Craft

I have a pair of really nice Craft bib shorts, however the leg grippers/lower hem are really tight, after wearing these shorts on my 40 mile loop, my upper leg muscles feel sore and a kind of pins and needles feeling? Ditch the shorts or is it all in my mind?

It's sometimes hard to get excited about socks. Sure, you need them to wick moisture away from your tootsies and keep everything a comfortable stable temperature, but that's about it really. Compression socks though are a different ball-game. Designed to compress muscles and reduce vibration, their goal is to enhance power delivery and help muscles recover more quickly from exertion.

Providing excellent wicking and a reasonable amount of warmth, Craft's Zero Crew long sleeved base layer is the best cold-weather base layer out there, in my opinion.

I do like a nice sock. There's nothing worse than spending a ride with seams chafing or a loose heel riding up. There's no danger of that with these Bike Race socks from Craft, Swedish masters of technical sportswear.

These elegant racing mitts from Swedish kit masters Craft are stylish and understated. At least, they are at the moment. I'm not sure how the gleaming white mesh will cope with a mid-ride wheel change or emergency chain splitting incident. Of course, if you're sensible you can always take them off and there are some handy removal loops between the fingers to assist you there. Alternatively, you could just buy them in black instead.

This Crew Neck Base Layer from Scandiwegian cold weather wizards Craft is nice, very nice, but it could do with being sized rather better for cycling.

Craft Storm gloves