Dakine Siren Shorts with Comp Liner Review
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Once again, Dakine merges a little style with a functional freeride/all-mountain bike short of women. The Siren Shorts are a great cross-over piece for those looking to get the most out of their gear no matter what type of riding they’re doing.
The Siren Shorts have a 13” inseam which is a bit longer than most other shorts I’ve found on the market and at 5’1” they hit just below my knee. The cut is a bit narrower, so I didn’t catch them on levers or anything when I was on the bike, yet they were still roomy enough to be baggies not like spandex on my muscular quads and bum. The fit had some adjustability through the internal side waist tabs and the stretch back panel, so the waist didn’t yap leaving me looking like a plumber when I got into riding position.
The Siren Shorts feature a very lightweight, but durable outer material that has a geometric pattern woven into it. This 170g 100% Polyester material allowed for superior airflow. The shorts stayed dry and allowed the air to pass through them so well that it actually caught me by surprise at one point when I stood up on a descent and felt a cool breeze pass through my shorts. While the material is thin and breathable, it has proven quite durable after a few tumbles on rocks, dirt, and sand in the desert.
While I don’t often use the pockets on cycling shorts for more than a tube of chapstick or very small items they’re nice to have. The Siren shorts had two front hand pockets right near the hips that allowed me to keep small items handy during rides.
Dakine offers the Siren Shorts with or without the comp liner. Adding the Comp Liner chamois is an extra $30 on the retail price and you should expect a $30 chamois if you choose this option. While the padded liner short was much better than others that have come with baggies from Dakine and other brands, I still wouldn’t recommend it for long days on the bike unless you’re not expecting to sit in the saddle for much of the day.
The Comp liner is an Italian Dolomiti Women’s pad with high-density 8mm foam and antimicrobial treatment built into a stretch Polyesters/Spandex short. While the description makes the shorts sound like a high-end chamois liner, they were not nearly the quality you would find in a higher-end short sold separately. With varying thicknesses of padding, channeled construction and good fit, I found them very comfortable for shorter 2-3 hour rides that had a mix of climbing and descending, but wouldn’t risk wearing them for rides much longer or that required I was in the saddle for the majority of the time.
The liner shorts come attached to the inside of the outer short, but have illustrated scissors to indicate where to cut the loops to remove them. They don’t have any snaps or loops to re-attach them, but both pair of shorts stayed in place just fine, so it wasn’t an issue that they didn’t attach and since they separate I was able to swap out the liner for longer rides. The included comp liner feature a sticky rubber around the bottom leg opening to keep the from riding up. I love this feature since most of my rides require a lot of up and down on the seat and movement through technical sections that can cause shorts to ride up.
The Siren Shorts come in three color options and each with or without the comp liner. For more information, please visit Dakine.com
MSRP: $60 w/out liner, $90 with liner
