In The Know Cycling

7MESH MK3 BIB SHORT – BORN AS A ROAD SHORT YET AVAILABLE WITH POCKETS

In my review of gravel bike shorts, I included 7Mesh’s top model, the MK3 Cargo Bib Short. I opened the review by writing that they were more like a road bib short than any of the other gravel cycling bibs I’ve tested.

That’s probably because it’s the same MK3 Bib Short that 7Mesh makes for the road, just with pockets.

Since that review, I’ve continued to ride the MK3 both on dirt and gravel and, more often, on paved roads, sometimes carrying gels in the pockets for easy access.

Overall, these are comfortable cycling bib shorts cut for standard hip-width enthusiasts. The material is sufficiently stretchy to move well with you on the bike yet provides good compression across the bottom half of your quads.

The MK3’s construction clearly pays close attention to detail. The seams are thin and pinstripe-wide on the outside and have minimal overlap on the inside. No chamois edges are exposed, yet you can hardly see or feel how they’ve been stitched to the shorts.

The top edges of the panels that meet your waist and back, including where the straps are sewn in, are reinforced. But I couldn’t feel them. Continuing this aesthetic, no separate gripper bands are sewn to the legs. Instead, the MK3 has 1.5″/35mm bands of silicone microbeads wrapping the inside bottom of the shorts.

The 7Mesh MK3 chamois is more comfortable as a road cushion than a gravel pad. It’s thickest on either side of the center channel from front to back but thins out quickly just inside or outside of your sit bones, depending on how wide yours are.

Since I spend more of my time out of the saddle or hovering over it riding gravel than I do on paved roads, I prefer the thickest part of my pad to have a little wider landing area than the MK3 provides. But on paved roads where I’m seated most of the time, I can position myself well within the pad’s target zone.

The front straps are set wider than most. Yet, it’s the rear 1.75″/45 mm wide single center strap that is even more unusual. It’s a very stretchy strap that junctions into two and runs from the top of your back over your shoulders and down to the below-the-belly-button front panel.

This makes for a very comfortable and sufficiently supportive setup without anything in your rear pockets or, I’d assume, in the unpocketed MK3. With rear pockets loaded, though, it didn’t provide the tension needed to hold up my shorts.

Plenty of room in the pockets for nutrition on long rides

If you plan to do the occasional gravel ride or a longer unsupported road ride, I find it handy to have the extra space in the 7Mesh MK3 Cargo Bib Short leg pockets rather than overstuffing your jersey ones. But, if you’re looking strictly for road cycling bib shorts, save yourself a few dollars and go with the unpocketed MK3 Bib Short.

You can order the men’s MK3 Bib Short for US$200 and the cargo version for $230 through this link to Competitive Cyclist.

RAPHA PRO TEAM BIB SHORTS II – THE KIT EQUIVALENT OF AN ALL-AROUNDER

When you want a wheelset that performs well on most terrain and most types of rides and is well suited for a range of serious riders, you look for an “all-arounder.” It wouldn’t be the ideal wheelset for alpine climbing or riding at aero-speeds or for the weekend warrior on a supervised budget. But it would be a great first choice for most enthusiasts doing a lot of riding in a range of situations.

The Rapha Pro Team Bib Shorts II is the cycling bib shorts equivalent of an all-arounder. It does most things well, suits most ride situations, and should fit many riders. It wouldn’t be the first pair of cycling bibs I’d reach for on a hot day or if I were doing an FTP test or if I preferred modest kit fashion. But for most riding and riders, especially if you are willing to spend a little extra for a signature kit brand, the Pro Team II is a good choice for a long, spirited effort.

It’s a cover-up!

A high-cut waist between your front straps and even higher coverage of your sides helps physically and visually support any extra weight you may carry around your midsection. It’s hard not to feel or at least look trim wearing the Pro Team IIs.

While I’ve got narrow hips and am relatively light, I could easily see these Rapha Bibs working well for a fit or getting fit wide-body rider. I dare say it’s an American cut or at least the antithesis of an Italian cut pair of bib shorts.

The wide, hemmed, soft, and stretchy mesh straps and back panel integrate well with each other and with the shorts. Together they give you the feeling of everything working together as a team, or perhaps a Pro Team. It makes for a very comfortable fit.

You also get a couple of 2.5×5″/65x130mm radio pockets at the bottom of the back to communicate with your Director Sportif. One pocket just fit my iPhone 12 mini, but I didn’t find it very comfortable back there. Oh, and I don’t have a DS, but it’s kind of cool to know that if I ever get one, my Raphas will be ready.

The Pro Team II has quite a few panels throughout the lower and upper half of these cycling bib shorts. Some companies argue that more panels give their designers the ability to create a better fit, while others promote the unidirectional stretch of their fabrics in creating the desired fit with fewer panels.

While there are more and larger flat seams that go with the Pro Team II bib shorts than most others I’ve recently reviewed, the fit is good, with no bunching or puckering that I could feel getting in my way on rides.

Compression is limited to the 4″/100mm tall gripper panels that wrap around your quads. While the actual microdot silicone grippers cover only the bottom 1/3 of those panels, the height of the panel itself is about 2x the height of most other cycling bibs with separate gripper panels.

Then again, several bib shorts from the “fabrics-not-panels” wing give you compression over a greater area of your leg muscles than do these Rapha bib shorts.

Chamois can be a way for some bib shorts makers to set themselves apart. However, unlike others in this review, Rapha doesn’t appear to do that with the Pro Team II.

Don’t get me wrong – the Pro Team II chamois gives you a comfortable ride. It’s just not the minimalist chamois you see with racing shorts (as Rapha markets the Pro Team II to be) or the highly sculpted, standout chamois you often pay a premium for (as you do with these bib shorts).

Rather, the Pro Team II chamois is another example of what makes these an “all-around” pair of bib shorts well suited to a wide range of riders and rides.

The pad covers more area and is wider than most but isn’t as thick as others under the sit bones or as varied in thickness for the apparent needs of other areas. There’s a little dimpling in the pad but less than some other cycling bibs. It splits nicely on either side of the perineum but oddly has stitching running down the center of the chamois from back to front and no perforations for airflow anywhere.

While I didn’t find a lack of cooling to be an issue with the chamois areas, I did sweat a good amount across my abdomen and lower back when I put in hard efforts wearing the Pro Team II. It didn’t much matter whether I was doing intervals on the trainer at 65F with my fan cranked up or riding hard on the road on a sunny, 75F day with nothing other than the apparent wind from my forward motion to do the cooling.

Over a longer ride, especially if the temperature were to rise or drop a good deal, I’d want better breathability and sweat-wicking than what the Pro Team II offers.

Rapha’s signature horizontal bands get hidden by your jersey, but the brand name is prominently displayed on both your legs.

Of course, Rapha has created a style and brand that many want to be associated with. Your jersey will hide their signature bands on the left strap of these cycling bib shorts. But you do get the Rapha name in 1.5″/ 35mm tall white lettering on the left gripper band and the same in black on the right one to make it clear to everyone whose kit you are wearing.

You can get a lot out of bib shorts that are good all-arounders. These Rapha Pro Team Bib Shorts II also seem like they’ll last a long time based on the many washes they’ve now come through unfazed.

That said, it’s hard to get behind paying more for these US$290/£195/€?270 Rapha bib shorts whose performance doesn’t excel in any area unless you are one of the many fans of Rapha. If that’s you, these cycling bib shorts will complement your other Rapha kit. You can pick them up at Competitive Cyclist and Sigma Sports.

LE COL HORS CATEGORIE LIGHTWEIGHT – HOT WEATHER, RECOVERY RIDE BIBS

Light beyond categorization is the aptly named goal of the Le Col Hors Categorie Lightweight Bib Shorts. For better and worse, it delivers.

The shorts’ material breathes better than most bibs on the ever-warmer and more humid summer days we seem to be experiencing now. It’s also a very soft and comfortable fabric that almost feels like you’ve got nothing on.

This feeling continues through the straps, which appear made of material with the same breathability as the shorts and lay easily on your chest and shoulders. The fine mesh back panel, broad at the lower back and covering the center of your mid-back between your shoulder blades, is also hardly noticeable when riding.

At the same time, the emphasis or result of the lightweight material and comfort leads to a more relaxed, less performance-oriented fit for the Le Col Hors Categorie Lightweight bib shorts.

The material offers almost no compression, even in a size small for my 150lb/68kg, 5’10”/178cm body. The way the panels are cut, and the limited stretch in the shorts fabric also lead to creases in the groin and crotch area.

I often wonder if the sweet spot for bib shorts like these Le Col and others I rate in the 2nd tier of performance among the many I’ve reviewed are for riders with wider hips or more muscled glutes than mine and in larger sizes.

If that describes you, you might fill out these bib shorts better than I do. However, I still think the material won’t provide your muscles with much compression, assuming that’s a fit characteristic you want.

The straps provide little functional benefit in holding the shorts or waist in position. At the other end, the lightly beaded gripper bands do the job of holding the shorts in place on your legs.

Chamois front (left) and rear

The chamois is disappointing for such an expensive pair of bib shorts. While the pad is relatively thick and dense, there’s no variation in either or the kind of dimpling you get in better chamois, which I find adds to long-ride comfort and gett air circulating under your bottom.

For me, this all adds up to a good pair of short recovery ride bibs for a hot summer day. And since most of us should be doing those kinds of rides as or often as we do hard interval ones, though often long ones, perhaps the Le Col Hors Categorie Lightweight are a pair of bibs you should have in your collection.

At US$280, £210, €260 direct from Le Col, they’re more expensive than most but may fill a gap in your summer kit.

GIORDANA FR-C PRO – A RELAXED FIT FOR THOSE THAT PREFER IT

Choosing between bib shorts that are the right cut for you – hip width, waist height, leg length – is always the best place to start. Once you’ve narrowed your options to those with the right cut, you can pick between those that give you the fit you want, for example, how much leg compression and strap tension. and material stretch you prefer at a price you’re willing to pay.

While I think most enthusiasts want a more supportive fit, I get that there is a place for looser-fitting bib shorts for some of us. If that’s you and you are a bigger rider than most, the Giordana FR-C Pro is a bib short worth considering.

Yes, the FR-C Pro comes in all sizes. But the M, L, and XL sizes each span a 4-inch, 10-cm range. For example, with my 31-32″ waist, I went with the M, which the size chart says will fit those whose waists run 28-32″.

And it’s a generous cut. The hips are standard width, the waist is moderately high, and the inseam is longer than most. Add to that, the FR-C Pro catches but doesn’t provide much opposition to your gut and love handles. Nor do the straps work very hard keeping the shorts in place, or do the shorts themselves give you any compression.

They aren’t overstretched with gaps or loose as I’ve felt with worn bib-less shorts or several under US$100 pairs of bibs or cycling shorts. But neither are they the kind of second-skin, flexibly stretching, muscle-supportive bib shorts I prefer for fast, long rides.

I actually felt quite relaxed wearing these Giordana and thought these were a pair of bib shorts I could learn to love if I were 5-10 lbs over my target weight. (I was 3-4 lbs above where I wanted to be when I tested them.) But when I hit that next climb, my legs start telling my head not to fall for bib shorts that could cut my mid-section any slack.

The chamois looks like a basic foam pad. But it’s wide and long on both ends and thick enough to give me a comfortable ride. Adding to the comfort, I found the back panel and shorts material on the inner thighs and under the pad to be sufficiently breathable on hot days.

I haven’t tested many bib shorts recently with the kind of flatlock, visible seams that used to be the standard design you get with the Giordana FR-C Pro. But these are just as comfortable as the hidden outside, longer inside ones on most of today’s top bib shorts.

As a slim-cut, moderately trim enthusiast that prefers close-fitting and responsive bib shorts, the Giordana FR-C Pro isn’t for me. But in an age of “you do you”, the more relaxed feeling you get riding these may give you an option that suits you even at their bigger US$250 price.

You can order them at this link to recommended stores BTD (BikeTiresDirect), Performance Bike, and Amazon.

PEARL IZUMI PRO BIB SHORT – BETTER THAN BEFORE, BUT ROOM TO IMPROVE

When I was a recreational weekend warrior type of rider, I exclusively wore Pearl Izumi shorts, not bib shorts. I liked how they fit, and their $60 price seemed right. I’d keep 2-3 pairs around and replace the oldest pair yearly with a new one of the same model I had always bought.

It was like wearing the same two or three dark suits to the office when I used to wear suits and people used to go to an office.

When I became a cycling enthusiast (zoom-zoom), I discovered bib shorts and the world of high-priced, long-lasting kit. I no longer considered Pearl Izumi, associating them with my formative cycling life and subconsciously moving forward.

Snobby, right? Guilty.

Well, Pearl Izumi has stepped up its game, or at least its price, and now sells bib shorts in the $200 or so price range.

My latest experience with Pearl Izumi’s Expedition PRO Bib Short indicates they are moving in the right direction but are not yet competitive with the top tier of performers.

PI uses a new chamois in the Expedition PRO I rode about a dozen times for this review and in their other PRO bib shorts models that they call the Levitate.  While it doesn’t literally or figuratively cause your butt to rise and hover in the air, it is a step up from the pad they used in last year’s PRO that I tested.

While the padding is improved and provides adequate comfort on typical 2-3 hour rides, it’s no better or worse than the average chamois across the bib shorts I’ve worn. I’d prefer the material to be a bit softer, extend a bit further up front, and have ventilation holes to bring more airflow to that area.

I also found it an odd and, at times, uncomfortable design choice to rub up against the PI logo that’s recessed into the top front of the chamois.

Seems a rather odd and, at times, uncomfortable place for a logo.

The short legs are nicely form-fitting. I got the sensation of compression, especially in the 2”/50mm silicone-beaded, integrated gripper area. There’s not much elasticity or two-way stretch in the material, however, so I couldn’t tell if the compression came from the material’s properties or the shorts being cut a little smaller than usual around my quads.

Further up around my glutes, hips, and midsection, the Expedition PRO is more of a standard width cut. The limited amount of stretch and the contrast in how the cycling bibs are sized or cut above and below the glutes makes for an uneven fit.

Add to that, the straps are essentially inert. They are made of the same less-than-elastic material used in the shorts. As such, they provided no help in holding up the midsection panels of the PRO shorts and the glute and hip area that already felt a bit looser than the area below.

I do like the smart-phone size pockets sewn into each leg. Rather than using a see-through mesh, the pocket tops also use the same material as in the shorts. This gave me the sense that I could tuck away gels or wrappers without disturbing the look of the shorts.

The side pockets and just barely larger single rear pocket likely led Pearl Izumi to name these bib shorts the Expedition PRO. Compared to the best cargo or gravel bib shorts we’ve tested, there’s a good deal less storage space. These are better suited to a mid-length road ride than a self-sufficient off-road one. I also found the height and location of the rear pocket hard to access unless I stopped.

That rear pocket could have benefited from a mesh top too. Either the double layer of shorts material in that area or the large size of the lower back panel made me sweat more than normal in that area on most summer days. There are also a fair number of internal seams around there and in the shorts that can get annoying at times.

The Expedition and un-pocketed base PRO models come in a range of colors and prints that can add some life to your dull, black bib-shorts existence. Some of the most colorful highlights get covered by your jersey but the inks and shimmer in the shorts alone set them apart from most cycling bibs I’ve seen on the road.

The Pearl Izumi Pro Bib Short and Expedition Pro Bib Short, which sell for US$225 and up, can be ordered at these links to BTD (BikeTiresDirect), Performance Bicycle, and Amazon.

TREK VELOCIS AND CIRCUIT BIB SHORT – FOR TALLER, THIN CYCLISTS DOING SHORT RIDES

Trek’s new Velocis and Circuit bib short models are so similar in their cut, fit, and comfort that it’s hard to tell them apart. Even their prices, while slightly different, are both less than most of the men’s bib shorts we’ve reviewed here.

For these reasons, we’re reviewing them together. And because of the cut of these Trek bib shorts, Nate was the best one of the In The Know Cycling reviewing team to test them out.

Trek Velocis Bib Short above and Circuit Bib Short below (photos by Kenji; flower gardens and modeling by Nate)

At 6 feet/183cm and 155lbs/70kg, even Nate’s favored Assos bib shorts in size Medium tug down on his shoulders slightly and are a bit shorter on his legs than he’d prefer. The Trek bib shorts fit his added trunk and leg length better yet aren’t cut wider across his hips and quads, something he’s often found in other shorts made for taller riders.

The recycled nylon/elastane combination knit material is soft and supple from the suspenders on down through the shorts. Both the Velocis and Circuit give you that “second-skin” feel with the right amount of stretch and breathability combined with their dialed panel sizes to almost make you initially forget that you are wearing bib shorts.

After an hour or so, the reality that you are wearing bib shorts, and specifically these Trek bib shorts, does kick in. That’s because the chamois on both are “woefully underpadded” in Nate’s experience and are a big disappointment because, for him, they are otherwise “almost perfect.”

Under 30 mile/50 km weekday morning group rides or commutes to work? Fine. Anything longer than 2 hours? No, not unless you have a heavily padded saddle (or butt) or you enjoy long coffee shop breaks and don’t want that diaper-like feeling you get from some other shorts.

The chamois on the Velocis and Circuit have the exact same shape and amount of padding and are sewn into the bibs in the same way. While the Velocis feels slightly smoother in his hand, Nate said his behind couldn’t tell any difference.

How do you tell them apart if not the cut, fit, or chamois? The Circuit bibs use a separate panel for the quad grippers. However, both shorts use silicone dots to hold the shorts in place on your thighs. And, the leg length and compression seem to be the key to preventing the shorts from moving up your legs.

The Velocis has an extra panel made of a somewhat different material around your midsection. It’s hard to tell what the purpose of that panel is; it didn’t seem to affect anything in Nate’s ride experience. Both bib shorts are cut low enough in the front and have enough stretch in the suspenders to gain quick access for a roadside “nature break.”

Price appears to be the only noticeable difference between the two cycling bibs, but it’s hard to tell why. Available by clicking these links to their online store, Trek sells the Velocis cycling bib shorts for US$145/£110/€135 and the Circuit cycling bib shorts for US$115/£85/€110. If you are a taller, thin cyclist planning on doing shorter rides, either of these will work for you, but I don’t see any reason to spend more for the Velocis.

On the other hand, these same shorts with a far better chamois would give Trek a great, long-ride bib option for riders who find many cycling bibs a bit shorter than they would prefer for their size. Perhaps Trek will add this to their higher-end RSL line, which currently lacks a bib short model.

Trek does make RSL and Circuit LTD cycling jerseys Nate tested and which, in contrast to the bib shorts, are quite different and seemingly purpose-built.

Trek RSL Cycling jersey

The RSL Cycling jersey is sheer and hugs you like a second skin with nary a wrinkle. There are no extraneous seams or panels. And it’s not too tight or constrictive, so you don’t have to suck in your belly to get the zipper started.

Nate proclaimed, “This jersey is a go-to for any warm weather ride where I would typically wear a 1-piece skinsuit, that is, if I owned one.” Think short-time trials on warm summer days, 25 mph/40 kph average speed group rides, or other road races where aero is important, and you don’t have to wear a custom team kit or jersey full of logos.

The RSL jersey definitely feels like a pro-level design. But don’t plan on carrying your max-size smartphone or a lot of gels or anything that you need to regularly access from inside its small pockets. Wouldn’t be aero. Wouldn’t be enough room either.

On the flip side, the Circuit LTD cycling jersey fits well, though is not nearly as snug as the RSL or aero-oriented. It’s also not a summer weight.

Trek Circuit LTD jersey 

Instead, the Circuit and its warmer, heavier weave is the kind of cool Spring or Fall morning jersey you put on when it’s a day you’ll also be ready to put on arm warmers for part of your ride.

The collar comes up noticeably higher on Nate’s neck as well, adding to its cozier feel. The dimensions are dead-on for his neck diameter so it doesn’t feel too tight when zipped all the way up, nor too baggy or overly ventilated.

Its three back pockets are normally sized. The Circuit also has a 4th, smaller pocket unsecured by a zipper that’s sewn onto the back of the left pocket. While nice to have that extra pocket, it doesn’t have a clear purpose, and being somewhat unconventional, it’s easy to stick your fingers into it when you’re actually trying to pull out something from the larger pocket that it sits on top of.

You can order the RSL (US$175/£110/€125) and Circuit LTD (US$90/£65/€75) cycling jerseys from Trek’s online store.

CASTELLI PREMIO BLACK BIBSHORT – GREAT LEG SUPPORT BUT SHORT CHAMOIS 

Castelli updated their Premio bib shorts in 2021 and renamed them the Premio Black Bibshort. Despite the name, they come in both black and navy or Savile blue.

As best I can tell, the Premio Black is very similar to the original Premio it replaces. They both use the same shorts fabric and chamois and the cut is the same – slim, longer inseams, a low waist but higher sides. The strap material, length, width, and stretchiness are also unchanged.

The new Premio Black has grippers with a rubberized elastic weave that eliminates the need for the silicone ribs employed by the earlier model. It has a somewhat taller back panel that doesn’t integrate the straps as before. Whereas the original Premio had fire-engine red straps, the Premio black now matches the colors of the straps with the shorts, be it black or blue.

With little, if any significant change (the original grippers and back panel were already quite effective), what follows is the review I wrote about the original Premio.

The red straps are replaced by black ones, but the cut, fit, and chamois are the same in the new Premio Black model.

The Castelli Premio has three unique leg fit characteristics that I found worked well on longer rides.

First, the inseam or leg length is particularly long, an inch or two longer than most, and falls within an inch or so of your knee when you are out pedaling on the bike. As I’ll explain just below, that positively affects muscle compression and gives your upper legs a more even response to the riding temperature.

Secondly, unlike some cycling shorts that provide compression just from the grippers or from there and the material just above (or not at all), you feel compression with the Premio bib shorts everywhere. And because the bib shorts run nearly the full length of your quads and hamstrings rather than just the half or 2/3rds that most bibs cover those muscles, you get that compression on the lower parts of your quads and hammies that you don’t normally.

Third, the straps are such that they hold the back panel securely against your lower back and provide support to your muscles there. That’s something I’ve never noticed in other cycling bibs but something my back and I very much welcome on a long ride.

Likely to maintain that back panel support, the straps themselves are sturdy but not very stretchy. They’re just stretchy enough for a bio break without having to take your jersey off and lower your straps.

While they are perfectly fine while underway in a riding position, the straps aren’t terribly comfortable when you are sitting up on the bike. It’s almost as if they are telling you to get back into an aero position. They also fit a bit short walking around or sitting down at a cafe as you might expect. I’m probably average height for my waist size (5’10” and 31-32 inches), but if I were taller than average, the strap length and lack of stretch might be a bigger problem.

While both the Premio and Castelli’s Aero Race cycling bibs use the same Progetto X2 Air Seamless insert, I found the chamois material used in these bib shorts doesn’t extend up as far as I would have liked in the front. While the Forza woven bib short material Castelli uses in the short is perfectly comfortable and breathable, I found that having part of your privates resting against that material while other parts are tucked inside the chamois is a bit of an odd sensation.

The chamois padding itself is sufficiently thick for 2+ hour rides but not as comfortable as others in this review. I’ve found they give your support directly under your site bones but when you get out of the aero position, there is no padding for the fleshy part of your butt behind them. I’m likely to be out of the aero position if not sitting up a fair amount on longer rides and would appreciate the added padding that I find in most other cycling bib shorts.

Like most things Castelli, these are cut slim. If you have standard-width hips or prefer a more relaxed fit, this cut likely won’t work well for you.

The Premio Black is available for US$300/£200/€242 using these links to BTD (BikeTiresDirect), Merlin, Amazon, and Sigma Sports.

GORE C7 LONG DISTANCE – LIGHT AND AIRY BUT FIT AND CHAMOIS BELOW PAR

Gore’s built its reputation around fabrics, most notably the waterproof and windproof yet still highly breathable Gore-Tex. In its C7 Long Distance cycling bib shorts, Gore’s heritage of fabrics shows up with very light and breathable, quickly wicking, and comfortable shorts and strap materials.

Unfortunately, the cut, fit, and comfort performance of these Gore bib shorts is average or off the back. Most notably, the sizing, compression, and chamois pad don’t keep up with most of the other bib shorts in this review.

I’ve worn a few pairs of Gore bib shorts designed for cooler, windier spring and fall temps and usually found them cut for standard hip-width riders. Before ordering the C7 Long Distance bib shorts, I studied the Gore Size Guide that includes not just waist ranges for their shorts but also inseam length and hip width ones. As I fell smack in the middle of the 2″ waist and hip size ranges for a Small, I expected a cut that would work well for me.

It doesn’t. If you’re interested in these cycling bibs, it’s probably best to be a stockier rider. Order it one size smaller, or order two sizes and return the one that doesn’t fit.

I also found that the C7 Long Distance straps, while very comfortable, don’t do anything to help keep the shorts in place. At 5′ 10″, I’m not short for size Small bib shorts. Perhaps the straps are just tall or aren’t designed to do the work of keeping your shorts in place.

Compression is also absent from these Gore bib shorts. The grippers work, but that’s where the hold on my muscles ended.  I’m most disappointed by the C7’s chamois pad. It’s one of the many models made by Elastic Interface, which supplies pads for Gore and many other brands. But the EI model that Gore chose is too narrow in some spots and too wide in others, more of a rectangle than the hourglass or sculpted shape you see with most chamois pads.

The C7 pad’s widest, thickest section, which is supposed to go under your sit bones, it’s only 155mm across. That’s about 25mm narrower than most of the better pads I’ve tested and only about 15mm wider than the average saddle width. And in my groin area, the pad’s edges rubbed quite a bit against the inside of my legs.

It’s also a relatively thin pad. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but with a narrower pad and lighter material with little compression, that’s putting all the responsibility on you to keep your butt centered in just the right place on your saddle over a long ride.

Of course, kit is a personal thing, and your cut, fit, and comfort experience may differ significantly from mine. But for me, these bib shorts just don’t work.

If you’d like to give the Gore C7 Long Distance bib short a try, you can order them for US$200/£149/€183 at Competitive Cyclist and Amazon.

THE BLACK BIBS ULTIMATE – BEYOND THE PRICE, NOTHING I LIKED 

Low price and great performance are the yin and yang of many cycling enthusiasts’ existence. We search for these two seemingly contrary characteristics that are often interdependent to our ability to enjoy and afford our passion.

What is the price of great performance? What performance can you attain at a low price?

While my understanding of Chinese cosmology is rather shallow and mystical, my pursuit of cycling gear and kit price and performance is deeper and more tangible.

When it comes to bib shorts, I’ve found you usually get what you pay for.

Yes, you can overpay for performance. Some of the bib shorts I’ve reviewed above that sell for US$250 or more are no better or even as good as those selling for around US$200. I’ve been clear about that in my reviews.

You can also get some deals on good performers but it’s usually when those that usually go for around US$200 or so are on sale at 20% to 30% off.

And while I continue to look for well-performing bib shorts that sell for US$100 or less and have reviewed models from dhb, Mavic, Hincapie, and a couple of other club bib shorts in that price range, I’ve not found any of that I would be happy to wear regularly or recommend for the number of rides and miles most of us enthusiasts do.

The Black Bibs have been quite a popular topic of discussion on cycling forums over the last several years. Bicycling rated them their Best Value cycling shorts in 2020 and gave them a great review. The base model sells for only US$40, the Plus for US$60, and the Ultimate for US$80.

Seeing this attention and after hearing from one of your fellow readers who said he wears either expensive Assos or $40 Black Bibs most of the time, I decided to buy and review them to add to this post. To give The Black Bibs the benefit of the doubt, I splurged on the $80 Ultimate.

To put it kindly, I was disappointed. Beyond the price, there was nothing I liked about them. I wore them on the trainer, on a couple of 2-hour outdoor training rides, and for one 4-hour, hard group ride.

They were so uncomfortable in so many ways that I stopped wearing them after my fourth ride.

For me, the chamois pad is both overly dense and too narrow for my 155 mm wide saddle. (143mm is the average or medium saddle width.) The first time I wore the Ultimate, I actually got off my bike after riding for 5 minutes, thinking the back of the saddle had been tilted up since my last time out. It wasn’t, and I later realized the sensation came from the stiff pad keeping my butt from settling on my saddle as it does when wearing other bib shorts.

While I washed them before that first ride and, of course, after every ride thereafter, the pad never loosened up. Neither did the straps, whose hems have so little stretch in them that I had to dip my shoulders to get into the cycling bibs.

The material that makes up the shorts themselves, however, did loosen. While never feeling any compression in my Ultimate size Small in the first place, they started to feel too loose and didn’t move or stretch with me at all.

The waist is cut high with the same tight strap hems continuing down across my midsection and sides of the Black Bibs. High and tight meant I could barely get my manhood out to take a pee.

The Black Bibs Ultimate isn’t nearly as breathable as other bibs I’ve worn, and its 5mm wide seams connecting its numerous panels aren’t very comfortable.

Yes, The Black Bibs do deliver on their claim of an affordable price and no labels. If that appeals to you, click this link to buy them directly. But if performance and comfort are important to you, put that money toward one of the better pairs of bib shorts I reviewed above. You’re likely to wear them far more often and lower the cost per ride below or on par with that of The Black Bibs.

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Thanks, and enjoy your rides safely! Cheers, Steve