Review: Castelli Provocante short

Fit: These would be good for an athletic woman with muscular thighs. They run large, surprisingly for a European brand. I'm on the line between Small and Medium in SheBeest and a pretty solid medium in PI, but a Small pair of these shorts fits me well - slightly loose in the legs, but I'm getting thicker in the waist as I grow older. :rolleyes:

The waist has a regular sized elastic band in back, and a wide yoke panel in front. It doesn't roll or put pressure on my bladder. I've never had a problem with any shorts cutting into my belly, but for those who do, the yoke should prevent that. The rise is high, but not excessively high on my short-waisted self.

Chamois: I'm in chamois heaven. The KISS-3 pad is great for someone who needs a very T-shaped saddle. The padded part of the chamois is quite narrow in front, but plenty wide in back for my 135 mm sitbones. It's also pretty thin in front, maybe 3 mm or so - exactly how I like it, and hard to find nowadays. The "wings" do their job of preventing thigh chafing without pulling the main pad out of place. There are no channels, molding or distinct lines; the very smooth and comfortable cover is bonded over the padding.

Fabric: It's silky and thin, but as far as I can tell not see-through. There are no leg grippers. The inseam is short (18 cm), and when I started the ride this morning, between the short inseam, the lack of grippers and the slightly loose legs, they were riding up quite a bit. But as soon as I started sweating (and likely also got my thighs pumped up a bit), the legs stayed in place.

Bottom line: These will be my go-to shorts for warm weather. Because of the lack of leg grippers, they wouldn't work on days when my legs don't sweat or when I want to wear knee warmers. But since silicone grippers give me a rash in warm weather, that's perfect.

Now I want to try on a pair of the Vizio Due, which have the same chamois in a more constructed short. TE peeps, are you just temporarily sold out of the smaller sizes/will you be getting some more in?