Ale PRR 2.0 Speedfondo Bibshorts

The PRR 2.0 Speedfondo bibshorts from Italian brand Alé are like a Swiss Army knife for your legs. With a highly compressive fabric to reduce muscle fatigue, lightweight mesh bibs to keep you cool, and a water-repellent finish to keep you dry in a summer shower, you're pretty much covered for all weathers and every race. The fact that this is all built around an exceptional pad is the icing on the cake.

The name Speedfondo gives you some indication as to what these shorts are intended for. Gran fondos are big rides in Italia, similar to our sportives but much, much bigger, usually containing a couple of mountains, and ridden by some like races – hard and fast.

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Alé uses Serie S 41 WR Active Comfort fabric for the working part of the shorts, that being the legs and lower back, which includes 41% elastane in its manufacture. This gives the shorts a very tight fit for compression purposes, which is believed to reduce muscle fatigue by way of support, with no unwanted vibration, and by squeezing the muscles to increase blood flow and keep them replenished with the good stuff.

I'm a big believer in compression clothing during exercise and recovery, and have been using compression tights for years after big rides and runs. I definitely notice the effects of fresher feeling muscles for longer during a workout or the following day.

On a few four and five-hour rides in the Speedfondos I felt unbelievably fresh in the leg department, though saying that, the compression is among the strongest I've known. I have quite large thighs and could find the Alés borderline tight at times – not uncomfortable, but noticeable.

Sizing up could be an option, but the shorts fit perfectly everywhere else so I'd rather stick with these mediums. Speaking of size, they are available in small through to 3XL.

As well as being compressive, the material also has a DWR (durable water repellent) coating that sees rainwater and road spray just bead off. It does a really good job at keeping you dry, resisting a lot of liquid before it is finally penetrated. Obviously, with it being a coating it will eventually start to diminish and will need to be reapplied.

The leg grippers are 75mm deep and do a great job of keeping the shorts where they need to be, and thanks to that depth the pressure is applied over quite a large area of skin so you don't get any hot spots or seams digging in.

The 8HF pad feels a little bulky when you first put the shorts on, but once in the saddle it fits perfectly. It has a large wing area around the outside of the padded section, giving your inner thighs more coverage and reducing chafing as it moves with you when you are riding.

The shape of the pad is quite simplistic compared with others, with just a single depth of padding used, but has honeycomb style air pockets for support. It works well, offering plenty of cushioning, plus it's well ventilated too.

The bib section has a very narrow back to it, with a large central cutout to aid cooling, while at the front you get two wide and flat straps with plenty of give for a secure but unrestrictive fit.

The quality you are getting for your £115 is exactly as you'd expect from Alé, with the usual high attention to detail. Each item of clothing is handmade and there's a section in the factory where each garment is checked over to have stray thread ends and the like removed for a neat and tidy finish.

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You can get very good shorts for a lot less – the Sportful Giros at £60, for instance – but the Speedfondos have a lot of technical details and great quality, all helping towards justifying their price.

If you like to ride fast for a long time, the Alés are well worth considering.

Verdict

Impressive pair of bib shorts that are great for hard riding and racing – especially in the rain