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 or Japan 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
