Neon Velo KOM Cycling Sock

These Neon Velo Cycling Socks are comfortable with a nice high cuff and a modern design. The price is at the top end of the budget but they still look fresh after multiple washes.

• Pros: Modern design, high cuff, lovely fit, not sweaty
• Cons: Very expensive

Socks aren't overly exciting pieces of kit, but they do serve an important purpose. A poorly designed pair can cause sweaty feet and crimes against fashion. These Neon Velo socks are well made with a good fit and simple but modern designs.

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The fabric is a Coolmax and nylon blend that kept my feet cool in some seriously hot temperatures. The foot part gets a mesh construction to increase cooling. I didn't experience much sweating which is good for preventing conditions like athlete's foot. The rest of the sock is a double cuff construction that hasn't stretched. You get a little compression from this but its main advantage is that the socks stay where you position them. This fabric is made from some recycled material, so you're also doing a little good for the environment.

The socks come in several designs: KOM, Peloton, Dynamic, Classic and Neon. The Peloton and Dynamic designs have a pattern stitched just below the cuff. This pattern causes the cuffs to look bobbly compared with the sleek look of the others. It isn't a huge issue, but it slightly spoils a nice design.

You might be wondering why the designs mostly feature yellow and green. These are the team colours of the Neon Velo race team and they happen to match my local club's kit too. For those of you who prefer plain socks, the Classic range is the standard mix of black and white.

My socks were the medium, which fit my size 8 feet very nicely. The sizes range from S-XL in all designs.

Sock length is a hot topic and these are certainly on the tall side so they matched well with my very short calves! I'd say that these are about right if you subscribe to the modern trend of tall socks. They're not too tall, though, even if that is a highly personal view.

The washing machine can see the death of white socks but these have stayed nice and bright with no colour fade through multiple washes. I washed them at 40°C and then tumble dried them if I couldn't line dry them. There has been no shrinkage.

The only real drawback is price: you can pay a lot less for really good cycling socks, and even at the current sale price of £14.95 these are rather expensive. Castelli Free 9 socks are £7, for example, and the DeFeet Cyclismo 5s are £7.99 – both great options.

Verdict

Well-made socks that perform very well, but they're rather pricey