Bib Shorts Under £100

uptheswa
uptheswa Posts: 71
edited December 2018 in Road buying advice
Need to invest in some better shorts for longer rides, currently have Giordana Silverline, DeMarchi, and club shorts, all with pretty thin pads.

Thinking of the Giordana FR-C, Castelli Endurance X2 or Assos t.Mille S5 all of which on offer can be had for around £90

Any thoughts on these for 4+ hour rides or better alternatives if you have had experience of these and others.

Comments

  • singleton
    singleton Posts: 2,523
    Personally I like the Castelli Endurance X2. Same pad as the free aero shorts but you can get them for under £75.
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    lusso from merlin for £40 ish or whatever. worn for up to8 hours on the saddle with no problem.

    your club shorts will be rubbish so throw them in the bin.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Dhb aeron work really well for me.
  • PinarelloPrince
    PinarelloPrince Posts: 124
    If you can get a pair of Assos for £90, get them. Best bar none IMHO.
  • arlowood
    arlowood Posts: 2,561
    Endura FS260 Pro are my go-to shorts for long ride comfort.

    Normally available around the £70 mark but after a quick google it seems that normal sizes appear difficult to come by unless you are prepared to order white bibs. Afraid I'm not that much of an exhibitionist.

    Have a trawl tho - you may find your size in black or black/red if you search around.
  • Mad_Malx
    Mad_Malx Posts: 5,183
    Do people really pay over £100 for shorts?
  • chippyk
    chippyk Posts: 529
    Mad_Malx wrote:
    Do people really pay over £100 for shorts?

    You can do, but you can get the same ones in the sale half price
  • jameses
    jameses Posts: 653
    Chapeau! and Galibier are both worth a look
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 12,033
    La Passione
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • joe_totale-2
    joe_totale-2 Posts: 1,333
    Galibier bib shorts are around the £50- 60 mark and are fantastic, as good as something twice the price
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,615
    Forget the assos s5 and get some with the s7 pad. You can get the cheapest, which i think is the uno, for under £100 usually.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    Singleton wrote:
    Personally I like the Castelli Endurance X2. Same pad as the free aero shorts but you can get them for under £75.

    Tempted by these... have you done any long ride on them (I mean over 6 hours)?
    left the forum March 2023
  • flanners1
    flanners1 Posts: 916
    edited December 2018
    PinarelloPrince wrote:
    If you can get a pair of Assos for £90, get them. Best bar none IMHO.

    Absolute crap in my experience, of 2 pairs of black, they discolour quickly, form a sheen and the black turns to a grey. They also thin out and leave you with an obscence rear end when on the bike, pads are good mind, I would not waste my money again and I am not impressed at all.

    Not impressed with cheaper Castelli shorts sub £100 either, as the decals fall off/breakdown quickly and the material 'thins out' too, for the money paid the quality and durability is just not there; Bodypaint's are good though and the decals are as new yet the shorts are older than the cheaper pair. Have to say Dhb Aeron's etc have suffered none of the above; the fit, the comfort and wear to material (or rather the lack of it) has been top notch. I am tempted by the Galibier's next.
    Colnago C60 SRAM eTap, Colnago C40, Milani 107E, BMC Pro Machine, Trek Madone, Viner Gladius,
    Bizango 29er
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    Flanners1 wrote:
    PinarelloPrince wrote:
    If you can get a pair of Assos for £90, get them. Best bar none IMHO.

    Absolute crap in my experience, of 2 pairs of black, they discolour quickly, form a sheen and the black turns to a grey. They also thin out and leave you with an obscence rear end when on the bike, pads are good mind, I would not waste my money again and I am not impressed at all.

    Not impressed with cheaper Castelli shorts sub £100 either, as the decals fall off/breakdown quickly and the material 'thins out' too, for the money paid the quality and durability is just not there; Bodypaint's are good though and the decals are as new yet the shorts are older than the cheaper pair. Have to say Dhb Aeron's etc have suffered none of the above; the fit, the comfort and wear to material (or rather the lack of it) has been top notch.

    DHB Aeron are good for the money, but for rides over 8 hours the pad is not satisfactory. Maybe I should try the Aeron Speed, which have a "better" pad... out of stock in my size ATM.
    Not sure about entry level Assos.. there must be a reason why they cost half the money of the Cento, despite having the same pad
    left the forum March 2023
  • flanners1
    flanners1 Posts: 916
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Flanners1 wrote:
    PinarelloPrince wrote:
    If you can get a pair of Assos for £90, get them. Best bar none IMHO.

    Absolute crap in my experience, of 2 pairs of black, they discolour quickly, form a sheen and the black turns to a grey. They also thin out and leave you with an obscence rear end when on the bike, pads are good mind, I would not waste my money again and I am not impressed at all.

    Not impressed with cheaper Castelli shorts sub £100 either, as the decals fall off/breakdown quickly and the material 'thins out' too, for the money paid the quality and durability is just not there; Bodypaint's are good though and the decals are as new yet the shorts are older than the cheaper pair. Have to say Dhb Aeron's etc have suffered none of the above; the fit, the comfort and wear to material (or rather the lack of it) has been top notch.

    DHB Aeron are good for the money, but for rides over 8 hours the pad is not satisfactory. Maybe I should try the Aeron Speed, which have a "better" pad... out of stock in my size ATM.
    Not sure about entry level Assos.. there must be a reason why they cost half the money of the Cento, despite having the same pad

    Yes good point about the pad. I am not an endurance rider so 2-4hr rides are dandy. The Assos Mille pad did me well in RVV Sportive; the longest ride I have ever done but the material just does not last for the ££s. I like the look of the Galibier selection of shorts, keen pricing too.
    Colnago C60 SRAM eTap, Colnago C40, Milani 107E, BMC Pro Machine, Trek Madone, Viner Gladius,
    Bizango 29er
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    Bio Racer - my God , switched on clubs even get their kit thus from King Ken.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    My dhbs have been great for 6 hour rides but not tested over that. I suspect I'm the weak link rather than the shorts.

    I did like my assos shorts but mine went grey and prob seethrough at the back. That seems to be a flaw for assos. Not a good look.
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    cougie wrote:

    I did like my assos shorts but mine went grey and prob seethrough at the back. That seems to be a flaw for assos. Not a good look.
    Depends who’s wearing them.
  • singleton
    singleton Posts: 2,523
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Singleton wrote:
    Personally I like the Castelli Endurance X2. Same pad as the free aero shorts but you can get them for under £75.

    Tempted by these... have you done any long ride on them (I mean over 6 hours)?

    Yes - I did a century in them which took me over 6 hours - LOL
    Although it was a bit lumpy.
  • yiannism
    yiannism Posts: 345
    I just love my Endura FS 260 and i am looking for a 2nd good pair. Are the Castelli's good enough?
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    my take. my longest rides this year have been done on a £50 pair of sportful Giro shorts. I've done Liege and a day in the alps with 3 cols. they are basic, no frills but comfortable.

    my favourite long distance shorts before that were assos s7 mid range ones but they fell apart.

    DHb for me, great for the 60mile blast out west, not great for longer distances.

    used to use castelli, but the pads wore out very quickly (except on the cheaper ones where the bibs wore out pretty quickly).

    I've recently got 2 pairs of milltag shorts, the top bonk and the Plateau of pain ones. they are super comfy but haven't worn them on any bigger rides.
  • galatzo
    galatzo Posts: 1,295
    Redwhite are my faves at the moment (3 Pairs).
    Have 1 pair with the race pad and 2 with the fondo pad.
    They usually have a good sale at Christmas/New Year and you can get them for about £70.
    Excellent customer service too, had the mist minor of issues and they sent me a new pair for and said keep the others !
    25th August 2013 12hrs 37mins 52.3 seconds 238km 5500mtrs FYRM Never again.
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    JGSI wrote:
    Bio Racer - my God , switched on clubs even get their kit thus from King Ken.

    and this means nothing at all apart from he does stuff for clubs cheap.

    club stuff is 96 times out of 100 designed by a visual cripple, cheap and rubbish.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    as an aside, Lusso are nice and long on the leg so you don't end up looking like a reject from a rubbish club from the 70s.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • clubsport
    clubsport Posts: 51
    I have a few pairs of bib shorts from Aldi to Assos, for the money I think Decathlon 900 bibs are a good buy for fit, comfort and durability. they are around £45.
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,830
    Just spotted that Pactimo have their Summit Raptor bibs half price, £75. They are the best shorts I've tried and are a steal at that price.
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    1st world problems.
  • yiannism
    yiannism Posts: 345
    I just got my bonus, so i had money to spend, i bought as a gift to my self a pair of sportful super total comfort that on wiggle is on your budget. Saturday i have a ride 90km 1400m elevation, and i will use them. I will post my impressions, but they get great reviews with the only negative the messed up sizing. I am 179/85kg with pretty muscular statue and the XL felt good.

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