Review: A Love Letter to Terry Bella Prima Bike Shorts

This review is part of the “Bottoms Up” series of reviews of Terry biking bottoms in the performance bottoms category.

Update: as of November 2024, Bella Primas in size small are back in stock!

My current favorite jerseys are Velocio and Giordana, my favorite vests and jackets are from Ornot. I have always wanted a floral jersey either from Ostro or Pearl Izumi. I swear by Patagonia baggies, tees, and jackets for mountain bike rides. I’m not fancy enough to wear Rapha, but it always looks svelte on others. I love my silly Handup Gloves and Sock Guy socks. In other words, I really enjoy wearing gear that is adorbs + functional when I ride. However, no matter which shiny new jersey, jacket, or vest I covet, the one piece of cycling clothing that makes them all possible and that really determines the comfort of my ride is my Terry Bella Prima shorts. I literally don’t want to mount a bike–road, gravel, or mountain bike–without them. (They’re also cute.)

What inspired this letter, Terry, is that you have me in full freakout mode. Small Bella Primas appear to be backordered (read: sold out), unavailable until January 1, 2025. I haven’t found any pairs of smalls elsewhere on the Internet, either. I worry that when January rolls around, they will still be missing. I only have 2 pairs left, and one is on the fritz.

How will I ride without them? More precisely: How much money and time will I spend/waste trying to find comparable alternatives?

I have been riding almost exclusively in Terry Bella Primas since I started riding regularly in 2015, 9 years ago. We are in a longterm intimate relationship. Here’s how we met:

Upon learning that I didn’t have a bike (I rock climbed primarily), my new boyfriend at the time (now my husband), who was a bike racer (why did I agree to date a bike racer?), bought me a used cross bike from a teammate of his that had to sell their bike stable before moving away from the Upper Valley (i.e., Hanover-ish, NH). It is a beloved orange Kona Jake that I still use regularly as my commuter bike. You may have gathered from prior posts that I have a sensitive pelvic area when it comes to riding bikes. I was nervous about this killing my dreams of zipping along the endless ribbons of pavement and gravel in New Hampshire and Vermont, so I reached out to the only experienced female cyclist I knew: Mo Bruno Roy. If you don’t know Mo, she is a national cyclocross champion and bike goddess. I admire her so much that she intimidates me a little bit, but not a lot, because she is also very sweet. In other words, the only woman I knew in cycling in 2015 would definitely have some tried and true ideas for me for how to ride comfortably. I FB messaged her. I remember well three of the things I learned in our exchange: (1) Call the Terry store in Burlington, VT; (2) think about not just chamois choice but also chamois cream and saddle; (3) women should talk more about this stuff, i.e. it shouldn’t be embarrassing!

I called Terry and remember having a long heart-to-heart phone conversation with someone working there about what I wanted to do on my bike and what I thought my body needed. They gave me three saddles to try (buy the one I liked best, send back the others) and recommended Bella Primas for shorts. Ever since, I have had a Falcon X saddle on all four of my bikes (I am right now also trying a Corta, which doesn’t feel as cushy but has other virtues). And ever since, for every ride except short 3-4 mile commutes, I have worn Bella Prima shorts, size small. I think I may have tried the regular Bellas at one point, but didn’t like them as much. (For 4-mile commutes to work I wear a Mixie liner, and for 2-mile rides to the nearby stadium to see soccer matches, I wear the Cyclo Brief 2.0 liner.)

Why have I only worn these shorts all this time? And why have I continued to ignore all of the people telling me that other brands and especially bib shorts are better? A lot of this has to do with the chemistry between the Bella Prima and my body.

• I am stubborn, and if something works for me, I am reluctant to mess with it. I trust these shorts.
• The Flex Air Carbon chamois pad in the Bella Prima is perfect for me. It’s buttery soft. It’s channeled. It’s the right shape and size for my sit bones and pelvic soft tissue. It has enough padding for all-day riding. It’s Italian. I have never thought about the seams. Does it even have any? (Yes, of course, but I don’t feel them.)
• On my waist, the rise is high enough to make me feel “tucked in.” The waist band is not too constricting to “muffin” (verb) me out significantly — and I do proudly have some muffin there, not a six-pack. The waist band has never cut into me, though on very long rides I notice it.
• The compression feels just right — it is firm but not wildly restrictive. The compression serves to keep everything in place without pinching or constricting.
• I especially love the wide grip area at the bottom of the legs — they do not roll up or pinch. However, when the chamois ages, the dots of grippy rubber are the first sign. The fewer gripper dots, the older the shorts, the more tired the pad, the closer they are to hearing taps play.
• They work in all weather. I have worn my Bella Primas under my baggies to mountain bike at all temperatures, 30F to 100F, for short and very long adventure rides. The inseam is 8 inches, long enough to intersect perfectly with my knee pads. I have worn them on their own — no baggies, no pads — with a race jersey in gravel and XC races. I do wish they had pockets in the sides, but beggars can’t be choosers.
• They endure. I ride a lot, and each pair usually lasts several years before I need to replace them. I have crashed plenty on road, rocks, and dirt, and I haven’t torn a pair yet. However, they do eventually, after many trials and miles, lose their padding and their grippers.
• They look good enough to wear on their own, especially all black. I am far more concerned with function than style for bike shorts, but style still matters.

Which returns me to my current state of panic: I am down to 2 pairs.
One pair is looking pretty good, it’s only a year or two old.
The other is headed toward its golden years.
It’s missing dots.
It’s tired.
I don’t know how long it has left.

Terry, we’ve been attached quite tightly at the pelvis and crotch for almost a decade. Please restock your Bella Prima smalls, or just take pity on me and send me some. I will pay. I would even try the Madam X Bibs, which have the same chamois pad. I don’t want to waste my time trying to ride happily in another pair of pants 😉 Don’t make go back out on the market.

With love, kirstyn

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