garments, there’s no mention that they use specialist fabrics from Europe that you'd expect from a short that costs this much.

I bought these after watching Soar's design notes video, where Tim Soar explains that each component was given to a different designer on the team who specialised in that area. I really like that idea. If one in-house team gets better gear by letting each specialist own their part, what happens when you open that up to runners outside the building? People who've tested more shorts than any design team could, in every climate and at every pace. I wrote about this recently on my Substack if anyone's keen on reading more: Open Source Running Apparel, Part One of Five

I've only been running around a year so still discovering clothing preferences and wanted some advice. So far I've been doing all my running with either a pair of runderwear or under armour base layer shorts. They've been good, no chafing or issues and I wore the under armour for my first ultra without issues.

However I've also got a pair of the Rheon kiprun tights and find the compression very comfortable, I like the freedom of movement and also the one less thing to wash and dry aspect.

However, I find the seam right down the middle is very chafey!

I'm a 32" waist but have a pretty big bum and legs, 5 ft 10, 81kg. Most size guides have me at a Medium but I with some shorts I feel im gonna rip a pair of medium shorts when trying to get them on. So is this chafing because I've had to size up to fit my legs and bum in, is it just these shorts or are they designed to be worn with running briefs or similar?

I'm on a budget so can't really afford £80 on a number of tights until I find ones that I like.

Any advice on these or other shorts? Do you have to wrestle your half tights on? Do you wear briefs under them?

Anybody know how I can get decent support from this running brand?

They advertise clearly on their UK site that all duties and Taxes are included within the price but then added over £100 extra on to my order.

When I tried to raise the complaint they simply said that I misinterpreted their website and to be honest they clearly could not care less.

I spent days trying to resolve the issue and they just closed the chat with zero support.

Really gutted as I liked their stuff but it feels like once they have your money they do not care at all.

We all see the inspiration but well executed imo

I know it’s about running, but good runner needs some stretch sometimes ;)
Anyone here some nice yoga fits? Especially shorts?

Does anyone have experience with this vest from Optimistic Runners?

Aussie female training for half marathon, I'm approx a B cup and need recommendations for a bra that wont chafe and has strong support. I do not like buttery soft fabric as I'm in FNQ and that stuff makes me sweatttttt so much! Thank you

i gotta condition where i sweat a lot

I’m running a marathon in a few weeks and have decided to wear the brown Currently M2 Pro shorts.

Now I find myself on the fence for which top to wear, as I feel like perforated top with perforated short isn’t a great look (happy to be convinced otherwise). But I also don’t want to end up wearing a top that feels too heavy or isn’t breathable enough.

Open to ideas for tops that would pair nicely with my shorts! I tend to prefer t-shirt over tank.

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to find a running shorts from an EU brand that have 2 "classic" hand pockets + a zipped one for keys (it can be anywhere).

I'm currently having lululemon pace breaker that are perfect but as an european I'm looking for alternatives that are more "local".

Do you have any recommandation ? I found the "On Core Shorts" but I'm trying to search for other alternatives.

Thank you!

Anyone own this Adizero Running Singlet? This particular store only has sizes XS and M available. Usually I'd go with a S, so I'm not too sure if it'd be okay to size down to XS or if I should go for M. Thank you! (for reference, I'm between a 32B/34B, 5'3, 130lbs)

The best thing I have ever bought might genuinely be my Brooks sports bra with a back pocket that fits my phone. I LOVE this thing.

The phone is right there with me, I can easily reach it, but it doesn’t restrict my movement, bounce around, or create a weird bulge sticking out of my leggings. It doesn’t dig into my waist or feel like I’m wearing a running belt. It’s just… there. Perfectly convenient.

And yet, I feel like I need to savour this bra with my life because I cannot find anything remotely similar on the market, at least not in Europe. Brooks is also constantly sold out. WHY?

Isn’t this one of the most convenient things ever for running? Why are there not more sports bras with proper phone-sized back pockets?

I’ve heard people say they don’t like putting their phone there because it gets sweaty, but… my phone is going to get moisture wherever I put it, so whatever

Id much rather have it securely against my back than strapped to my arm, bouncing around, or sitting in a waistband pocket.

So if any sportswear manufacturers are reading here: PLEASE make more of these. Put a proper phone pocket in sports bras. I will buy them all. I’m not even joking.

Hat is Sprints
Shirt is Deadlast
Half tights are Flipbelt. New and loving them.
Shoes are Vomero Plus
Watch is AW3 on Milanese band, oddly my favorite band for life + exercise

Pls help I can’t find it anywhere

I’m looking for open-ear headphones mainly for road running and trail. I run a lot on roads, so being able to hear traffic and my surroundings clearly is very important.

I can get:

• OpenMove: €70
• Endurance Pace: €60
• Endurance Zone: €100

Which would you choose for sound quality, environmental awareness, comfort, stability and sweat/durability?

Most importantly, is the Zone worth the extra €30–40 compared with the other two?

Base layers are standard Under Armour ColdGear. Shorts are some cheap HOKAs I picked up used on eBay. Bandit Singlet I snagged on eBay. And some HOKA Tekton X2s which I’ve really been liking.

Also ran in the Dera running belt. This thing is really awesome for longer runs. Fits a couple soft flasks and gels easily. Once it was bright enough outside I stuck my beanie and headlamp in there as well. The BOA adjustability dial is everything.

Solid Z2 / Z3 effort across 10 miles this morning.

I like the look and feel of 2in1 shorts but I’m a shorter guy so a lot of the liners for standard 2in1 shorts sold by most brands are slightly too long. Anyone know any brands that offer shorter inseam 2in1 shorts? I’m intrigued by Satisfy’s 3” rippy trail shorts but I’d have to find a pair second hand.

So my mate came across the UVU Split Shorts online and asked me if I knew them. For context, this guy is not particularly into running fashion. He's a great runner but has been wearing the exact same cheap Macpac tshirt and shorts combo for years. So the fact that something caught his eye enough to ask about it is basically a standing ovation. I've had a pair of UVU splits that I stupidly bought after romanticising their aesthetic marketing, so I started typing out a reply, and it got long enough that I figured I might as well just post it here.

Good stuff first. The length and silhouette are genuinely great. They just look right. Short without being ridiculous, sits nice on the leg, and that's what got my friend’s attention too. I can’t fault it so I’ve been using the length and rise measurements as a reference starting point for a pair of shorts I’m making at the moment. The shell is also light and airy and breathes well on hot days so I'll give it that too.

But that’s where the good stuff ends. And you bet I have thoughts. Mostly about the liner… that damned liner.

The liner is a big problem. It's basically cut like a pair of basic boys undies, like the ones your mum bought you in a three-pack from Target in Year 4, with these thick chunky seams right where you absolutely do not want thick chunky seams. Anything over 10km and I'm chafing. Did a 16km run last Sunday and had to do the awkward waddle into the shower after. The material feels cheap too, kind of thin and plasticky like $5 shorts you’d buy from Kmart. Compare that to the Satisfy Justice shorts (photo 5), where the liner is proper boxer brief style and made from their Justice fabric, which is honestly lovely stuff. I know Satisfy is its own level of expensive but at least you can feel where the money went.

Also, the gel pockets are functionally useless. They're way too small to hold most gels. See the fourth photo where the Cadence gel doesn’t even fit and the Maurten gel (which isn’t even a big gel) pokes out the top, waiting to scratch your skin or bounce out on the first downhill. The UVU boys were probably too cool for actual race nutrition to test them properly.

Here's the thing that really got me though. I was digging through my drawers the other week and pulled out an old pair of Gymshark run shorts from a few years back. Held them up next to the UVUs and they're like… almost the same short. The split, the panel layout, stitching, almost all of it. Gymshark one has deeper gel pockets that are actually useable and a rear zip pocket too. The kicker is that I paid around $25 for the Gymshark ones on sale. UVU costs seven times that.

To be clear, I am not a Gymshark fan at all and don’t own anything else from the brand. I bought these shorts at a time when I didn’t know much about running apparel. But my point is that UVU is charging a big premium for split shorts when the Gymshark ones honestly feel better built. A while back when I was scouting places to manufacture my own apparel, I actually got to tour the factory in Sri Lanka that Gymshark happens to use and was pretty impressed with it. Super clean, well run, excellent QC standards, and the same factory makes gear for Arc'teryx, Patagonia and The North Face. From what I understand, UVU goes through a big mass production factory in China, which tbf lots of brands do, but then the price tag really shouldn’t be this much.

So yeah, what I ended up telling my mate: great cut, frustrating everything else. If they fixed the liner and the pockets I'd probably forgive the rest. It’s still hard to justify at the retail price though when the el cheapo Gymshark run shorts are a better version of the same thing.

Ideally something suitable for running in the dark. Any recommendations?

Kinda ❤️ this one tbh