Rapha Mens Brevet Cargo Bib Shorts

The Rapha Mens Brevet Cargo Bib Shorts are as impressively built and sharply styled as you’d expect from such a premium brand, but unfortunately the particularly short, very strong bib straps constantly pull them out of place and affect comfort quite badly.

I’m skinny but always wear size large shorts. I actually fit the shorts section of most size mediums, but have learnt to size up as my torso is long and I need the extra strap length. I’m already sized up as far as many brands are concerned is my point.

The actual shorts here are sized like a typical ‘large’ and fit very well. The legs end with laser cut hems and have bands of very slightly raised yellow dots inside, which is presumably there for grip, though it’s not very grippy at all.

Each leg pocket is roughly the length and width of your hand, and the mesh fabric stretches for easy access and good security. I really like the contrasting bright yellow, though if it’s not for you, the two other colour schemes – dark olive or boring black – offer little or no contrast respectively.

There’s a shorter pocket in the middle of your back, and a zipped one on the right. The latter is handy, if only big enough for keys or cards. The zip opens barely wide enough for three fingers.

The dual-density pad is attached with a very neat outline of flatlock stitching, and while it’s smooth enough to be comfortable in itself, its positioning didn’t work so well for me. The thicker central sections of the pad are like an island in a sea of thinner fabric, and at the front in particular that sea spreads quite wide. That means the seam (and the extra layer of fabric) can fold into the gap where your thigh is pistoning up and down on the pedals.

With the shorts sitting as they should, it’s all fine and comfortable, but as each entire leg slowly rises the fabric bunches up and starts to irritate. And rise they do.

Straps

The straps on these large shorts feel like they’re from a size medium or small, and their broad elastic is strong. Unstretched, they don’t even reach my armpits. I have to stretch them more than 20cm just to get them onto my shoulders. The resulting tension is enough to slowly but surely propel both legs up into my crotch as I pedal, where they bunch and chafe, leading to regular stops to haul them back down and smooth them out again.

As I said, I have a relatively long torso, and that means bib straps are frequently tighter on me than necessary. I’m used to it. Even so, it’s normally just a potential ache for my shoulders, and I’m not freakishly proportioned (I didn’t even know until I started wearing cycling clothing!). I’ve never had straps so tight they lift the entire garment out of position before.

Okay, maybe I’m the only person in the world with these proportions (I’m not, but let’s go with it), but I’m constantly amazed that bib straps are never adjustable, especially at the premium end of the market.

I’m also baffled as to why so many manufacturers feel it requires about 100kg of upthrust to suspend 100g of fabric. I can barely feel the straps of my Orro Pyro Line shorts, for instance, so gentle is the elastic of their long loops, and they don’t fall down. They’re just as secure as any of the harshly-elasticated shorts I’ve tested, and in reality far more secure than these overdone Raphas.

You may think sizing up is the answer, but that can lead to shorts that are simply too long and too loose. Elsewhere, these fit me as they should, and as I said, I’m skinny and already effectively sized up. XL shorts would be too big. I’ve never needed XL anything in 15 years of testing.

If you have particularly long legs and a short torso, perhaps you’ll be okay and avoid the bunching and discomfort, and if you’re chunky you can size up with less risk of loose legs that bell-bottom down round your knees. If you’re like me and skinny with relatively short legs, however, I would avoid them. Unfortunately, the Brevet Cargo Bibs are the most uncomfortable shorts I’ve worn in years.

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Value

At £260, these are very expensive. Rapha’s own Pro Team Cargo Bib Shorts are considerably cheaper (though still firmly in premium territory) at £195, and they’re only a single bag of crisps heavier at 220g. Our tester Ben found the front panelling slightly weird and uncomfortable, however, and he did say you might find the straps a touch short if you have a long torso.

The Universal Colours Mono Men’s Cargo Bib Shorts are cheaper still at £140 – but again, still firmly premium in nature – and a few grams lighter than the Brevets at 186g. Tester Iwein found them very comfortable, with sizing that’s ‘spot on’.

If you’d rather spend less, Galibier has a good track record for really good clothing at great prices, and its Pro 7 Cargo Bib Shorts may well be worth a look at £74. We haven’t tested them so can’t say for sure – though we can say Galiber has delivered before: its Classique and Équipe 3 Aero bibs both did extremely well in testing.

Overall

These have the quality and style you’d demand from both the price and a luxury brand like Rapha, but for me they simply didn’t work. The straps are broad and comfortable but simply way too short and strong, and that messes badly with the fit. Another 10-15cm of elastic would probably transform the Brevet Cargo Shorts for me. Perhaps they’ll work with your proportions and be great, but perhaps they won’t… and I feel, at £260, that’s really not an appropriate gamble.