Compression wear is all the rage these days. 2XU’s compression tights are a well made and reasonably priced way to jump on the compression bandwagon, offering faster recovery, improved circulation and a reduction in muscle fatigue.
It’s easy to be put off by these tights straight out of the box. I imagined that compression wear would be, well compressive and thus tight. It still came as a shock when I held them up and looked in the mirror like a girl with her favorite pair of "skinny" jeans which she hasn’t actually fitted into in years. Thankfully the 50 denier lycra was suitably stretchy.
The quality of the material and the flat lock seams are excellent. According to 2XU the tights have a circular knit which helps achieve a 360° graduated compression. At the ankle the garment has a neat and clean hem. This is both comfortable and does not leave any marks on the skin when taken off. The waist has a narrow elasticated band with drawstring. This is my only gripe with the comfort as it tends to dig in a little, a thicker band would be better. Having said this they are pleasant to wear giving some warmth too. I personally find the graphics a little overkill but they may be to some peoples taste if not mine. Durability wise the compression has not deteriorated, however if you do like the graphics you may be disappointed to hear they haven’t lasted as well. By 2XU’s own admission logos “may crack and discolour”.
2XU put forward plenty of advantages for using the tights, some more applicable to cycling than others. For example I do not feel I have “heightened agility” whilst using the tights nor have they saved me from deep vein thrombosis. I can say however that they do give a noticeable improvement to the speed of recovery. Given the technical application of the garment I was expecting to have some kind of instructions explaining how to get the best results, the 2XU website has no advice on the matter either. With or without instructions I have noticed improved recovery between sessions, albeit unquantifiable.
Verdict
Completely unnecessary for the casual cyclist but if you're training seriously and want to get an edge on your rivals then the 2XU compression tights are well worth considering.
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road.cc test report
Make and model: 2XU Compression Tights
Size tested: M
Did you enjoy using the product? Very much so, these have become an integral part to my post ride routine
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Would happily reccomend to anyone who takes training seriously
About the tester
Age: 22 Height: 5\'10\" Weight: 78kg
I usually ride: Carrera My best bike is: Rotwild RCC 1.3 Topeak Ergon team
I've been riding for: 5-10 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, mtb,
5 comments
Glad to see an honest review. I'm looking to get some 2XU compression tights and this has swayed me, I'm going to ramp up my training in the winter months and I think these will be going on the christmas list!
Do compression tights help recovery, or just mask fatigue?
I used them for a couple of months and straight away began to overtrain. I'm no expert so maybe my basic knowledge is confusing me, but as I understand it pain and fatigue is caused by lactic acid, which is a by-product of muscle cellular breakdown. If we remove the by-product, we don't "hear" (i.e. feel) the cellular breakdown damage, ignore it, and therefore are at risk of overtraining?
Hi Hibbs,
I am no sport scientist (but my house mate is
). My understanding is that Compression wear promotes the flushing of lactates by improving blood flow back to the heart. Helping to remove the problem, not the receptors as you suggest. All people react differently to training and compression so its interesting to hear your opinion.
I think more important to consider is these are no miracle tights and gains will be seen as a small percentage. I would reccomend that regardless of tights sticking to your training plan is essential. Tights should improve recovery slightly which should mean each session is better quality which is a plus. Overtraining is a pretty difficult state to achieve due to how tough your body is - you can handle a lot of hours a week without overtraining.
Any thoughts anyone?
Anyone got any idea what is the recommended period of time to keep this on after a (for example) four hour fast ride? I just got home, put mine on for the first time, and don't know when to take them off
I'm still wearin' them, just until you guys let me know they've done their job and I can take them off...