After doing a 3-day bikepacking and running adventure last fall, I realized that while I love leggings, I really hate them on a trip like that for post-ride or run. All I wanted to do after a day in a tight lycra kit was put on loose, comfy sweats. I realized is that I’m seriously lacking in clothing for post-ride/hike that’s cozy and comfortable… Whether it’s an adventure like that or a hiking trip, I keep ending up in tights and athletic shirts because they pack up small enough to carry, but I’m really craving being able to put on sweatpants (especially after a day wearing a tight cycling kit!). So, I began the hunt for highly packable but still loose and comfy apres-ride/hike clothing, and found the new love of my life, the Icebreaker Merino Carrigan Sweater Pants.
There are surprisingly few options for women around this out there, especially the ones like me who are SERIOUS about comfort. No high waisted compressive bands allowed, and the material needed to be soft and warm. This rules out most ‘fashion’ sweatpants, even ones from athlete-friendly brands that tend towards comfy material in the legs but follow it with a compressive or weird-height waistband.
But they also needed to be nice looking enough to go out to dinner (at least, outdoor dining at all you can eat fish and chips). They also had to be packable, so I could cram them into my hotel-bikepacking/trail marathon-running Nathan Sports hydration pack. And maybe most important, I wanted them to be a material that would be cozy, but wouldn’t stretch out or smell after a week of hiking.
Merino wool seemed like the obvious answer material-wise, but very few brands make sweatpants in merino wool for women, and the couple that did seemed highly structured, so they wouldn’t make it in my ‘extreme comfort’ rankings. And then, I looked at Icebreaker and found their sweatpants options. There were a few that seemed good, but the reviews on the Carrigan Sweater Pants seemed the most promising, since many of the reviewers extolled the comfort of the waistband, which is critical for me. (With a grumpy stomach after a long day on the bike and eating everything, the last thing I want is to feel bloated and constricted in pants. And any endurance runner/rider knows that the post-long-adventure bloat and belly discomfort can be REAL.)
I went for it. At $150, they’re pricey, but that’s pretty decent for merino wool. And the quality was fantastic. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting them to be as comfy and cozy as they are, since adventure gear rarely actually feels like PJs, no matter what the brand tells you. But these… I genuinely want to go on cold weather hikes just to use them afterwards. I wish cyclocross was happening so I could be cozy in them after a race.
I also would happily wear them to dinner and not feel out of place. They’re simple and black, and they look like high quality material, so even though they’re sweatpants, they look more like “joggers,” if you get what I mean. Not fancy whatsoever, but they look less schlumpy than the sweats you had when you raced XC in high school.
(One note: Size down if you want them to be fitted, I’d say they run true to size but lean towards being a bit big. And while Icebreaker says to lay them flat to dry, I admit I tossed them in the dryer and they have been fine!)
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