Chinese or better vfm bibshorts - for turbo use. Recommendations please

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Thankyou ! I was heading for 50 miles, but got home to see 57 odd on my screen. So did a small loop to get to the metric century. Strangely - energy level was ‘ok’, my butt was ok, but my back was starting to ache. Which I didn’t expect. But all good considering I’m upping from 2 and a bit to nearly 4 hours riding: with a couple of very short photo stops.

And I can definitely tell the difference in the Bib shorts. Old (First pair; to see how I liked them) ones were cheap by FDX. These are a step up. And I survived rub / chafe free.

“CHEERS” to you too 🍺

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Good ride and good decision on the bibs! Having tried most major brands at many price points, you really would need to spend a heck of a lot more before you saw any real improvement on the Van Rysel.

 

[sevenfourate]

Good ride and good decision on the bibs! Having tried most major brands at many price points, you really would need to spend a heck of a lot more before you saw any real improvement on the Van Rysel.

Thankyou; again 🙏

And……That’s really good info to know !

I wouldn’t be averse to spending more. I’d be pretty disappointed if I dropped £100 for example and noticed no difference.

The other thing I must mention……is the sizing. Obviously I have no experience and just used their size guide on Decathlon. And I’m really happy with Bibs cut and fit 👌

 

[Animo]

Galibier have a discount code for their Pro 7 bibs this weekend as they have launched 2 new colours, which gets them just under 60 quid. Think they will be hard to beat at that price.

 

[Elybazza61]

Bibs ( and saddles ) are very much an individual thing, I tried quite a few but now have a few pairs of Rapha ones and some from a Cambridge company called TICC ;definitely more expensive than the Decathlon ones but I like to support a local company if possible.

Oh and definitely no underwear ! Again mostly use the Rapha cream as it's not greasy and has a pleasant smell to it.

 

[Dan Lotus]

Ykyw bibs from Ali Express, well made, good pad, wide straps, good value and sold in big numbers. You would pay twice as much for a UK sold equivalent.

I thought I should update this thread.

I was at my parents place in Spain recently, and they happen to have a Decathlon very close by, so popped into just to have a feel of their shorts.
They didn't have the top of the range ones in, but seemingly everything else below them.
Unscientific, but I had my progetto X2 equipped shorts over with me, so compared the squeeze test on the pads for kind of thickness and density, and unfortunately, for me, the Van Rysel pads didn't feel like they would provide enough support.

My brother was over as well, and he had some SYN (Another Aliexpress one) shorts, and the pads on those felt better.
I decided to go with the recommendation above, having heard that name mentioned previously, and due to a £7 voucher thing, managed to order two of their shorts - one was in theory about £20, the other £30, but in the end they clocked in at £43.

If people are interested I will post the specific links later.
I went for the EU Small size, and for me it's pretty much spot on - the compression around the legs, and strap length is perfect.
The fit for me, is just ever so slightly larger than Castelli - just beware and check the size you are ordering, as I think the Asia size is one up, so mine is an Asia Medium but EU Small.
I did the pad feel test, and was impressed with both - I've only worn then once each for two turbo sessions, and have been impressed with the comfort of both pairs. The cheaper pair has that slightly nastier (in my opinion) shiny material thing going on, but not a problem once on and it's only for the turbo, the pricier ones had slightly nicer material.
The straps are also lovely and wide.

My only negative, and I need to give them both another batch of rides before I decide whether to commit to more and if so which one, is that the pads feel a tiny bit large for me, and ideally they could be a bit further back, although in reality this caused me no issue on the turbo, so I suspect they are on the border, but wouldn't cause me any comfort issues.
Very impressed though for the money, really surprised and a country mile away from the chinese cheapies I tried several years back which were total junk in comparison.

 

[sevenfourate]

I thought I should update this thread.

I was at my parents place in Spain recently, and they happen to have a Decathlon very close by, so popped into just to have a feel of their shorts.
They didn't have the top of the range ones in, but seemingly everything else below them.
Unscientific, but I had my progetto X2 equipped shorts over with me, so compared the squeeze test on the pads for kind of thickness and density, and unfortunately, for me, the Van Rysel pads didn't feel like they would provide enough support.

My brother was over as well, and he had some SYN (Another Aliexpress one) shorts, and the pads on those felt better.
I decided to go with the recommendation above, having heard that name mentioned previously, and due to a £7 voucher thing, managed to order two of their shorts - one was in theory about £20, the other £30, but in the end they clocked in at £43.

If people are interested I will post the specific links later.
I went for the EU Small size, and for me it's pretty much spot on - the compression around the legs, and strap length is perfect.
The fit for me, is just ever so slightly larger than Castelli - just beware and check the size you are ordering, as I think the Asia size is one up, so mine is an Asia Medium but EU Small.
I did the pad feel test, and was impressed with both - I've only worn then once each for two turbo sessions, and have been impressed with the comfort of both pairs. The cheaper pair has that slightly nastier (in my opinion) shiny material thing going on, but not a problem once on and it's only for the turbo, the pricier ones had slightly nicer material.
The straps are also lovely and wide.

My only negative, and I need to give them both another batch of rides before I decide whether to commit to more and if so which one, is that the pads feel a tiny bit large for me, and ideally they could be a bit further back, although in reality this caused me no issue on the turbo, so I suspect they are on the border, but wouldn't cause me any comfort issues.
Very impressed though for the money, really surprised and a country mile away from the chinese cheapies I tried several years back which were total junk in comparison.

I’d be interested in direct links to actual / exact model bought by you please 🙏

 

[Dan Lotus]

I’d be interested in direct links to actual / exact model bought by you please 🙏

Sure thing.

These are the super cheap ones: Cheapies

And these are the slightly pricier ones: Bit pricier
I went for black EU Small in both.
I effectively searched based on that brand, then looked for ones with decent looking ratings, then drilled down in to some of the actual reviews to see if they seemed genuine or not - seemed to work.

As things stand I am more impressed for the money with the cheaper ones, but need to give them another wear each before making a proper decision.

 

[sevenfourate]

Sure thing.

These are the super cheap ones: Cheapies

And these are the slightly pricier ones: Bit pricier
I went for black EU Small in both.
I effectively searched based on that brand, then looked for ones with decent looking ratings, then drilled down in to some of the actual reviews to see if they seemed genuine or not - seemed to work.

As things stand I am more impressed for the money with the cheaper ones, but need to give them another wear each before making a proper decision.

80cm / 31.5” waist on the XXXL 😳

Gimme 2 or 3 years; or a coupe of decent back-to-back bouts of dysentery; and I’ll let you know how I go……



**😁😁😁😁 Thanks very much Dan.

 

[Dan Lotus]

80cm / 31.5” waist on the XXXL 😳

Gimme 2 or 3 years; or a coupe of decent back-to-back bouts of dysentery; and I’ll let you know how I go……



**😁😁😁😁 Thanks very much Dan.

To be fair, I have a ~33" waist and am currently ~72kg, and have zero issues getting into the EU Small shorts.
I suspect that is perhaps the unstretched measurement perhaps.
Theoretically the waist on my shorts would be 25"
But it's perfectly happy with 33% bigger than that.
I think I based my size choice off of the reviews, where people mentioned their weight, build etc, and what size they went for.
I also know that traditionally I need to go for a size smaller than might be the obvious, due to my shorter than average torso.

I wonder if you are meant to take those measurements, and compare them to existing garments, but unstretched.
I'm going to go and measure a pair of these now and see if they are approx 25"
EDIT: the unstretched waistline (A bit vague I appreciate but went with their diagram) on my Asia mediums, EU Small, is more like 27".
So about 6" of give needed for me, but there is more there to be fair.
Strange their measurements are SO far out, pleased I didn't look at them now, who knows what I would have ended up with 😱

 

[sevenfourate]

To be fair, I have a ~33" waist and am currently ~72kg, and have zero issues getting into the EU Small shorts.
I suspect that is perhaps the unstretched measurement perhaps.
Theoretically the waist on my shorts would be 25"
But it's perfectly happy with 33% bigger than that.
I think I based my size choice off of the reviews, where people mentioned their weight, build etc, and what size they went for.
I also know that traditionally I need to go for a size smaller than might be the obvious, due to my shorter than average torso.

I wonder if you are meant to take those measurements, and compare them to existing garments, but unstretched.
I'm going to go and measure a pair of these now and see if they are approx 25"
EDIT: the unstretched waistline (A bit vague I appreciate but went with their diagram) on my Asia mediums, EU Small, is more like 27".
So about 6" of give needed for me, but there is more there to be fair.
Strange their measurements are SO far out, pleased I didn't look at them now, who knows what I would have ended up with 😱

Hey Dan. I was far-far from being a twot. But your thoughts on size are appreciated.

But to recap; If I measure my current slightly stretched - but were small to start with items, ignore the shown AE sizes; but instead add 33% to the measurements shown, until I come up with a number to suit a waist I don’t know……it should be about right ? 😂

*****Got some new and worn once Van Rysel’s that fit a treat. I’ll measure those in the unstretched state and compare to the AliExpress items. I’m gonna go for it that money !

Seriously. Thanks. I’m on it…… 😉

 

[Dan Lotus]

You're very welcome, let me know how you get on and what you make of them!
Just remember my shorts look to be more like 27" as opposed to the 25" they state, so maybe that carries on across the other sizes, but it's a guess on my part.

It's free returns I think as well, so you could potentially order 2 or more sizes if you want to maximise your chances of getting one that fits.

I just took a punt on EU Small, as I was fairly confident, and got lucky :-)