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review
£98.00
VERDICT:
Premium-feeling bib shorts at a non-premium price
Great fit
Comfortable pad
Premium feel
Strong price
Weight:
224g
Contact:
This product has been selected to feature in road.cc recommends. That means it's not just scored well, but we think it stands out as special. Go to road.cc recommends
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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Stolen Goat's Bodyline One Bib Shorts are the company's least expensive offering, yet still extremely impressive. The pad works brilliantly, the one-seam construction fits well, and compression and muscle support is good. I've worn these on long days out as well as for Zwift Racing League sweat fests, and I can't fault them.
The Bodyline's fabric is an 80% polyamide, 20% elastane mix, and sewn with a single seam down the centre line and under the pad to minimise potential pressure points. It has a sort of honeycomb pattern on the inside, which makes it plenty stretchy and gives just the right amount of compression.
The outside is treated with Schoeller Textiles' Coldblack, which reflects sunlight to keep you cooler and protect from UV rays.
Instead of the usual silicone grippers, these use wide elastic cuffs. I found them less aggressively grippy, yet effective and comfortable too.
The pad
The pad is a proprietary affair, apparently 'developed alongside household names in the professional peloton'. It has a dimpled surface to aid airflow, and is antibacterial. I've used these for all kinds of durations, on the road and on Zwift, and my backside has not reported any problems. Top marks.
Stolen Goat is upfront about their clothing being made elsewhere: SG designs it, then the fit, form and function is taken care of by Bioracer, which has serious pedigree in competitive clothing for the pros. That experience and know-how is immediately obvious when you put these on.
Sizing
Stolen Goat approaches sizing slightly unusually. As the fabric is so stretchy, it bases everything on waist size, with height being less relevant. The size guide asks you to measure the widest part of your hips and waist and base your size on that.
My waist is around 32 inches, my hips around 36in. The former puts me in the lower end of size medium, the latter in the middle of large. We've got a medium on test, and it's exactly the fit I like: nicely compressive. And no, that's not me in the pictures...
Stolen Goat does say to size up for a looser fit and down for tighter, so I'd say the sizing is about right.
Value
These are a little cheaper than the also excellent La Passione Club Bib Shorts (£105), a lot cheaper than the Ale Agonistas (£160), and cheaper again than Rapha's Team Crit Bib Shorts (£175).
All these pale into insignificance besides something like the Rapha Pro Team Powerweave Bib Shorts at £275, but though these are 44g lighter at 180g, they're not otherwise massively better than the Stolen Goats.
Okay, the Bodyline One Bib Shorts are a little more expensive than Bioracer's own Spitfire bibs, but those lack the single seam construction and the Coldblack coating.
Overall
I like these shorts. I like how they look, how they fit and how they perform. And I like the price too. At £98, they're not the cheapest in absolute terms, but their fit, build and performance is premium level.
Verdict
Premium-feeling bib shorts at a non-premium price
road.cc test report
Make and model: Stolen Goat Bodyline One Bib Shorts
Size tested: Medium
Tell us what the product is for
Stolen Goat says: "Not all black cycling bib shorts are created equal. These feature everything you need for all day performance and comfort, subtle branding to complement any kit selections you wish to make..."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Stolen Goat lists:
Options for men & women
Just one seam for maximum comfort
Coldblack technology to prevent overheating
Compressive fabric
Elastic gripper cuffs
4-way stretch
Superior 'dimple' chamois pad with perfect placement and antibacterial qualities
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for fit:
9/10
Rate the product for sizing:
9/10
Stolen Goat approach sizing unusually – it's all based on hip/waist width. Mine measures 94cm which puts me in a large, but I like a tight fit and the medium actually fitted well.
Rate the product for weight:
6/10
A little heavy, but still only 30-40g up on far more expensive shorts.
Rate the product for comfort:
9/10
Manages all day rides no problem.
Rate the product for value:
7/10
Premium performance for non-premium brand pricing. What's not to like?
How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?
No problems. The washing instructions say "hand wash 30 degrees, no fabric softener or bleach, do not wring, do not tumble dry and iron. Avoid contact with Velcro and raw materials". That last bit is a mistranslation - Bioracer makes this kit and they are based in Belgium. What they actually mean is avoid contact with rough materials.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Kept me happy on long rides.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The fit feels just right, and the pad works really well.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
No dislikes.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
The performance of these shorts is comparable to Castelli Premio bib shorts at half the price. Compared to the bib shorts we reviewed recently, they are a little cheaper than the La Passione Club Bib Shorts (£105), a lot cheaper than the Ale Agonista Plus Bibshorts (£160) or Rapha's Team Crit Bib Shorts (£175).
You can buy almost three pairs of the Stolen Goats for a pair of Rapha Pro Team Powerweave Bib Shorts (£275). The Bioracer Spitfire bibshorts are slightly cheaper at £84, but do not have the same single seam construction or the Coldblack sun reflection technology.
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
These bib shorts fit brilliantly, have a nice compressive feel and the pad works really well. They punch well above their price point – I can't think of anything I would want to change about them.
About the tester
Age: 38
I usually ride: All of them! My best bike is: Ribble Endurance SL disc
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, commuting, touring, club rides, mtb, Zwift
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10 comments
I'm a big fan of Bioracer and Stolen Goat.
The one thing not mentioned about these shorts is that the honeycomb pattern makes them quite warm if it's chilly, but they are far and away the coolest, least sweaty shorts I've worn when it's stinking hot (Carribean and southern Italy in the summer hot)
Big fan of Stolen Goat stuff, but... nothing is in stock on their website unless you're xxl or xxs.
Also why review shorts in December?
They weren't reviewed in December; the review was published in December.
I reviewed these from about mid October onwards. They had a fair few outings, paired with kneewarmers up until mid November. They still get used at least once a week in the Zwift pain cave.
I'm wearing the Bioracer equivalents under my winter tights, I thought it was relatively common to keep wearing summer shorts but with appropriate layers on top.
£98 for shorts is now "a non-premium price"? Cripes.
And if you don't like the silly goat logo these may be available through bioracer.com - who may or may not have made them.
The review is entirely open about Bioracer being the 'factory' and suggests a slightly different Bioracer-branded alternative.
Fair point. I couldn't be bothered to read another article about another clothing brand that doesn't actually do much apart from run a website with some nice pictures.
I'm not quite clear on what you are moaning about? They provide a few more interesting designs than available on the Bioracer site - usually for similar money. They also often add reflectives and similar in different places. They don't pretend to be doing anything else so what's your beef with them?
Do you whine about own brand clothes too or own brand components on a bike that have probably came out of the same factory as a dozen others? Is there some extra kudo's to be gained to have them handsewn by Vietnamese virgins?
they are a UK local business, which means some of the cash you spend stays in this country - what's so wrong with that?
Haven't looked at the SG product range then? There's a lot of unique kit with a LOT of designs and colours to choose from, they offer a lot more than just someone else's kit with a different logo