My Alibi Bike Bloomers Review

I met Abbie Durkee, the founder of women's bike apparel company My Alibi, at an OIWC event last month. An inspirational woman, she started My Alibi three years ago with a passion to persuade more women out of their cars and onto their bikes, all while looking good doing it. My Alibi's goal is to make women feel beautiful and confident while riding their bike. 

My Alibi has created a line of women's bike apparel that looks great both on and off the bike. The skirts, pedal pushers, bloomers, tops and accessories are not only fashionable but function well while riding. Through her clothing, Abbie hopes to inspire women to integrate biking into their lifestyle with the message that you don't have to be a "cyclist" to ride a bike to the store for milk or to meet your friends for a coffee. 

Abbie sent me a pair of the now famous My Alibi Bloomers. I was excited to try them out as I often stop at coffee shops on my rides or use my bike to run errands and feel self conscious walking around in my spandex cycling shorts. With the Bloomers, I can now wear somewhat "normal" outdoor clothes when riding around town but still have the comfort of a chamois. 

My Alibi's Bloomers are a padded short to be worn under a skirt, shorts or capris to give you the same level of comfort while riding as you would get wearing regular cycling shorts. With no elastic, low-rise waistband and just enough length to cover your backside, they simply disappear under any outfit. The chamois isn't as big and bulky as some cycling shorts so you don't feel as if you are wearing a padded diaper under your clothes.  

 

I have been wearing the Bloomers under my Mountain Hardwear capri pants for rides to my local Peets Coffee, grocery store and even on a 30 mile ride around the Marin Headlands. I can't even tell that I am wearing them underneath my pants as they are so comfortable and do not add a huge amount of bulk. In other words- they won't make your butt look big! They also do not give you the dreaded muffin top like some cycling shorts do as they are low rise without an elastic waistband.

I found that though I absolutely love the Bloomers for commuting or running errands around town, I probably wouldn't wear them again for longer training rides. After 30 miles of hard riding in the Bloomers, my backside was a little sore. You can see in the picture below that the chamois on the Bloomers isn't quite as thick or wide as the one on my Pearl Izumi cycling shorts. Though that being said, you could probably wear the Bloomers under your cycling shorts for some extra cushioning on those long rides. Double chamois power!

 

I have to say that with my new Bloomers, My Alibi has succeeded in getting me out of my car and onto the bike for local travel.  You can buy My Alibi clothing direct from their website and the line will soon be available at various retail outlets as well. 

Comments

[KC]

I have been a biker since I was a teen, I take mountain excursions, and I find off road trails anywhere I can find them. It’s all I like to do when I travel; my bike is always with me. When I first met my wife it was on a 100 mile off road in the Rockies. They call it The Lost Trial. We started dating after and it turned into marriage, it was great I had the one that loves to go where I like and travel allot. We are now married 2 years now, and we dated for a year and a half.
My wife doesn’t ride much any more; she won’t go on the long rides we used to. My wife was in a car accident a year ago that messed her up because she bruised her spine, but she was strong and can walk. She worked hard and fast to walk and now she can even ride her bike with no problem.
The only problem she has is she is completely incontinent. It damaged the nerves that help her bladder. She is a very warm, sensitive, but strong woman. When she first started riding she wore adult diapers, they didn’t stay put, by the time she was done it was all broken up in her clothing, and leaked. I also like to point out that they hurt her bum, and with the bike shorts it was very noticeable with the diaper. So she tried a Foley catheter, it pinched, pulled and was very painful. Then she tried this cup like thing that fit over the area with glue, it gave her a rash, and was interfering with her movement on the seat. Ok so she has tried pretty much every thing there is out there.
I noticed the way you designed the bloomers, the way the padding is shaped it looks like an absorbent pad for woman. I am wondering if there is a way to use this same idea as padding, but also have a waterproof material, so that she would have the same comfort but also complete absorbency as an adult diaper, and still be able to wash them with out damaging the Bloomer. If my wife is like this I’m sure there are others like her that would like to venture out, and not let every one know you have this problem. Can you design such a bloomer, and be able to change it without taking all your clothing off too?