Phase Womens Pants
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On the heels of the likes of Specialized and Fox, Thor have taken the move to try and tempt us ladies with a “women specific range”. At long last though, we now have some downhill kit designed with an extra hint of female attraction. Reason being, Thor has bravely styled its new addition with a hint of pink. Some of you may be thinking “pink” sounds a bit loud and maybe even a bit girly for the gravity fuelled, but the design has a Neapolitan style that is pleasing to the eye and the chocolate brown contrasts well. The new Phase range will turn heads whether you are out on the downhill track, or simply going large on your local trails. If pink isn't your thing then there are blue and grey options too.
You can get matching gloves, pants and jersey too, the Phase gear starts at £14.99 for the Girls gloves, with pre-curved fingers and plenty of padding. The Phase freeride/DH jersey at £24.99, is cut for a women's form and fits over body armour too, the perfect match for the Phase Women's Pants £69.99 with protective knee pads. See the full range at www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk
Pants
The Phase pants are motocross style, but cut lower to suit a woman's hips, and include inbuilt light padding around the knees, with removable foam hip pads. I found the trousers to be very well built, but personally, I didn't rate the low hipster style if you are wearing with an undershort. I seemed to be constantly trying to hitch them up. There is a large rubber loop on the rear of the pants, useful for hanging them up to dry and pulling them up too. Being of a moto design they are fairly short in the leg and the elasticated cuff is a bit of a stretch over shin pads, they do keep the fabric out of the chain though. The knees are aticulated for comfort and full range of movement and there are elasticated fabric sections arund the waist section. The multi layers and heavy duty materials mean your going to get hot if you're caught out pedalling uphill, but is to be expected given their skin saving properties on the way down.
Phase Womens Jersey
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Jersey
The Phase Women's Jersey we tested is again designed in Neapolitan pinks and browns to compliment the pants. It has a fairly basic v-neck front with the micromesh fabric being pretty breathable. Surely, DH and Freeride jersey's would be better if it incorporated a zip front especially if you are wearing over the top of body armour. The light elbow padding on the Phase though not restrictive is unlikely to offer any real protection. Fit is good, roomy enough to fit over chest and back protection as well as arm and elbow pads, the cut is not quite feminine but that would be an impossible feat to achieve and for the jersey to work too. For women DH'ers the fit is however better styled than big baggy blokes versions which have too long sleeves etc.
Phase Womens Glove
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Gloves
The matching Phase Girls gloves have a good style with thin vented palms and grippy tabs on the lever fingers. They are cut to a women's hand so no long fingers or excess fabric. Thor just needs to work on making them more MTB specific. All the protection is based on moto-x theory unfortunately for runny noses there is no towelling patch for those moisture management moments. There is some protection on the back of the hands for tree and branch situations!
Conclusion
Designed with moto-x and DHing in mind the heavy duty nature of the pants and jersey offer a good deal of protection and the construction is up to the job too. From a freeride point of view the pants do not work favourably when pedalling, and are not so breathable when climbing. This said we haven't found any from anyone else that are either! At least none that offer equivalent protection too.
The gloves, like the pants can not hide their moto-x background and whilst comfortable and functional they are not the best ones available for gerneral mountain bike specific use. The range is more aimed at female moto-x rather than MTB.
So to conclude, nice kit for lift assisted freeridng and downhill and at good prices too, you won't break bank in ordert to keep you well covered and safe on the bike.
What the range is good for is going large, and then rest assured, anybody you are trying to impress with your way-out riding style will know you are a girl!
- Prices: Pants £69, Jersey £24.99, Gloves £14.99
- Sizes: S (32), M (34), L (36)
- Colours: Aqua/Brown, Blue/Grey, Neopolitan (Brown/Pink)
- Performance: 7
- Value: 8
- Good value DH gear in funky colours
- Contact: Ultimate Pursuits www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk
Kirstie
