Musa Cycling Baggies - 2025

MUSA Baggies. Made in the USA. Now with a key loop and slightly longer inseam. S and M are 1.25" longer and L and XL are 1.5" longer.

PFAS-free,* Light-weight, Tuf-e-Nuff Military Spec MUSA fab for this run-o-baggies.

They're still light, tough, quick-drying. They have 2% spandex for a small amount of stretch. They're as good as ever for riding, hiking, anything that allows shorts allows these.

These are some where between our old knickers and pants, but with a few changes that we consider improvements, and some of you will not. The thing is, we aren’t a clothing company with a staff of pros, a team for pockets, a team for waist, a team for inseam or whatever else. We hire out for help with the patterns and markers. What we are is conscientious, honest, and experienced with the garments we offer, so you can trust what we say.

They’re sewn 17 miles from us by a sewing shop we’ve seen and it seems like a pleasant, light, open, clean space.

FIT GENERALITIES:
WAIST: The CUT is the same as before, but there’s less gathering of elastic, so it feels looser. Basically, they’re more vanity-waisted now.  If you have our old ones you can get the same size or one size down.

• Smalls have a 29" relaxed waist ( 29 to 32 waist )
• Mediums have a 32" relaxed waist ( 32 to 35 waist )
• Larges have a 35" relaxed waist ( 35 to 38 waist )
• XLs have a 38" relaxed waist ( 38 to 42 waist )

BUTT-‘n-THIGHS: Big & baggy.

LEG LENGTH: They’re either short-ish long-pants or long-er knickers. At full length, they’re high on the ankle, but lower than your calf. That's why we're calling them baggies...but they're still knickerish. 

• S - 24.5" 
• M - 26.5"
• L - 26.75"
• XL - 26.75"

Calvin is 5'-9", 180lbs, and typically wears 34x30 pants - he is shown here wearing a pair of medium baggies in Ranger Green and a pair of large baggies in Coyote.

Big-calved people can hike the hem up above the calf and they'll stay. Medium or small-calvers, just roll up a 2-3-4 fold cuff until they're the height you want, and they'll stay. The bottom is tapered, so the snug happens soon and they stay quite well.

FABRIC SPECS:

    •    MUSA military fabric*, slight stretch, Berry-compliant (google it).  Instead of the all-nylon, they’re like 98-2 nylon and spandex.  I know this veers off our tweed-and-orgo cotton vibe-theme, but these are better for riding.

    •    The belt-elastic is also Berry/Military spec.  The best in the world, or at least the country. It doesn’t have to be, but it is. It’s not stitched in, so it’s “theoretically replaceable.” You could get your own ¾-inch elastic and buckle down the road. Rethread it with a wire coathanger, the old fashioned way. As your grampa.

    •    Same fabric for the pockets for good water drainage. (The sewer had surplus mesh, used for previous MUSA pockets. Better we use it up rather than landfill it. It may or may not have PFAS, but we assume it does. 

    •    No buttons on the rear pockets.

*PFAS notes:

PFAS is an acronym for polyfluoroalkl substances—person-made chemicals used to slough off water and stains and food from frying pans. To keep stuff from getting dirty or stained or grungy with fried foods. Teflon, Gore-Tex, lots of others. It’s in food, in air, it’s probably on the keyboard condom I used to keep the crumbs and fizzy water of out of my computer. They’re all around, it’s a sad story, they were scientific advancements with unintended and unknown consequences. They’ve had their day, every one of you reading this has a closet and kitchen and pantry full of PFAS stuff, but just hang in there.

The ”good” (?) news is, manufacturing PFAS is worse for the environment than wearing clothing with PFAS. If you have to make that distinction.

But even the conservative gov’t is taking action against them. It seems to be up to the states for now, but a nationwide ban is in the cards within a few years, except in the most backwards states.

Most or all pre-2025 MUSA clothing has had PFAS. 

Starting as soon as we learned about PFAS, and effecting all MUSA clothing made for the 2025 season and onward, no more. A big fabric supplier, Milliken, has been, as they put it, “PFAS-free since ’23,” but we learned of them just about 7 months ago, and the new MUSA shorts and pants, and all future ones, are made the USA-made Milliken PFAS-free fabric. It’s still not as green as organic cotton or hemp or linen, but this is a step toward that, and at least a pair of our MUSA bottoms will likely last 10+ years. That’s something.