Bibshorts test

If you’re searching for a piece of kit that contributes most to your comfort on the bike then look no further than the humble bibshort. The most essential piece of kit in a cyclist’s wardrobe, the search for a set of shorts that ticks every box has become something of a cyclist’s holy grail. It’s that perfect combination of support, fit, comfort and cushioning (in exactly the right place) that we’re all so keen to find.

One of the areas that more designers are now looking at is the number of panels, and therefore seams, in a set of shorts. The technology has moved on and gone are the days when you would boast about having an eight-panel short compared to your friend’s six-panel pair. On the contrary, today’s shorts are all about minimising the number of panels used, to enhance comfort.

The perfect bibshort should be able to provide effective cushioning around the sitbones and delicate soft tissue area of the perineum. They should be constructed of a light, tight, yet stretchy material that hugs your legs, crotch and waist without being too restrictive, and have an upper section that holds the waist section – and therefore the insert (chamois) – perfectly in place all without cutting into your shoulders. Oh, and we want leg grippers that we can’t feel, to hold the legs in place, and ideally some aero credentials. Not much to ask for.

We’ve tested 10 pairs of bibshorts here: five men’s and five women’s. Each brand produces a variant of each short for both genders, so the main features apply to both.

WOMEN’S

Alé Green Road Lady £145

Weight 162g

Cycling WEEKLY BEST ON TEST

The biggest must-know for the Alé Green Road Lady bibshorts is that a significant percentage of the fabric used is Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certified. The polyamide and elastane mix shorts use a Denali Green fabric – its properties include high elasticity and good muscular compression.

This is teamed with a laser-cut finish Green Elastic leg gripper, which, measuring eight centimetres and almost entirely silicone backed, means that the shorts really do fit like a second skin. The only section that isn’t super-sticky is a thin mesh panel that stretches up the back of the leg to give an element of breathability to the otherwise dense fabric. Not wanting to criticise the fabric density – far from it – the