{"id":797448,"date":"2026-07-12T17:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T17:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/797448\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T17:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T17:13:17","slug":"sportful-supergiara-2-cargo-bib-shorts-review-tuned-for-off-road-use-but-pricey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/797448\/","title":{"rendered":"Sportful Supergiara 2 cargo bib shorts review: tuned for off-road use, but pricey"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sportful Supergiara 2 shorts were the most expensive of five pairs of cargo bib shorts I reviewed together. They\u2019re targeted specifically at gravel riders, with abrasion-resistant side panels in contrasting colours and four pockets \u2013 two on the legs and two on the rear.<\/p>\n

The shorts are made from an array of different fabrics, with thicker, coarser, more abrasion-resistant fabric on the outer side of the legs. <\/p>\n

The legs are a little longer than those of the Rapha, Gobik and Van Rysel shorts I tested alongside them, although not quite as long as those of the Castelli Unlimited 2 shorts.<\/p>\n

\"\"The fit is quite compressive, assisted by high elastance content in the fabrics. Andy Lloyd Photography<\/p>\n

A softer fabric with a lot of stretch, thanks to its 30% elastane content, is used on the inner legs, while there\u2019s 35% elastane in the raw-edged leg grippers, which have the usual array of silicone dots to keep them in place. None of the seams are flatlocked.<\/p>\n

Sportful says its DMS seat pad is designed for gravel. It has \u2018progressive density\u2019 printed on it and feels quite structured internally, with creases in the pad surface to help it curve around your rear end. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s an array of ventilation holes visible through the soft surface layer and \u2018fast drying tech\u2019 printed along both side edges. It doesn\u2019t feel quite as thick or dense as the pad in the Gobik shorts, but it’s on a par with those in the Castelli and Rapha shorts I reviewed.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sportful’s pockets are a little shallow. Andy Lloyd Photography<\/p>\n

Sportful\u2019s leg cargo pockets are made of a mesh fabric. They\u2019re wide but not particularly deep, because the opening is cut at a slant. Nevertheless, items stayed in place well, thanks to an elastic hem at their top edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My ride pack protruded from the pocket though, rather than being fully enclosed, so it felt as if there was a greater risk of it falling out, even if this never happened thanks to the pockets\u2019 stretch. The cargo pockets would be a good place for smaller items, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The two rear pockets at the lower-back add extra capacity, but are difficult to access. Andy Lloyd Photography<\/p>\n

There are a further two mesh pockets in the base of the bibs\u2019 rear yoke. As usual, I found the pockets in the bibs less useful, due to the difficulty of accessing them when riding, although they offer plenty of capacity and they\u2019d be a good place to stash emergency gels for a longer ride.<\/p>\n

The mesh section of the bibs\u2019 yoke extends up to the shoulders, where it\u2019s attached to wide straps that don’t stretch sideways and have perforations to assist airflow. Sportful\u2019s straps have a little less stretch lengthways than some, which helps keep the shorts in place well, without being uncomfortable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Silicone grippers keep the legs in place, but most seams are not flatlocked. Andy Lloyd Photography<\/p>\n

The Supergiara 2 shorts were the most compressive of the five pairs of cargo bib shorts<\/a> I reviewed together. Probably thanks to the high elastane content, they didn\u2019t feel restrictive and conformed well to different riding positions, and on- and off-bike use.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The net result is that the seat pad is held in place without moving around. The pad is well designed, with plenty of shock absorption to insulate you from rougher off-road surfaces, despite not having the thickness or density of some other brands\u2019 pads.<\/p>\n

Sportful also sells the significantly cheaper Giara gravel bib shorts, which have fewer pockets, are made with less sophisticated fabrics and use the same Bodyfit Pro seat pad as Sportful sews into its mid-priced road shorts. <\/p>\n

You can also purchase the Supergiara 2 unpadded overshorts<\/a> if you prefer a more relaxed look.<\/p>\n

How we tested | Bib shorts<\/p>\n

I rode a mix of road and gravel rides in each pair of shorts. My gravel rides usually take longer in the saddle and the uneven surface is a good test of the cushioning provided by the seat pad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On road rides, on the other hand, I was holding a more static position for longer, so these were more likely to highlight chafing and fit problems.<\/p>\n

In both cases, I kept food and a ride pack that I\u2019d usually put in a jersey pocket in the leg cargo pockets to judge how effective they were.<\/p>\n

Shorts tested<\/p>\n

Sportful Supergiara 2 bib shorts bottom line<\/p>\n

The Sportful Supergiara 2 bib shorts offer a compressive fit and plenty of features for gravel riding, including abrasion resistant fabric in the outer legs. <\/p>\n

Along with the quality seat pad, these help to justify the quite elevated price, although the cargo pockets don\u2019t add a lot of carrying space.<\/p>\n

Product<\/p>\n

Brand
\nSportful<\/p>\n

Price
\nA$299.00, \u20ac179.90, \u00a3175.00, $210.00<\/p>\n

Weight
\n190g<\/p>\n

Features<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sportful Supergiara 2 shorts were the most expensive of five pairs of cargo bib shorts I reviewed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-797448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}