Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Santini Mago Bib Short with Nat Pad

9
£104.99

VERDICT:

9
10
Supremely comfortable, tasteful styling and a few neat features make these a serious contender for my favourites of the year
Weight: 
213g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

Santini's Mago bib shorts just might be the most comfortable bibs I've ever worn, and the minimalist styling should pair with any top. With 10 – yes, 10 – sizes to choose from, you can dial the fit too.

Bib shorts are that most difficult of things to get right for a cycle clothing manufacturer. Any discrepancy in fit will make itself known in the most intimate of manners, while the many and varied shapes of cyclists, their riding styles and – ahem – pressure/pain points mean it's nearly impossible to get it right for everyone. Which makes finding the perfect pair a minefield of trial and error, especially with manufacturers often changing production facility and methods year-on-year to keep costs down. In the 2017 Santini Mago short I have struck the jackpot of comfort, performance and styling.

> Find your nearest dealer here

With an RRP of £105 the Mago is towards the higher end of the market, but not overly so, and they're frequently for sale online for £80-90. They're very good value should your fit work out. This was a large on test – measurements say I'm on the borderline of XL for height and medium for girth, the Mago coming up snug but with no bunching or tightness around the shoulders. The fit for me was definitely close, bordering on compressive, although Santini doesn't claim them to be compressive, with the various sport science voodoo that entails.

Santini Mago Bib Short with Nat Pad - front full.jpg

The wide leg grippers with reflective detailing certainly stayed put without being uncomfortable, with or without leg warmers underneath. I prefer my shorts a bit longer above the knee, and the Magos fitted perfectly.

Santini Mago Bib Short with Nat Pad.jpg

The only features to speak of are two small pockets with reflective trim in the centre of each thigh, measuring 7 x 5cm – just enough for a small energy bar, gel, or empty wrapper. The internal seams aren't flatlock stitched, but I never felt them so that's no issue. Likewise, the mesh shoulder straps did the job of holding the shorts in place while being completely unnoticeable.

Santini Mago Bib Short with Nat Pad - back full.jpg

Santini rates the Mago as suited for riding in 18-35°C – my test rides varied between 10 and 20, and it would be fair to say below 15 degrees I noticed the lack of insulation when riding in shade. Working hard at the upper end of tested temperatures there was no issue with excessive warmth or perspiration, and I have no reason to believe the performance would be any less once summer properly kicks in.

>  Cycling shorts – everything you need to know

Across varied terrain, on rides from one-hour blasts to three-hour-plus efforts, on various saddles, the Mago shorts went completely unnoticed. This may sound like damning with faint praise, but this is the highest accolade I could possibly offer. I frequently forgot I was wearing them – a somewhat alarming prospect, but meaning there was no pressure, no need to move about for relief, no bunching, no feeling of excess or sub-par support, nothing. I just got on with riding the bike and feeling comfortable.

Santini Mago Bib Short with Nat Pad - back.jpg

The pad is Santini's 'best-selling NAT chamois with NEXT gel core that provides a cooling effect and boosts circulation'. There's a fair amount of forming in the multi-density pad, which seems to allow it to flex to match your body shape without bunching in the compressed areas. There's also a myriad of holes to aid cooling.

Santini Mago Bib Short with Nat Pad - pad.jpg

The snug, athletic fit might not be to everyone's tastes, but with 10 size options to choose from you're likely to get it right – just bear in mind that they do feel reasonably tight to begin with.

At the current RRP of £105 these are a great option, although they are up against some stiff competition, including the Assos T.MilleShorts_s7, which Dave described as 'seriously impressive' and are a fiver less. Shop around online and you can find the Mago at £80-90, and for that I'd say they represent arguably the best value in the market.

Verdict

Supremely comfortable, tasteful styling and a few neat features make these a serious contender for my favourites of the year

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Santini Mago Bib Short with Nat Pad

Size tested: Large, Black

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

These are for anyone looking for great-fitting bib shorts at a reasonable price.

Santini says: "We are glad to introduce you our MAGO bib-shorts. Featuring a new elastic band with a bird's nest patterned silicone gripper, designed to fit your leg and follow your movements, breathable Y shaped mesh braces, and our best-selling NAT chamois with NEXT gel core that provides a cooling effect and boosts circulation. We wanted to make the MAGO even more special so we added two small pockets on the side of the legs to store your gels, bars, or anything you want. You will never want to take them off!

"Think about the smartest bib-shorts you could ever wear. One of those bibs that you would use every time you go on a ride because when you wear them, you feel like you don't need anything else. No matter what jersey are you going to wear, what bike you use, how long you are going to ride, it is always a perfect match."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Santini says:

Constructed with the elastic but compact Thunderbike Power fabric and with a strategic cut inspired by the our Professional team's bib-shorts, MAGO will surprise you!

A new ELASTIC band, designed to fit your leg and follow your movements, with a bird's nest shaped silicon gripper, so strong it will keep your shorts still, but so soft you won't even feel it. Our best selling NAT chamois with NEXT gel core...

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Seams aren't flatlock stitched, but not really an issue.

Rate the product for performance:
 
10/10

Wow. Just... wow.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10
Rate the product for fit:
 
10/10
Rate the product for sizing:
 
8/10

About right, for me.

Rate the product for weight:
 
9/10
Rate the product for comfort:
 
10/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Very good value.

How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

After a month, they look as good as new.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Can't fault them. Perfect.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The fit. It's all about the fit.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing. At all.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your score

These are very hard to fault. If the price was a bit lower, maybe with flatlocked seams, they'd be a 5-star buy.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 43  Height: 183cm  Weight: 72KG

I usually ride: Merida Ride 5000 Disc  My best bike is:

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, club rides, general fitness riding, mtb, Dutch bike pootling.

Living in the Highlands, Mike is constantly finding innovative and usually cold/wet ways to accelerate the degradation of cycling kit. At his happiest in a warm workshop holding an anodised tool of high repute, Mike's been taking bikes apart and (mostly) putting them back together for forty years. With a day job in global IT (he's not completely sure what that means either) and having run a boutique cycle service business on the side for a decade, bikes are his escape into the practical and life-changing for his customers.

Add new comment

4 comments

Avatar
bobinski | 6 years ago
0 likes

Ummh...

i am 5ft 9, short in leg but long torso and 74kilos with 34 waist. I wonder if medium will be too snug a fit?

Avatar
Team EPO | 6 years ago
0 likes

If you are a size medium Amazon have them for £54! or there is a fat tax for people like me who have to pay £86

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Santini-Sp1072Nat-Mago-Bib-Short/dp/B00U98A53K?...

Avatar
bobbinogs | 6 years ago
0 likes

I like the Santini bib shorts.  The Edge ones have a real good quality feel/fit and offer great VFM but the front is quite high which makes natural stops a little tricky.  Looks like the Mago has solved that.

 

I am still puzzled by the NAT pad though.  It is a good comfortable pad for short to medium distances but, really, is white the best choice for a colour? 

Avatar
matthewn5 replied to bobbinogs | 6 years ago
0 likes
Bobbinogs wrote:

I like the Santini bib shorts.... but, really, is white the best choice for a colour? 

Yes. You'll wash them more often  21

Latest Comments