The Best Mountain Bike Shorts for Women of 2024

There’s nothing more annoying than a pair of ill-fitting bike shorts. You want to be able to focus on the ride, not fight with your shorts. Lady shredders used to have to make do with a pair of shrunken men’s shorts, but those days are long gone.

We’re happy to report that there is now a wide variety of mountain bike shorts made specifically for women. We’ve been riding trails across the U.S., including lots of miles in Oregon and Colorado, with test notes from skilled riders, newbies, and professional mountain bikers.

And while there isn’t a single pair of shorts that works for every body and riding style, we’ve included a variety of options. Below, you’ll find the best shorts and chamois that will make hitting the trails that much more fun. Get ready to suit up and ride out.

For more information about women’s mountain bike shorts and the various design features to consider, check out our buyer’s guide and FAQ. Also, have a look at our comparison chart to steer your decision-making. Otherwise, we divided this list into useful categories so you can easily find the best women’s mountain bike shorts for your needs.

Editor’s Note: We updated our Women’s Mountain Bike Shorts guide on June 25, 2024, with the addition of several new models, including the Curious Creatures Ramble Scramble and Marilyn Shorts, as well as the affordable Flylow Lola Shorts.

The Best Women’s Mountain Bike Shorts of 2024

Best of the Rest

Women’s Bike Shorts Comparison Chart

 How We Tested Women’s Mountain Bike Shorts

The GearJunkie testing team is made up of amateur to expert road cyclists, bikepackers, mountain bikers, and racers. We’ve ridden cross-country and steep alpine trails all over the West, including in competitions, while bikepacking across the Rockies, and on self-supported trips like the 142-mile Kokopelli Trail.

Women’s mountain bike shorts are essential for staying comfortable while in motion and loading the bikes, hanging out with friends, or setting up camp after covering miles. Over the years, we’ve tested many different mountain bike shorts, and this list comprises the best of the best.

To point, Senior Editor Morgan Tilton has tested mountain bike shorts for close to 320 miles of rides with 47,000 feet of ascent/descent in 2023 alone. Aside from testing bike gear, she helps manage the gear-testing flock.

While testing women’s mountain bike shorts in the field, we assessed durability, overall fit, ease of movement, protection, fabric feel, breathability, and functionality. We’ve tested shorts while pedaling in blustery wind, intense sun, rain, and hail storms from close-to-town singletrack to distant backcountry tundra.

Beyond our team’s experience, we also considered the most popular, highly rated, acclaimed, and bestselling shorts on the market, as well as a broad range of price points, features, and styles to meet the needs of various types of bikers. If you’ve somehow managed to make it this far but are searching for men’s mountain bike shorts, we’ve tested and reviewed those, too.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose Women’s Mountain Bike Shorts

Chamois

One of the first pieces of advice we give first-time riders is to go out and purchase a pair of shorts with a good chamois or a padded liner short to go with your baggy shorts. It’s the single most important (and often overlooked) piece of gear that will make or break your ride. After all, we are talking about your butt here! You know what we’re talking about if you’ve ever experienced a saddle sore. And if you haven’t, let’s try to keep it that way with some of our favorite shorts.

Pronounced SHAM-mee, the chamois is the pad that is sewn into a cycling short to protect the groin area and sit bones against the saddle. The chamois is constructed with a pad that has cushioned foam with a range of densities — some designs offer more cushion than others. Typically, the materials also wick moisture and are soft. Wearing a chamois instead of regular underwear also eliminates seams, which can rub and cause chafing.

In mountain bike shorts, the chamois can be integrated into the shorts, but more often, the chamois is integrated into a short, tight-fitting liner worn beneath the exterior bike shorts. Some baggy shorts are sold with a chamois liner, which is nice to have included in the purchase. More often than not, however, these are typically not the best. They are better than nothing, of course, but the best-performing chamois are typically an aftermarket purchase. Some of our favorites are the Shredly YOGACHAM and the Velocio Trail Mesh Bib Liner.

Material

As the price goes up on mountain bike shorts, part of that tag is covering the upgrade to more premium materials. Regardless of price, nearly all mountain bike shorts are made of a blend of polyester or nylon and elastane or spandex that has a bit of stretch and is intended to dry quickly.

For example, the Norrøna Fjora Flex and Norrøna Fjora Heavy Duty have a tough, stretchy fabric made from a synthetic blend that offers wind and water resistance, plus it features 50% recycled fibers and a PFC-free DWR. The Shredly Limitless 11″ feels softer and lighter — it’s made with a recycled polyester-spandex blend and costs less.

The Wild Rye Freel is constructed with a WR Duraflex Nylon (88% nylon, 12% spandex), which is tough against reachy trailside branches. Comparatively, the Wild Rye Kaweah is made with the WR Bomber Stretch Poly (90% polyester, 10% spandex), a blend that is still durable but not as tough and at a lower price point.

Waistband

A range of waistband designs exist, and they are unique for each short. What’s most important is that the waistband doesn’t fold over or pop open or pinch your lower stomach while you lean forward on your bike. It’s also nice to have a waistband with adjustability so you can forgo a belt and tighten your shorts as needed, especially if the ride is particularly long, sweaty, or rainy.

Some modern mountain bike shorts come with broad, stretchy waistbands to gently and comfortably hug your waist — similar to your favorite pair of yoga pants. The Shredly Limitless 11″ shorts are a great example, and the stretch waist is one of the main reasons we like them so much. Similarly, the Curious Creatures Marilyn Shorts have a high waist and a simple zipper on the side. The broad waistband is super comfortable and provides a flattering fit.

Many women’s mountain bike shorts have more traditional waistbands and closures. The Wild Rye Freel shorts, for example, have a double-snap, zip closure, and wide, stretchy width, plus belt loops if you decide to go that route. The Velocio Ultralight Trail Shorts are similar, plus they come with a stretchy performance belt as an added bonus.

For the most adjustability, many models have adjustable features built into the waistband so you can customize the fit within a small range. Velcro tabs are one of the most common ways to do this. Both the Flylow Lola Shorts and the Club Ride Eden have this style of adjustment — both also have belt loops on case that’s your preference. Similarly, the Norrøna Fjora Flex both have double-snap closures with a zipper and integrated Velcro adjustment tabs.

Pockets

Pockets can be helpful for a spot to quickly stuff your ride gloves on a snack break or to warm up your hands while tailgating. Other pockets secured with a zipper can be a good spot to hold a phone or credit card, while pockets with a snap closure can be a nice place for a snack bar.

Some mountain bike short designs come with minimal pockets like the Curious Creatures Marilyn, which only has a single zippered pocket. Other shorts offer tons of pocket options like the Curious Creatures Ramble Scramble or the Club Ride Eden, which have two back pockets, two side pockets, and an additional pocket with a zip closure. The wealth of traditional pockets on these shorts is particularly functional and useful off the bike.

Most shorts offer something in between, with an average of three pockets, like the Wild Rye Kaweah, which has two hand pockets and one low-down zippered pocket.

In a well-constructed upgrade, the Shredly Limitless 11″ now features a zippered pocket, and the placement is higher on the thigh to help remove the jostle of a phone while you pedal. In contrast, many zippered pockets on other shorts are down lower on the leg and inevitably swing around while you ride.

Inseam Length 

The best inseam length comes down to personal preference, the type of riding you do, the elements you’ll be riding in, and your style. If you’re going on a long ride in sunny, exposed (as in, no tree coverage or shade) terrain, consider wearing longer shorts to protect the tops of your legs from getting sunburned.

Longer shorts can also protect the side of the legs from thick brush, tree branches, or insects if you’re riding in a buggy area or on a wild, unkempt trail. If you’re bikepacking or alpine riding on steep slopes and getting on and off your bike, the longer fabric can also help protect your legs from getting scraped up. A longer inseam also typically plays better with knee pads and helps to prevent pad gap — a gap between the bottom of the shorts and the top of the pad — and is generally preferred by those doing more aggressive riding.

Shorter inseams leave more of the thigh exposed, which may be preferred by many ladies for style purposes. The inseam lengths of the women’s mountain bike shorts in our guide range from 6 inches to 15 inches, with 9 to 12 inches being the sweet spot for most trail rides.

Then, with finely tailored inseams to various female body shapes, Shredly offers an adjusted inseam length for each design and each size within that design. For instance, the Limitless 11″ Short, featured among our top picks, has an inseam that varies slightly across the sizes for a proportional fit:

• Size 0: 10″
• Size 8: 11″
• Size 16: 11.5″

Fit and Size Range

Most brands offer a size run from at least size 0 to size 18.

Velocio offers an even broader size range (XXS-3XL). More specifically, the Velocio XXS fits a 22- to 24-inch waist and 31.5- to 33.5-inch hip size. In contrast, Wild Rye, for instance, starts at a size 0, which fits a 25.5-inch waist and 36.5-inch hip.

Shredly also offers a greater variety of sizes with a 00 to 24 size run (XS-3XL), which starts at a 24-inch waist and 33-inch hips and goes up to a 43-inch waist and 52-inch hips. Kitsbow’s shorts also offer a much broader size range with waist sizes from 26 to 37 inches. 

Be sure to double-check the size chart for each pair of shorts you consider buying, and to measure yourself before making an order or stop by a retailer to try on a pair first. Mountain bike short sizes and the precise measurements for each size are not universal and often differ across brands.

Price

Most women’s mountain bike shorts hover around $100. That includes Wild Rye Kaweah ($99), Club Ride Eden Shorts ($100), and Shredly Limitless 11″ ($108) in our guide.

Mountain bike shorts with a more premium construction that’s even tougher against the elements and a beatdown include the Wild Rye Freel Shorts ($139) and Velocio Ultralight Trail Short ($159).

It can be challenging to find great-fitting, well-made mountain bike shorts below $100, but the Flylow Lola Short ($95) impressed us enough to become our favorite budget-friendly model.

FAQ