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review

Sportful Bodyfit Team 15 Socks

8
£12.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Slightly untidy stitching but they keep your feet smelling sweet and might even offer an aero advantage...
Weight: 
32g

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It's not often I get excited about socks, but these Sportful Bodyfit Team 15 socks are very good when it comes to comfort and performance. They are a little rough round the edges for their £12 price tag, but that's hidden in your shoes.

  • Pros: Very comfortable, no smells
  • Cons: Not the neatest stitching

The Bodyfit Teams are socks of two halves, with the bottom part – the bit that is in the shoes – made from Meryl Skinlife bacteriostatic fabric, and the leg part created from a light mesh, printable fabric.

> Buy these online here

The Meryl fabric has permanent antimicrobial properties which are said to reduce the chance of the garment smelling from the bacteria found in sweat. I'd say it works pretty well as I wore them for a week's riding without washing them and they were exactly the same as when they came out of the packet.

It feels to be a pretty robust material too, plus Sportful has added some reinforcing in the high-wear areas like the top of the foot and under the toes.

All of the seams are positioned out of the way as well, so there are no issues with rubbing. That said, the stitching isn't the neatest or tidiest I've ever seen, especially where the bottom section meets the top.

The calf part of the socks is highly stretchy and lets plenty of air through, and the fit is so close there could even be some tiny aero advantage. The cuff is held in place by a small silicone strip. I was also impressed with how durable the thin fabric is too.

Sportful Bodyfit Team 15 Socks - cuff.jpg

For such a snug pair of socks, sizing is surprisingly generous. We have the M/L here which should fit feet between EUR 40 and 43. I'm a 45 and had no issues with them feeling tight or small. If I was buying them I'd probably go with the guide, but if you are between sizes you can stick with the lower option I reckon.

Priced at £12 a pair, they certainly aren't cheap, but they are less than a lot of the other socks we've tested recently. Lusso's Active Aero socks follow a similar theme, and while the Manchester-based firm usually scores very well on value, these cost £19.99.

The very comfortable, whiff-repelling Kalf Tall socks are pretty much the same money as the Sportfuls at £11.99.

Overall, the Sportful Bodyfit Team 15 socks perform very well, and thankfully the untidy stitching is all hidden inside your shoes.

Verdict

Slightly untidy stitching but they keep your feet smelling sweet and might even offer an aero advantage...

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Sportful Bodyfit Team 15 Socks

Size tested: Medium/large

Tell us what the product is for

Sportful says, "The Bodyfit Team 15 Socks use Meryl® Skinlife® bacteriostatic yarns to give your feet the comfort they deserve when cycling far and fast. This impressively lightweight material works brilliantly to move sweat off the skin, leaving your feet fresh and comfortable, while the bacteriostatic yarns also preventing the build of odours. The 15cm cuff provides extra coverage over the ankle, with a silicone cuff that keeps them firmly in place no matter what."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Sportful lists:

Meryl® Skinlife® bacteriostatic yarns

Partly made in light mesh, printable fabric

Silicone band

15cm Cuff

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

Much stronger than I thought they would be.

Rate the product for fit:
 
9/10
Rate the product for sizing:
 
7/10

Stick with the size guide but they are pretty generous so you can go for the smaller ones if you are between sizes.

Rate the product for weight:
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

They do get dirty easily in this colour but I've had no issue with them being stained after going through the wash.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Spot on for riding on the road and rougher surfaces like gravel.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Comfort is very impressive.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Not the neatest stitching around the foot.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

They are priced competitively against a lot of the competition.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

Great cycling-specific socks when it comes to comfort and performance, if a little rough around the edges for their price.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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1 comments

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Organon | 4 years ago
0 likes

A strong sock game is important, but 15cm is a bit uncouth, this isn't football, darling. 9cm is sufficient. 

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