Review by Alice Burwell

Scott’s new Trail Vertic short comes in four colours and thankfully none of them are pink or purple. It also comes with a padded inner short. The Vertic is made from a four-way stretch woven fabric that has a PFC-free durable water repellent treatment (DWR) on the outer face to promote pooling. This DWR is not as tenacious as one you’d expect to find on a waterproof jacket, but it did help water run-off during unexpected showers.

Read more: The best women’s mountain bike shorts

The short is incredibly lightweight, but still has plenty of leg length to overlap kneepads – I find it really annoying when the short leg gets stuck in the top of my pads. It also features what Scott calls an Engineered Waistband Closure – it’s simply a flap with a metal hook on the end that locates into one of three loops on the front of the waist. This allows you to adjust the size of the short without having to peel apart any Velcro straps, and it also lets Scott slim down the rest of the waist band, so it sits really flat against your hips. Elastic on the back half of the short allows for fine-tuning if you’re between sizes.

Scott keeps the pocket count low with only two deep, zipped side pockets for a phone and keys. Industrial-grade zips have long zip handles, which are easy to use with gloves on.

Although the initial cost is more than most shorts, the Scott Trail Vertic is getting my vote. It’s light, comfortable and dries quickly, and I think the Trail Vertic looks ace in this blue.

Scott Trail Vertic has some nice, almost hidden details that really benefit the female rider. It’s also comfortable and fits great, especially in the waist where some women’s shorts normally don’t. I even like the colour. Fully recommended.