When I landed in Vancouver from Australia in 2001, it didn’t take long for me to buy my first ‘real’ mountain bike.

A 2001 Rocky Mountain Slayer from Simon’s Bike Shop on Robson Street.

It was like riding a big, squishy, heavy boat but, man I loved that bike.

For some history, I had spent the previous ten years going ridiculously fast around racetracks on motorcycles.

Right up until I performed my best double-overhead arial manoeuvre off the ripple-strip in turn four at Philip Island racetrack.

Probably time to slow down.

So mountain biking Vancouver’s famous North Shore seemed like a fantastic idea!

But, something else happened at the same time I first visited North America. I discovered that 34” inseam pants existed.

See, I’m 6’1”, not overly tall by today’s standards but, I have ridiculously long femurs, meaning a 32” inseam simply won’t cut it. Ankle-freezers FTW!

But, I’d only ever had 32” inseams in Australia coz that’s all you could freakin’ get! (I blew my luggage allowance stocking up on 34” inseam jeans at my brother’s wedding in Aspen in 1999!)

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I could have been wearing pants that fit, if only my local market wasn’t so focused on only serving the profitable segment of, “Joe Average.”

Cue the next twenty years, mountain biking took a back seat to hiking, to skiing, to snowboarding, to Muay Thai kickboxing and, probably a few other pastimes I’m forgetting.

So, imagine my even bigger surprise when I rekindled my love for mountain biking and discovered that mountain biking manufacturers are also dedicated to only serving the profitable size bracket of “Joe Average.”

I spoke to friends and colleagues in all areas of the mountain biking scene.

I’ve even got a buddy who is a professional mtb guide, who needs long-inseam pants, and who is friends with the owner of a local, very popular pants manufacturer.

Do you think he could convince them to make long inseam mountain bike pants? Nope. He even offered a blank cheque to just make some for him. Still nope.

Having now entered this world, surrounding myself with professionals in technical wear production, I realize the expense behind redeveloping even an existing product would have made that restrictive. But, still, it defies logic that those with the facilities and know how continue to refuse to serve long-legged riders.

It’s even worse when you look at the change in ‘average’ height and leg length. Thirty-three or thirty-four inch inseams should be easy to find. Like they are in any other pants you want to buy.

But, the mountain biking manufacturers don’t seem interested in catching up.

I accepted it for a while because I mostly wear shorts anyway, but it all came to a head when I purchased a pair of downhill pants from a very well-known manufacturer for a day at the Whistler Bike Park.

Their sizing chart clearly showed an inseam of 32-34” for the size Large. So, I went ahead and ordered them.

Guess what? 29.75” inseam. Literally 2.25” shorter than the short end of their advertised size!

So, I contacted the manufacturer, and asked them to physically measure the inseam on a pair of XL's before I sent the Large back for an exchange.

It took a few days but, the support technician got back to me, promised she had asked the warehouse to measure the inseam and guaranteed me that the XL had a 34” inseam.

Perfect. I had to pay to send the Large’s back but, they offered me a discount on the XL to make up for it.

Two more weeks of FedEx delays and my new pants arrived. An XL, which was too big in the waist but, apparently would be long enough.

Nope. 29.75” inseam.

Exactly the same length as the Large. 

This same game continued for the next several months, contacting manufacturers, buying pants, and being disappointed.

I’ve now got five different pairs of mountain bike pants, from five different manufacturers, all of whom swore to me that their inseam was 34” and none of whom come even close.

Actually, scratch that, my Endura Singletrack II trousers are the closest at 33” inseam, which is what they promised. Fantastic pants, by the way, just a little too short for me.

So, I asked myself, if some manufacturers don’t even understand how to measure an inseam. And if other manufacturers refuse to serve anyone except the 1990’s version of Joe Average, where the hell am I going to find mountain bike pants that are long enough?

At that time, I wasn’t even too worried about quality. I just wanted pants that were long enough.

Cut to late 2021 and, with the support of my wife, who started her career in the rag trade, I started designing the pants I wished I could have found elsewhere.

To be clear, my wife is the brains behind the materials, construction, manufacturing, and structure, but, I’m the hardass who refuses to compromise on fit, features, and LENGTH.

And, since we're designing from scratch, we decided to go all-in and make the best pair of mountain bike pants we could.

34" Inseam on every pair (35" on the XXL!)? Check. 

Correctly sized, and place phone pockets? Check.

( on both sides #lefthandershaverightstoo)

Park pass pockets? Check.

Ventilation? Check.

Lower leg extra-long access zips to put your pads on? Check.

Articulated fit for on-bike shape and comfort without the gaping back when you lean forward? Check.

Tapered leg to stay out of your chainline? Check.

Ultra high-abrasion-resistance stretch fabrics to keep your skin on AND keep you comfortable riding with pads on or off? Check.

And dozens of other intelligent details developed with the input of our professional mountain biker friends.

We’re working with a small design firm in Vancouver, coming to the end of our tech specs now and will be going into prototype production very shortly.

We’ve produced samples, made changes, added strength points, articulation, and finally made a pant with a correctly placed and sized phone pocket, among many other decisions we’ve made along the way.

We’re super focused on being environmentally friendly and sustainable so, we’re working now on dying procedures for the materials before we translate our samples into the first sizing run of prototypes.

So, I’m excited to invite you to sign up to be first on the list for the BOW and BOW-x mountain bike pants.