Arc’teryx A2B Commuter Pant
Known for its alpine products, this British Columbia brand jumps into the bike-commuting world with a modern pant design. I got loads of positive comments about the A2Bs, which are made of a thin cotton/polyester blend and have an urban “cargo pants” aesthetic with their exposed stitching and a zippered thigh pocket.
But on the bike some of the features seemed over-engineered, including extra snaps on the ankle cuffs and rear pocket flaps. The flaps are made to pull out while night riding — little flags with reflective material to glow in car high beams. They are fine in concept, but I rarely use them, and the flaps are a bit annoying to tuck in and keep in place when not deployed.
The ankle cuffs are a little larger than other pants in this review. And with a thinner material they don’t roll up as easily as jeans. Likely for this reason Arc’teryx added little snaps inside the cuffs. They work, but I can’t say I love them, as getting the cuffs secured takes some futzing and even once snapped they are still fairly large unless you fold the cuffs right.
Finally, after about five months of regular use I wore a hole in the crotch area. It appeared as a discolored area near where two seams come together, and within a week it had evolved to a small, worn-through hole.
MSRP: $139; More info/buy now
