I have a pair of production samples given to me by our former Pearl Izumi rep. Scott Parr. Scott was the team mechanic for Motorola a number of years back. He is now our Speedplay, Hind, Mavic and Timex rep. I have ridden in them and I think they are better than most other tri shorts out there, especially for long rides. The pad is minimal (as with most tri shorts) so you can run in them but not as minimal as some of the other tri shorts out there with a little fleece cocktail napkin in your crotch. That is not enough for IM distance. Stiching is good, fabric is good. They are solid. The fit is a little better than some of the other stuff out there since the pattern and stitching are a good bit different from toher things I've seen. Typical good pearl quality. Nice stuff. I ordered a ton for the store. I am recommending them.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I raced in them almost all of last season and like them quite a bit. The padding is slightly thicker than Desoto. The inseam is about an inch longer than the Desotos. The pad is slightly different than that in the zoot and desotos. Instead of the cloth feel of those pads, the pearl pad is incased in (lycra?)

They are quite thin and dry nicely. I wore these during all portions of my IM last year with no complaints.

Hope this helps

I second everyone else who has posted thus far. The Davis-based Mad Cows raced in these shorts last year (we were fortunate enough to be privy to them based on the club's connection with Steve Larsen (PI-sponsored) and his shop). As far as I know, everyone liked them. I certainly did. I was skeptical of their comfort on the bike when first trying them, but I ended up with no complaints whatsoever. I wore Zoots before but was never terribly happy with their fit and they eventually just lost their shape. I like everything I own from PI, and the tri-shorts are no exception.