4 min read
After spending almost two decades riding and years running bike shops, I have narrowed down my priorities for key criteria when buying cycling apparel. I’m looking for a product that is durable, performs well in varying conditions, and is comfortable over miles on the bike.
Apparel falls into different categories depending on the rider. For some, it falls into a category of fashion. Those riders want their choice of apparel to tell a story about who they are on the bike.
For other riders, safety is the biggest driving factor. This group is intentionally easy to see by their bright colors riding by. While other riders solely look for a great deal, digging through clearance racks at bike shops as the seasons change.
Finding kit that performs the way we want our bike to perform can give us a better experience on our ride compared to getting whatever the cool kids are wearing—just for fashion’s sake. Here I’m going to dive deeper into each of the priorities I have for my jerseys and bibs to shed some light on why there’s value in this shift—especially this time of year.
Versatility
What I look for in a jersey, especially for fall, is one that will vent well on the way up, but keep me comfortable on the way back down. I love a good gilet, especially leaving it open on the way down a road. If my jersey can do what the gilet does then that’s one less piece of kit I have to buy and bring. Lately I’ve been using the Dottore Hybrid Long Sleeve jersey from Q36.5 and it checks off all those boxes.
Trevor Raab
Q36.5 Dottore Hybrid Long Sleeve Jersey
I tried this jersey out on a recent trip to Italy where we had a roughly 2,500-foot climb followed immediately by an equal descent. The temperature was hovering around the mid-fifties and usually, I would bring a vest for a ride like this. However, I was told this jersey should be perfect for these conditions, so I wanted to give it a proper test. On the way up I didn’t feel a need to unzip the jersey at all and on the screaming descent I never felt cold. Somehow Q36.5 figured out how to give the best of both worlds in one jersey.
Comfort
Many of us think of a good pair of bibs being the key component to comfort on the bike—and in some ways that’s not wrong. Comfort on your sit bones can be greatly improved by getting the right saddle and sometimes a bike fit to determine what that saddle is and how the saddle should be positioned. But a good pair of bibs can still greatly improve comfort on the bike even after you get a fit and get the right saddle.
Not all chamois pads are created equal, and not all bibs hold the chamois in the place you need after miles of pedaling. Part of the challenge with bibs is you don’t really know until you get on the bike to ride—and good bibs aren’t exactly an inexpensive purchase.
“An unlined full length bib like the Velocio Luxe Tights offers a more comfortable go to bib for when you need to cover you legs but don’t need to have fleece warmth,” says Trevor Raab, our resident bike racer and photographer at Bicycling. What I typically look for in bibs is a pair with minimal seams, has a chamois pad that offers both padding and ventilation, and good support and structure from the overalls to help hold the bib in place.
Durability
The final piece of my puzzle for gear and apparel is durability. Part of the reality is that just like bikes, apparel has pieces that are more consumable than others and will need to be replaced over time.
I’m someone who tends to stress test both bikes and apparel from hitting the ground. I haven’t found any apparel that holds up to a good impact to the pavement or gravel— as can be seen by many of my bibs having a tear on one of the hips. However, not all material holds up the same over time.
From the bibs that I have tried I either haven’t put enough miles in them or I have put over a year of miles on them and there is a noticeable impact to the comfort of the chamois. But something to note: more padding isn’t inherently better in a chamois. From a durability perspective and my experience, the thicker pads compress over time and aren’t necessarily more comfortable on the bike. The pair I’ve gotten the most miles on this year are the Q36.5 Dottore Bib Shorts. I’ve put a few hundred miles in them and they are still as comfortable as the first ride. Every rider I talk to that has tried this pair of bibs has experienced the same thing.
Pricing
It’s important to acknowledge the pricing of some of this high-end kit is not a small investment. Shifting your perspective of apparel as just clothes to looking at apparel as gear can make it easier to understand. Too many times when I worked in a shop someone would spend thousands of dollars on a bike only to buy low-priced apparel. There’s nothing wrong with buying entry-level kit to get started. But if you are someone who spends thousands on your bike, then it’s likely ride quality matters to you regardless of the price. If you start to think about your apparel as gear, it’s easier to see that great apparel can impact your ride just like riding on a great bike.
Jason Griffin is Bicycling’s Senior Health and Fitness Editor, bringing more than a decade of fitness experience and years in the cycling industry to every story. A former personal trainer and bike shop manager, he’s lined up for crits, tackled enduros, but prefers getting lost on multi-day bikepacking adventures. Lately though, his toughest balancing act has been fitting trainer rides between family life and the next adventure.