Unless you have a cast iron backside, a set of the best cycling shorts is the most important piece of cycling clothing you can buy. They can make the difference between a dream ride and a truly miserable experience, though making sure you have the best road bike saddle is also a big part of the puzzle.
Over the last year we here in the Tech team have been collectively testing a veritable mountain of cycling shorts in a bid to sort the wheat from the chaff. Each of us has been in charge of a particular segment, testing numerous shorts back to back. For my sins I have been in charge of thermal shorts and cargo bib shorts, meaning lots of cold, wet, and gravelly excursions. My colleagues Tom and Josh have been interrogating standard all purpose bib shorts and budget options respectively.
There's more to a truly great pair of cycling shorts though. You need a comfortable chamois pad for sure, but you also need a great fit to keep it in place. You need straps that won't cut into your shoulders, but are firm enough to keep everything from falling down. You need fuss-free stitching that won't dig into your legs, and you need leg grippers that mean the shorts won't ride up, but not so aggressive that they themselves become uncomfortable. It's a hard line to tread, and that's before you factor in the fact that they have to be durable enough to stand up to repeated wash cycles and not be so prohibitively expensive you can't afford them anyway.
It must be said that, more than any other item of cycle clothing, cycle shorts are a personal choice. By that I mean that what works for one pair of sit bones may not work for others, and with that in mind we've not based our decisions solely on whether the chamois agrees with our lower anatomy. Without further ado, then, here are our winners.
The winners
Best overall
I found the premium bib shorts category of our bib shorts testing one of the more difficult tests I was tasked with over the last few months. Testing a range of, on paper, very good cycling shorts meant that margins were fine and no shorts could be discounted easily due to the generally high-performance bar.
Slowly, but surely the Pas Normal Mechanism bib shorts asserted themselves as my standout pair. The general fit is compressive and purposeful without being tight or restrictive. The bib straps themselves are wide and really comfortable, something which can be a deal breaker for me at times. Feeling ever so slightly tight when you stand but once you settle down on the bike they feel perfect.
Moving down, there is what Pas Normal call the 'ultralight foam chamois'. This really worked for me, and as I mentioned in the buyer's guide it isn't trying to re-write the rulebook. It's a standard-looking chamois to look at but didn't give me a second of trouble. The leg length isn't hyper-long and is in the ballpark for most other short lengths these days, finishing a few centimetres above the knee. The grippers on my size small pair of shorts were also perfect and didn't cause any issues or tightness.
The shorts come in nine colours, I tested the burgundy pair pictured above which washed well over several months and the printed PNS logo didn't budge. The shorts still look just as good after months of road and gravel riding.
Best value
With a RRP of £105 and regular discounts off that, the Castelli Velocissimo IV bib shorts manage to punch well above their price point. Fit and comfort will always be subjective, but I have found them to be more comfortable than pairs at more than double their price.
A clear indication that these are a pair of shorts I enjoy wearing is that even after putting a hole into the hip during a crash on a slippery springtime commute, I still wear them (the hole has been repaired) even though I have at least two-dozen other pairs to choose from.
Their fit is nicely compressive without being uncomfortably tight, the material is lightweight and fast-wicking but without being translucent, and the Kiss Air chamois is by far the best at this price point. The fact that I have 10 pairs of budget shorts available to me at the moment, and only these have entered my regular rotation (alongside pairs much higher in price) suggests they are in another league. They were crowned the best budget shorts in our buyers guide, and they win the value award for their top-tier performance at low-to-mid-tier price.
Best cargo
These are the bib shorts I reach for when I need a little extra capacity, which is every ride because I am always heavily laden with snacks. I actually ride carbo bibs almost exclusively, as I fail to see any downside to having some pockets that are basically invisible if you don't use them.
Anyway, that aside, why do I rate these cargo bibs over all the rest. Comfortable, yes, and also well made. The actual bibs themselves aren't worlds better than something like the Rapha Cargo Bibs in terms of fit and construction in reality, but it's the pockets that set these above the competition.
The whole point of cargo bibs is to be able to carry stuff. In general I find the lower back pockets on cargo bibs essentially useless unless I want to be a gravelleur and wear a T-shirt instead of a jersey. These Albion shorts do away with numerous small pockets, and swap in a mesh tube that sits lower on the back, basically just above your bum. Sounds like an odd thing to do, but it means that if you're wearing a jacket or an extra layer you can simply whip it off and stuff it into the mesh tube without any fuss. It's significantly easier than putting it into a jersey pocket, and can be done without stopping if you're comfortable enough without your hands on the bars, without having to faff about rolling things up.
Comfy, well made, but more importantly the best pockets of any cargo bib shorts, and that's the point of them after all.
Best thermal
Thermal shorts for me represent a more versatile setup for winter riding, when used with a set of the best leg warmers, than bib tights do. For high tempo riding in the winter I prefer the Rapha Pro Team Winter shorts, but for everything else I reach for the Chroma Merino Plus from Universal Colours.
Instead of the normal fleece backed 'roubaix' fabric that most are constructed of, these are backed by fluffy merino pile, in a similar way to some winter wetsuits. What I've found is that thanks to this they breathe a bit more effectively if the temperature rises, and keep their warmth better when drenched. They aren't so windproof, but being able to cope with a much more variable range of temperatures and levels of precipitation makes for a better value prospect, especially when they're likely a purchase that needs more justifying than your first pair.
Add into this a durable construction and an excellent fit and you're on for a winner, and better still they come in brown. Brown cycling shorts are cool and I won't be told otherwise.
