3/4 Bib tights for around the £100 mark - recommendations?

daniel_b

Afternoon all,

I have knee warmers on order, and have 4 pairs of 3/4 bibs, 2 dhb's and 2 Mavic Sptint ones, which are pretty ok, but would like some with a slightly better pad for longer (4-6 hours) rides in the Autumn or early spring when full bib tights are a step too far.

I now have decent bargain bib shorts in the form or Etxeondo Orhi's, and some excellent tights in the form of Nalini, Mavic Echappee, and Etxeondo ones that have the same pad as the Orhi's.

I have seen the Sairs on Merlin, but am aware these technically have a lesser pad than the Orhi's - Behar instead of Urraki if I recall correctly, not sure if this instantly makes them not a good choice though - the reviews of the shorts with the pad seem glowing.

Any recommendations out there?
My other bibs I like are Craft and Santini if that makes any difference.
Either looking for something at around the £100 mark, or even better a billy bargain down from £160 down to around that figure :-)

A quickish trawl of Wiggle/CRC/Merlin/Ribble turned up precious little yesterday - aside from the Sairs that is.

spasypaddy

CRC had castelli 3/4s on sale yesterday

daniel_b

Cheers SP, will take a looksee.

daniel_b

Thankyou - CRC only had them in red, but Wiggle had them in black and white too for the same price, so ordered a pair in Small and will see if I can shoehorn my way into them - might not be what I am after, but easy enough to send back if not up to the job - Wiggle reviews are glowing though.

Cheers

Dan

the_fuggler

Keep us posted - condsidering some Gore Oxygen 3/4s, but these might do the job

daniel_b

Ok so the Etxeondo's and the Castelli's arrived yesterday.

First bit of Etxeondo kit I haven't been utterly delighted with - but perhaps sizing is variable.
I plumped for medium, as my Orhi bib's are fabbo superb, the straps are nice and taught but comfy, and the pad sits just right.

If I hauled these 3/4 ones up so the pad was correctly positioned, the straps felt really loose, and then of course you could feel the pad slipping down - perhaps a small would do the job, but I was a bit under enamoured with them for 72.

The Castelli's felt superb - nice material, and the pad although thin (Kiss I believe) feels excellent, although of course yet to try it out on the bike.
It is tight on me (Small) and if it helps I am 5ft 10, 68kg, 33" waist but have a long leg to short torso combination - 34" inside leg.
But although tight, it still feels nice and fitted as it should be, and the pad sits nicely, so that's a keeper.

As an aside, I ordered one of the all in one suits from Evans (Posted on the bargains or what I have just bought threads) for around half price, at 80, I plumped for a medium in that, and it's fitted, but also feels superb, so that's a keeper as well - looking to use that next year when I start trying to do a TT or two!

itboffin

hold on a sec

It is tight on me (Small) and if it helps I am 5ft 10, 68kg, 33" waist but have a long leg to short torso combination - 34" inside leg.

that doesnt add up for Castelli their sizing is tiny im 73 kg and large in bibs, my waist is 29-30 (at the moment) ...not for much longer :oops:

itboffin

PS. nice mix of imperial and metric

pollys_bott

itboffin wrote:

hold on a sec

It is tight on me (Small) and if it helps I am 5ft 10, 68kg, 33" waist but have a long leg to short torso combination - 34" inside leg.

that doesnt add up for Castelli their sizing is tiny im 73 kg and large in bibs, my waist is 29-30 (at the moment) ...not for much longer :oops:

+1

How the chuff can you even get into them let alone wear them?! I'm pretty much the same dimensions apart from a 32" inside leg and an XL is a snug fit...

What are the Castellis, the Velocissimos? If so then I've got those and they are nice: sinking into a Kiss 3 pad for the first time was a revelation

daniel_b

itboffin wrote:

PS. nice mix of imperial and metric

lol, fair question chaps.

I've kept the receipt, and will try them again at the weekend when I get more time to make sure i am happy with them.

I definitely got into them, and it wasn't a huge struggle, though it was tight I'll grant you.
Small was the only size they had, so I had to gamble - due to my short upper body I generally have to cram myself into smaller shorts that I might ideally like, as otherwise the straps are too loose and it simply doesn't work.

The all in one suit thing I bought was a medium, and that is also very snug, but spot on fit wise, but I think if Medium had been available in this 3/4 it would probably have fitted me fine, as on the small the straps are properly tight, but feel fine when in a riding position.
I was 72kg a few months ago, then 70, most recently 68, so it is possible I have reduced a bit further - I have not measured my waist anytime recently - alas most of my wait seems to stick around my middle, so my legs are pretty thin, so that may be the reason, I do not have thighs of steel, though my calves are getting there :-)

itboffin

How do we trust that any of this is true?

We need pics :roll:

daniel_b

So I checked the label tonight, and it's deffo a small, and it's definitely the Velocissimo Bib Knicker.

It's snug, but it definitely fits fine, granted it's snug, but once I worked my @rse into it properly, the straps were perfectly comfortable.
The Kiss 3 pad feels superb - my only slight concern is whether it goes back far enough, but I'm willing to take the risk.

Can't really explain how I can fit into it when others are in Large, but there we go

I guess it's all down to build, and weight distribution.

Going to be quite a long time til I actually get to road test these with the current mild temperatures.