Northwave Sonic bib shorts

If you fancy a little bit of Italian flair without the associated price tag Northwave's Sonic collection could be just what you are after. As part of the Sport range they are aimed at the middle of the market in both price and performance yet still manage to look the business.

The main shorts are manufactured from Response fabric which Northwave describe as a bi-elastic material that is soft to the touch. It's got plenty of stretch in it so moves well with the body as you pedal and shift in the saddle although it does lack some of the second skin snug feel you get with more expensive shorts.

Being part of the Sport range, which is aimed at the more recreational rider, the cut is relaxed especially round the waist, these aren't as contoured as a pair of race shorts. The straps are plenty long enough for them to be comfortable when walking off the bike too. Size wise Northwaves do always come in a good size bigger than most European clothing, basically if you take a large in DHB or Altura say, you'll be a large in Northwave stuff.

The SRM-13 pad is made from an antibacterial foam with the raised padded sections at 11mm thick. There are some channels to aid perineal relief and on the whole it's pretty comfortable. Its thin size means you don't get any bunching of the pad and although Northwave state a ride time of one to three hours I didn't find an issue with going longer.

There is a whole range of Sonic kit with long sleeve and short sleeve jerseys, gilets and so on, so you can get some decent colour coordination going on. These bibshorts come in plain black or black with fluoro orange, fluoro green, red or white highlights though the strap mesh is white on all models. The 4XL size will fit up to a 42in waist so finding a pair to fit shouldn't be a problem.

Overall the Sonic bibshorts are really good all rounders and the £60 asking price is bang on for the quality of construction and fit. The pad isn't as comfortable as some of the multi density ones available but it does a good job taking the shock out of the roads and I didn't suffer from any chafing or rubbing over the test period. Northwave have really upped their game on the styling front over the last couple of seasons and the Sonic range does look smart, especially in the white coloured stuff we've tested.

Verdict

Performance and quality on par with the price tag bolstered by Italian styling.