Altura Children's Cruisers Tights

Altura's Children's Cruisers are multi-sport leggings suitable for autumn through to spring.

Altura have revamped their children's thermal tights which are billed for cycling and other outdoor activities. These are not tights in the skintight-Lycra-cycling definition of the word. They are more akin to tracksuit bottoms in that their fit is loose. Our mini-tester is a tall, slim nine-year-old and the size intended for seven to nine-year-olds has fitted her well over the last six months of wear. The other sizes available are for ages five to six and nine to twelve. There is a good amount of growing room in each size and being loose with an elasticated drawstring waist means that whatever your child's shape there is likely to be a pair to fit.

The Cruisers are not padded but fit easily over padded shorts for longer rides or under school uniform skirts when the school run turns nippy. The layerability works well although the stirrup feet mean that shoes need to come off every time a change of layers is needed. The plus side is that the tights do stay in place however hard the ride.

The fabric is reasonably water repellent and dries quickly when it does get wet. The tester found it warm in cool weather but not enough when it was properly cold. Despite being labelled as thermal, the fact that the material was loose around the body meant that it didn't trap a layer of warm air so other layers were needed on particularly cold days. After six months' wear there have been no tears, and minimal bobbling of the material despite numerous washes.

Instead of the back pocket previously found on this design, there is a mini inside pocket at the front, suitable for small change or a house key but nothing bigger. In the revamp the Cruisers also lost the double seat, and have a seam down the middle as per non-cyclewear. Although our mini-tester didn't mention this as an issue, she was always wearing padded shorts underneath on longer rides so watch out for chafing if your kid doesn't favour these.

Available in black with silver reflectives on the outside calves, and as Altura logos elsewhere the Cruisers are good basic kit for boys or girls regularly out on their bikes or riding tag-alongs. You should expect them to last a couple of years if you buy at the lower end of each age range.

Verdict

Hard-wearing no-nonsense kit for active kids