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review

Sumattory Hermida bib shorts

8
£120.00

VERDICT:

8
10
An excellent seat pad in some well-made, high-end shorts – although the price is steep
Weight: 
182g

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If you've not heard of Sumattory before, that's probably because the Spanish brand is a recent arrival on the cycle clothing stage. The Hermida Signature Series is named after 2010 world champion mountain biker Jose Antonio Hermida, although there's not a massive difference between a lot of cross-country MTB clothing and road wear.

The chamois in these bib shorts comes from Cytech, who supply many big name brands: Assos, De Marchi, Rapha... Cytech make a whole load of different chamois designs - dozens, in fact - from basic right through to the top end. This is a good 'un.

There are large areas of deep (12mm), high-density padding underneath your ischium bones - the ones that sit on the wide part of the saddle - and you get equally deep although less dense padding through the perineal area. Wide channels between the padding and down the centre reduce the bulk and allow the air to flow, and the soft fabrics next to your skin move sweat away efficiently.

Some people might want a larger area of padding through the centre section and up front, I guess, but I found the pad really comfortable and didn't give it a second thought once I was out on the road, which has to be a good sign. It's the padding at the back that's particularly good. If you get any trouble there, it might be worth giving these shorts a go.

The shorts themselves are high quality throughout. They're an elastane/nylon mix, as usual, in a medium weight, and the stitching looks set to last. The panels certainly aren't going to part company with one another when you yank them on in a hurry.

The orange sections at the end of each leg are a slightly thinner fabric but they're doubled over. On the inner face you get silicone to stop them riding up but rather than the usual band, it's lettering. It's a bit of spiel about yer man Hermida and his involvement with Sumattory. Different. It hasn't got much of a plot but it works just fine; the shorts legs stayed where they were supposed to throughout testing. I'm not so sure about the orange colouring. It's certainly vivid but it looks a bit lollipop lady to me.

The bib section works well. It's not quite as lightweight as some but it lets your upper body breathe okay and the straps are plenty wide enough so they don't dig in.

The only problem I had with these shorts was the sizing. I went for large which is usually fine, but they were too small, especially in leg length. If you want to compare these with shorts you already own, the inseam here measures 22cm. Most other large sized shorts in the road.cc dressing up box have an inseam of 25 or 26cm so, if you want good quad coverage, you might want to go up a size.

EDIT: we're told that the production shorts will have a 5cm longer inseam and be half a size bigger than our sample, for a more realistic fit. They're still euro sizing though, so bear that in mind.

Verdict

An excellent seat pad in some well-made, high-end shorts - although the price is steep

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Sumattory Hermida bib shorts

Size tested: Large

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?

It's a mountain bike product but it's equally well suited to the road.

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

The Cytech pad is excellent -one of the best I've used.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

The seams are solid and everything is tidily done.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

They're well made although the fabric is no more or less tough than most others used for shorts.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
8/10

I found the seatpad really comfy and that's what counts most. The silicone print inside the legs holds them in place comfortably too.

Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

Top quality shorts but this kind of money is still a helluva lot to pay

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

Excellent. I just wish I'd gone for a size that had fitted me better. I'd have preferred more length in the leg.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The seatpad and the overall build quality.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

In the words of Graham Taylor, "Do I not like orange"... but that's just a matter of taste.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Hmm... maybe. Don't like that orange bit though

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

Excellent product but high price brings the overall score down a point.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 190cm  Weight: 74kg

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding,

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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