Western Rise Evolution Pants 2.0 Review
One of the most famous pants in travel and tech wear gets a makeover. How did it turn out?
Evolution Pants 2.0 Review Introduction
The Western Rise Evolution pants are a mainstay of travel articles, Reddit subs, and the bags of actual travelers. They’re quite possibly the most popular item Western Rise has made. That said, they were due for a refresh. And they got one - along with the shorts as well (Evolution Shorts 2.0 review).
The Evolution pants 2.0 are billed to be all the great things people (and I) loved about the first generation - just improved upon. But, have they really done that?
This is my review of the Western Rise Evolution Pants 2.0. I tested these on a recent trip to London to visit some old friends from when I lived there, and these were both my en-route pants as well as walk-around pants.
For full transparency, I reached out to Western Rise and they were kind enough to provide a piece for me to research and review. That said, this is not a sponsored article and the review is solely my own. Western Rise had no input into the contents here.
Need a discount code? Read to the end!
-Need travel insurance? As an American, our health care system is complicated and your regular insurance might not cover you abroad. For international travel, I’ve been using World Nomads for years. They have adventure packages that cover most hiking and even ice hockey. Be sure to read all the coverage information (it’s laid out very well on the site) to make sure it’s right for you, but be sure to give them a look. I find their rates quite competitive and the quotes are free! -
Western Rise Evolution Pants 2.0 Overview
Western Rise wants these to replace most of your pants. We’ll get into whether or not they do later, but for now that’s the framing. These are built to be versatile, comfortable, and not look like work or hiking pants (though you are meant to be able to do both in them).
The Evolutions 2.0 build upon the first gen’s 2-way stretch with a 4-way stretch now. These are made to be worn while traveling, working, getting a hike in, out and about, even dinners. They come with a lot of travel friendly feature sets in a more modern-friendly cut than a lot of the travel pants and hiking pants out there.
The main star here is the Evolution fabric. It’s an air-texturized nylon twill that’s meant to give you the durability of that nylon, but feel much more like cotton. Here are the main specs from their website:
• Woven twill
• 90% Nylon
• 10% Elastane
• 107 gsm
• 4-way stretch
• Breathable
• Lightweight durability
• C0 PFC Free Durable Water Repellent
Comes in black, blue-gray, navy and dune (sand/stone color). They go for $128 USD at full price on the website.
Evolution Pants 2.0 Features
Fabric Close Up
For pants that have as clean of lines as these do, there’s actually a bit going on in terms of features.
First up is the look and feel of the fabric. I mention this as a feature because it’s something that separates it from “athleisure” pants (think Lululemon or Public Rec, Rhone, etc.) that bill themselves as “look just like regular pants”. Those don’t. Evolution fabric does. This new version improves upon the old by also making it 4-way stretch - perfect for your impromptu yoga session, your pick-up-the-toddler dad sessions, or sitting down at those really low, plastic chairs at local spots in Southeast Asia with your knees near your shoulders (Hyperbole for effect, folks). It’s a great feature of these pants. The lightness/thinness of this fabric also means it packs/rolls up well in your bag. It won’t take up the same space as jeans and will be lighter from a weight perspective.
Like any travel-billed pants, these have a nice zippered pocket in the back to secure your passport or wallet/cash/key. This is necessary before I even consider calling a pant a “travel pant”.
The new versions also feature an updated waistband with some stretch to it. This was one of the major complaints on the originals is that the waistband had no “give”.
Lastly, like most Western Rise bottoms - this comes with a DWR coating that really helps to prevent stains, and can even repel light rain to help keep you a little dryer, a little longer. We saw this in action personally when I spilled coffee on the shorts. Never penetrated and wiped right off. That’s a definitely-welcome feature for traveling, as you never know when you will be able to wash. And spilling something generally means it needs a real wash, not a sink wash.
The Good
These are a nice pair of tech pants. Really, they are just a pair of pants with tech fabric. Virtually no one is going to be able to tell these are “special” or “travel pants” or “tech pants”. Athleisure pants give it away with their too-soft fabric and slight sheen. Lulu ABC pants have that line in the back of the leg that ruins them for chino-replacements. You’ll be hard pressed to really tell on these pants and that’s the point. You want a pair of pants that yes, are your go-to travel pants. But wouldn’t it be nice if they were just “pants”? That was what I loved so much about the originals, and that continues here.
Travel friendliness. DWR, zippered pocket, phone pocket in the front, lightweight, easily washed and fast drying (compared to jeans or cotton). These are all huge benefits when packing smart and packing light.
They hit all the necessary colors on the head here. Normally, there’s like one missing. You’ve got all you need for your minimalist, West-World fashion. Perfect for any number of capsules.
While it sounds small - the 4-way stretch and updated waistband are HUGE improvements. It really adds to the comfort overall on these pants. When traveling, you can be in a seated position for a LONG time. This is a welcome move.
Another seemingly small thing - they’ve really improved the back pockets on these things. The originals had very big, kind of floppy pockets on the rear. They weren’t the worst thing ever, but if we’re picking nits - they weren’t my favorite. Sat kind of low in the seat, and were a little oversized. The pockets on the Evolutions 2.0 are MUCH improved as far as location, and size.
Overall, these come through on the promise of versatile wear. You can wear these almost anywhere except the fanciest dinners/events (I personally would not wear a jacket with these). They will work for most restaurants below that however and are fine as business casual - and virtually anywhere below that from the town to the hills.
Wearing them while on the planes in both directions, and around town in London, they were overall quite comfortable, especially the new waistband.
The Bad
These pants are great overall, and while this might be a big personal thing, I”m still going to run with it. I really wish they offered two fit profiles. Making an off-the-rack piece of clothing isn’t easy. So a lot of brands try to find a middle ground on things like fit patterns. I get it. It’s how you scale production and you try to reach as much of the average people as you can.
The fit on WR Evolutions and most of their pants is squarely in the “American” cut side. Relaxed but not baggy, though not a lot of taper below the knee. For me personally, while I don’t like skin-tight skinny jeans, I like pants to be more slim and SLIGHTLY skinny. I call it Gap-Skinny because theirs really aren’t that skinny. For that really clean, modern look, I’d like to see more taper below the knee at the very least. I think the waist and above the knee are pretty solid, to be fair. I have to alter all my pants from them as they are one length anyway (UPDATE: They recently introduced a Short version at 30; A good start), but I always end up wanting to taper them a bit more. The issue with that is you can’t do it too much or you're basically re-making the pant and you don’t want to rip open that nice outside seam they have. Taper too much, and the leg will kind of curve on you because of that.
I think these are mostly there, so it’s not changing the pattern too much.
This isn’t necessarily a deal breaker for you - again a lot of American guys aren’t as picky on that aspect of the fit. They want comfortable pants that look like pants and drape like pants. These DO do that, keep in mind.
These do seem to have a bit more of a “swoosh” to them than the originals. The fabric is definitely different in that aspect. But, we’ll see if this goes away over time as the originals did in fact soften up. I know people care about this, but I want to be honest in both directions. Yes, I heard some. No, not when out and about/walking/moving and only when physically putting them on while in a quiet room or walking in a dead silent hotel hallway. To write off a pair of pants for that is ridiculous to me, but not mentioning it would be dishonest. It exists in some capacity. How much it affects you is a personal matter and truthfully, also about the shape of your thighs.
The Improvement Requests for the Evolution Pants 2.0
While I understand the nature of an ask to change the fit profile, I’d still make that here. In fact, maybe even give the option. Companies like Bluffworks offer two options. Rhone, Birddogs, Spoke - they offer either different fit profiles, or allow you to choose the length (Rhone actually does both - though spoiler alert, they don’t nail it). I realize this adds complexity and most likely cost to the manufacturing process. But, if I’m going to ask for something, that would be my big ask of them.
Final Thoughts On My Western Rise Evolution Pants 2.0 Review
I think in most ways these pants are going to be seen as an overall improvement over the originals. They have better DWR to me. The 4 way flex is an absolute improvement over the 2 way of the original, especially when considering the flexible waistband (and it’s still a straight waistband, we’re not talking about those ribbed or sweatpants style waistbands don’t worry).
Wearing them around they look solid and look like pants. All the minimal traveler is looking for.
In terms of fit profile, I really want to see a tapered/skinnier below the knee pants from WR. Just my personal taste and fingers crossed it comes someday!
For the final verdict - put ‘em on your list. Even with the comments about the fit preference, I’ve not found a lot of better options for me personally. These are still great pants regardless and have been very, very comfortable while traveling and they look pretty great doing it. Could they replace many of your pants? Yeah - if the fit profile works for you then you can definitely go with 2-3 of these pants and stay pretty minimal. Especially if you do one five-pocket style and one chino style.
As always with the indy brands, I’d suggest buying directly through their website for best service. Use WANDER15 for 15% off your purchase! (Cannot be combined with Sales)
Travel more and travel smarter, everyone.
Like My Content? Feel Free To Buy Me A Coffee or Make A General Donation!
Head on over to our Travel Clothing Reviews page for more reviews on Western Rise reviews like the Evolution Shorts 2.0 review, or the StrongCore Merino Hoodie Sweater review.
Please be sure to subscribe below, and follow us on Instagram @alwayswanderofficial for photos from our wanderings, and updates for when we post new articles and reviews!