At a glance Light and comfortable bib shorts that give plenty of padding and support in all the right places, yet are so light that you don’t know you’re wearing them.
Tested by
Jon Adams, tester for The Bike List
Performance
The beauty of bib shorts is that there’s nothing constricting your waist, so on-the-bike comfort is better than with waistband-style shorts. The downside is you can’t remove them without first removing your jersey, but the front is generally cut low enough and has enough stretch for you to take a quick pee without removing most of your clothes. At least this is the case for men – for women, bibs are not so popular as they entail much more faffing around should you need to squat behind a hedge during your ride. Female bibs are on the rise though, and women are trading off increased comfort for the occasional inconvenience of calls of nature.
Bib shorts come in all kinds of weights and thicknesses, and the difference between low-end offerings at £30-50 and the high end at £90-plus, is the durability of the fabrics and the quality of the chamois. The latter is is the all-important pad that guards your nether regions from the saddle, and how well it fits, wicks sweat, absorbs shock and stays comfortable tends to go up with the price.
The Elite IV Bib Pants from Vaude are a stylish, high-end pair of shorts that come in all-black or white & black colour schemes. Interestingly, they blend both matt and shiny Lycra in the construction, though this appears to be more for cosmetic rather than performance reasons. The bibs are very light at just 185g, and the fabric employed throughout feels quite thin to the touch. It’s not fragile, though – after a good hammering and many wear-wash cycles, they’re still looking as good as new, so no worries on the durability front.
At the bottom of the 9-inch legs is a silicon gripper that holds them firmly in place so they don’t ride up when you’re pedalling. This hem has the perfect amount of elasticity for comfort, and because the fabric is so supple and stretchy, you can actually hitch the leg hem right up into your crotch. This enables you to fit legwarmers with ease – pulling them up as high as you like them – before you roll the leg of the shorts down over the top. There’s a retro-reflective flash on the outer thighs to help with visibility at night, and a small logo and band of white trim around the hem gives a subtle reminder of the maker’s name.
The bib’s braces are made of lightweight mesh fabric, so there’s tons of breathability, and at the small of the back, there’s a little triangle of the shiny Lycra used on the hip/thigh panels. There may be an extra degree of breathability here, but it wasn’t user-detectable, so we’ll put it down as a design touch!
The chamois is the Elite Air model that’s reserved for Vaude’s upmarket shorts, and it’s very comfortable. There are no seams to chafe and the high-density foam padding is moulded into two separate parts, which run from front to back on each side. Surrounding and separating the foam pads are wads of microfibre material, and the central channel between them is quite wide, so a good degree of independent movement is possible for both halves of the shorts. What this means is that the pad stays in place on your undercarriage, regardless of how much you switch between standing and sitting, or even if you get off the bike and walk/run for a bit. The chamois extends a good distance back too, so your backside is padded whether you’re very upright on an MTB or in a low aero tuck on a road bike
On the size front, we found the Elite IV to be over-generous compared to other makes. We replaced the usual Medium with a Small, so you may find that a size down from your normal fit is the most appropriate. Switching sizes isn’t a problem with web and mail order retailers these days, but if your usual ploy for the perfect fit is ordering two sizes and sending one back, then make sure the second pair a size down rather than up.
Overall, the Elite IVs are a superb pair of bibs for the summer. The featherweight feel is complemented by a great sense of support, and the chamois is impressive for comfort if you’re putting in the miles. The price is the only real catch, as £120 is a lot to spend on a pair of shorts. For those who enjoy the luxury/need the comfort of the £90-plus bracket, though, the Elite IVs deserve to be tried and evaluated along with similarly-priced offerings from Gore, Castelli, Mavic, Campagnolo, and the like. They’re well made, they feel great, and they certainly won’t disappoint once the cost has been forgotten.
Buy from www.wiggle.co.uk
Vaude says:
A top pair of bike pants that'll go the distance! These bib pants are fully equipped with technical and functional features. Matt material combined with shiny inserts lets you look your very best. The Elite Air chamois ensures best sitting comfort so you can sit tight until you've gone the distance.
Details: Cuffs with silicon gripper - mesh inserts - contrasting seams or inserts - reflective elements
Technical data:
Main fabric: 79% Polyamide, 21% Elastane
Inserts: 71% Polyamide, 29% Elastane
Mesh inserts: 75% Polyamide, 25% Elastane
Weight: 185 g
Men’s Elite Air Chamois: Unique shape offers the absolute best protection. New high-density foam for extra protection on long tours. Wide center channel with special molded shape. Seamless and non-chafing. Soft microfiber material with outstanding moisture transfer and high elasticity.
Race Cut: Products with this logo have body- hugging cuts and are especially designed to accommodate the seating position of road and mountain bikers.
Find out more www.vaude.com
