Review: Patagonia Untracked Bibs 23/24
What we liked
100% recycled nylon GORE-TEX and polyester, no forever chemicals, Fair Trade
Beautiful fabric feel inside and out
Top-quality and thoughtful construction
What we didn’t
Maybe the lack of inner-leg vent zips?
The Verdict
THE SHORT READ…
Bibs that ooze quality and made it hard for us to stop stroking the fabric, it feels so nice. And not just on the outside but having a slight fleecy inside it feels great against the skin as well. Bomber storm-defying material, but light enough for long days touring, and having several thoughtful features that you’ll really appreciate. Not to mention it’s about as good for the planet as any ski clothing can be right now. They size up large (as they do say) but fit like a glove. Our biggest quibble is the lack of inside-leg venting.
THE LONG READ …
We’ve been looking forward to trying out Patagonia’s top-of-the-line Untracked gear for 23/24, especially having got them all recycled, PFCs/PFAS-free now and all Fair Traded up too. Read on to find out how they stack up.
…and do check out our review of the matching Patagonia Untracked Jacket for 23/24.
Fabric & construction - Like the Untraced jacket, these are about as planet-friendly as you can get these days with it’s recycled materials, being made without any forever chemicals and put together in certified Fair Trade factories.
The external feel of the fabris is gorgeous, soft and almost velvety, not ‘crinkly’ anymore like some earlier generations of 3-layer GORE-TEX.
On the inside, taped seams - and a slight fleecy treatment that feels great next to the skin and helps with wicking.
Being 3-layer GORE-TEX, it feels it’ll give you solid protection from the elements but they’ve managed to keep it light enough for touring.
These are almost more like very high trousers, than bibs, as they finish at your waist and there is no material, other than the straps, above that.
Everything about these bibs feels like quality - full marks to Patagonia for that. And the RRP actually seems ‘relatively reasonable’ these days for the quality, and compared to some other bibs (check out our upcoming Burton Kalausi bib review…)
And the colours are great - the ones we had were ‘Obsidian Plum” and were a gorgeous auberbine-like colour, as per main pic above, but there is also a cool yellow and white combo (below).
Fit - I’m 6-foot 2-inch tall and skinny and yet the M fitted me really well, when I’d usually be an L in any other brand - Perfect leg length, roomy around the legs and rear, and beautifully snug around the waist.
Patagonia do say that these ‘run large’ in sizing and the sizing chart measurements seem bang on accurate - I do indeed come up M in those - so make sure you check those before ordering.
And unlike the Untracked Jacket, these were not too baggy anywhere I didn’t need them to be (i.e. under the arms and around the chest, for the jacket).
Venting & rear-access - There are two long zips down the outside of each leg running from the waist to mid-thigh.
You can use these as vents - they have two-way zips on them, and you can also unzip both down from the waist to let the entire rear drop as a flap to allow you to, er, do what you need to do when nature demands a number two.
Weirdly, there are no inner leg venting zips, which seems an omission to us, when you are slogging away uphill on those really, really hot days.
Braces - Very nice low-profile bracles and adjuster-buckles - these really minimise any pressure points you might get under backpack straps.
Slightly oddly, they unhook from the waist at the front, but are non-removable at the rear. I guess that means you could find a way to tuck those unhooked straps away and so wear these as just trousers…
Belt-loop - Beautifully-engineered belt loops are provided, if you just want to control any excess material around the middle if you are super skinny - or, Patagonia suggest that if you wear a belt, you could shrug off the braces and let the waist material hang over the belt - letting your middle breath a bit more, if you need to dump a bit more heat while touring.
Fly - Has a two-way zipper! Top and bottom… On really hot days I do often open the fly to add a bit of extra ‘cross-flow’ of air as I move. I guess this allows you to do that from either top of bottom, as you desire… and you might need that more often with these, given the lack of inner-leg vents.
Pockets - Two front thigh pockets are provided, nice and deep, but only the right side has an internal phone/transceiver pouch. That internal pouch is a bit on the big size to hold a medium-sized phone tightly (a Google Pixel 5 size phone, say), it sloshed around a fraction in there, but will hold a bigger phone or a transceiver snugly. And why not just just provide one in both pockets so lefties don’t feel left out?
Leg scuff-pads - Really nice scuff pads around the entire leg cuff, but taller on the inside, just where you need that
Leg gaitors and laces hook - Nicely elastic and siliconed built-in gaitors to go around the boot, and a laces hook to really lock them in place (doesn’t work so well on hard-boots, of course, but the elasticated part of the gaitor worked just fine with my Phantom Slippers.
SUMMARY…
These are superb bibs that, like the jacket, balance heavy duty protection with lower weight for touring. Their ecological credentials are bang on the money for where all brands really need to be, and you can be happy that the people who made it for you were paid and treated fairly.
Take care with the sizing charts, they seem to measure up true and you’'ll likely need a size smaller than you might for many other brands.
Our only real quibbles are the lack of inner-leg vents and not providing an inner pouch in both leg pockets. But they are not more than quibbles and we think you’ll will love wearing and using these fantastic bibs, for years.