Review: Castelli Cocoon Due Short

In a pinch, I went and picked up a pair of these. In the fitting room I tried them on with six others (the ones I really wanted were the Descente Aero-X Shorter short but they were more expensive) and I chose them mostly based on the awesome chamois.

I went for a 20 mile ride in them today for the first time and the chamois is everything I dreamed. It hardly feels diapery and contours my undercarriage nicely do to some embossed seams. I'm wearing a size L (what I wear in PI shorts) and they aren't having any serious sausage effects. The waist band is comfortable as are the leg bands (grippy ones).

Complaints: The material these are made of is a little stretchier than I like. I really like the firmness of the stretch in my Pearl Izumi Ultrasensor shorts and this is significantly "loosy-goosier". I guess I'm a little conscious of the way it doesn't really bind up any flabby spots, but that's just vanity at this point.

Another plus-- some of my biking students liked the scorpion logos :o

Overall I give this short (so far) a 6.5/10 cogs!