Rapha Lightweight Bib Shorts

This is version 2 of Rapha's Lightweight bib shorts, which use a specific pad and different fabrics to make shorts that are 50g lighter than Rapha's classic bib shorts and that are genuinely cooler on hot days.

The styling is typical Rapha. There's a coloured band on the left thigh and a Rapha logo on the thigh in translucent materials. It is subtle, but easily recognisable too. I tested these bib shorts with the matching super light weight jersey, so I could assess the combined outfit. From a distance the Chartreuse yellow is not as bright as it might seem in the photos, but it suits a sunnier day.

The shorts are a simple all-black look, bar the yellow band and white straps. There is a cut out in the back of the mesh, which aids cooling, but does handle and look a little odd. It is tempting to put a hand through the hole, mistaking it for an arm hole, but that is only a slight distraction when putting the bibs on.

The leg grippers are quite different in design from other shorts. Rather than a laser cut hem or a thick strip of silicone, they use three thin strips of silicone, which really works well and is easy to adjust. Once on, the bibs are really very comfortable and the leg fabric stays exactly where it is put.

The main fabric of the shorts has a sun protection factor of 50, so no sunburnt hips with these on, and they are opaque.

I rode with the matching super lightweight jersey on a few properly warm days out into Essex, with the temperatures touching 30°C in the shade. The pad is really excellent. I didn't feel as warm and sweaty as I have done on similar hot days with other shorts. The perforation and design of the pad do seem to have a cooling effect.

The mesh fabric of the upper and straps also helped with the moisture transfer to keeping me feeling cooler. Even some steep, albeit short climbs didn't make me too hot.

The best way to describe the shorts is that I didn't really notice them, I could just get on with riding. The pad is described as lightweight, but compared to the 'cross bib shorts I own from Rapha, I thought it was actually more comfortable.

The grippers work well too, there was no creeping up of the fabric on my thighs, nor any bunching in between my legs. The shorts have also washed well and seem to dry quickly too.

I'm planning on taking these with me to ride in Provence in the summer and hoping to stay nice and cool with them. The colour is even growing on me, though my family are of the opinion that the colour might suit someone a bit more tanned than I am.

The Rapha Lightweight bib shorts are at the expensive end of the market, but this sort of high summer or climber bib shorts are a new area of development. Each company making this ype of shorts is claiming unique fabrics and a superior design.

I think these work well for hot conditions and would be worth buying if you intend to ride in temperatures of mid twenties and up for a sustained period, but a regular British summer might not get warm enough to justify them.

Verdict

Excellent, comfortable bib shorts for long, hot days of summer riding