The Sorpasso RoS Wind Bibtight sits right at the top of Castelli’s long-legged offerings, both in terms of cost and claimed warmth. These aren’t ‘Shall I wear leg warmers or tights today?’ kind of bibs, but more the ‘Can I get to the bike shed through the snow drifts?’ kind of bibs. The RoS in the name stands for ‘Rain or Shine’, but I definitely would not want too much of the ‘Shine’ when wearing these unless it was of the freezing alpine sort as they are rather warm.
They are designed for riders who go out whatever the weather, be they committed commuters, dedicated trainers or just hardcore cyclists who prefer to avoid the turbo trainer at all costs. Castelli rates them for use down to -5°C, although I imagine they would still work in temperatures below that. The upper suggestion is for +8°C, and that seems fair, although at that temperature you wouldn’t need to be working very hard to be pretty warm indeed. Currently only available as part of the men's range in black, sizes S to 3XL.
If these don't sound quite what you're looking for, then have a look at our buyer's guide to bib tights for some other options.
Construction
The Sorpasso RoS Wind Bibtight employs several fabrics and materials across a multiple-panel design to combine protection, flexibility and warmth in the worst weather. Gore-Tex Infinium Windstopper with a fleece backing keeps the front of thighs, knees and crotch toasty with Castrelli’s own Nano Flex 3G on the rear thighs, backside, lower back and lower legs. Nano Flex has a brushed back and water-repellent treatment but does not have a membrane; this enables it to be highly flexible and provides good freedom of movement whereas the Infinium Windstopper is much less stretchy due to its multi-layer construction.
The seat pad is a Progetto X2 Air Seamless, Castelli’s premium chamois for maximum in-saddle comfort. This has three parts to it; a breathable skin care layer, a variable thickness, multi-density foam layer that puts more padding where it’s most needed and less where it isn’t, and there is also additional ‘viscous padding’ under the delicate ishial and perineum areas. Long 18cm zips at the ankles help when putting them on and a similarly sized strip of reflective material by the zips aids low-light visibility.
The Ride
Putting the Sorpasso RoS Wind Bibtight on feels a little like donning a suit of armour, there is a distinctly burly, impregnable feel to them that dares the weather gods to do their worst. I’m usually a size large in Castelli shorts, but the less forgiving nature of the Infinium Windstopper panels necessitated an ego-crushing size XL to feel comfortable. However, the panelled design and articulated knees allowed a reasonable range of motion. Paired with a good pair of winter boots and a warm jacket, you could take on just about any cold weather.
At 186cm tall, even the XL size left the bib tights slightly short of my ankle bone - not too much of an issue if you wear them with long overshoes, but they didn’t quite meet the top of my NorthWave winter boots, leaving a gap for cold air or even colder water to penetrate. I’ve not had this issue before with Castelli bib tights, but I think that with the less flexible Windstopper thigh panels, I felt the need to pull them up a bit more to reduce drag on my knees through the pedal stroke, hence leaving them a bit short at the bottom.
I have used Castelli's Progetto X2 Air Seamless seat pad in a number of shorts and tights and have never had an issue with it - a bit like saddles, pads can be a personal thing, but the Progetto is a very good option for most riders. The only negative is that the burly fabric of the tights doesn't allow the pad to, erm, cup things quite as well as stretchy Lycra does, so there was a little bit of on-the-go rearranging necessary occasionally, especially after a spell out of the saddle. Possibly less of an issue in the frigid temperatures that these tights were designed for...
As you’d imagine, out on the road the Sorpassos were very cosy, with a ‘battened down’ feel and a sense that you no longer needed to trouble yourself with the latest weather forecast - whatever it said, you were well prepared.
There was a slight but perceptible amount of drag around the knee when pedalling; although the articulation helped, it couldn’t entirely mask the lack of stretch in the Infinium fabric, but this is not a piece of clothing for racing or high-intensity efforts, rather for base miles and unavoidable rides in cold and/or wet conditions. As such, I think that the trade-off between protection and flexibility is very fair.
The decision to use Nano Flex on the shin area rather than a more water-resistant material is an interesting one. This is one of the most vulnerable areas when riding in inclement weather - road spray can very quickly soak the feet and lower leg, even when it’s not raining, and despite Nano Flex’s many excellent properties, it is not waterproof. I imagine that the designers couldn’t use Infinium all the way down the leg due to its lack of stretch, and so chose to use it to protect the big muscles of the thigh and the exposed knee instead. Personally, I think that maybe Infinium on the shin and thigh with Nano Flex (or even a double layer of Nano Flex) around the knee might have been a better solution for the damp roads of the UK.
Value and conclusion
If you want one of the warmest, most protective bib tights available, then look no further than the Castelli Sorpasso Wind Bibtight. Very few other tights provide the same level of weather protection and although £240 is a fair chunk of cash for bib tights, it is commensurate with (or less than) the price of its competitors. The combination of warmth, windproofing and Castelli’s premium seat pad makes these an ideal choice for epic rides in winter conditions, just check that the sizing and fit works for you.
