Pearl Izumi In-R-Cool bib short

The Pearl Izumi Elite In-R-Cool bib shorts are really well made with a decent-quality seat pad to keep you comfortable in the saddle.

That pad is deep enough, at 13mm, to provide a good level of protection, and channels down the centre help it to flex and breathe, although I could have done with a little more density to the padding underneath the sit-bones on long rides; I'm talking about three hours or so.

The shorts are well-shaped from multiple panels with the double needle seams looking like they'll stand up to all sorts of abuse. The main fabric is pretty rugged stuff and there are no signs of wear so far, not even in the seat section.

Rather than having a elastic leg gripper, these have a doubled-over cuff of the same fabric. It works fine... or, at least, it worked fine for me, with silicone print inside the hem helping to keep the legs from shimmying up over time. In terms of length, each leg is about 24cm. When stretched on, the size medium covered my quads almost completely rather than reaching halfway down like some.

The fabric features In-R-Cool Coldblack fabric technology, the idea being to reflect heat away from you rather than absorbing it. This is something that we're seeing on quite a lot of shorts these days. This sort of claim usually sets off my BS detector but it does actually work to keep you just a touch cooler when the sun is shining. If you really want to stay cool, though, wearing white clothing would make more of an impact.

The bib section and a couple of small panels on the hips are made from a highly breathable mesh and the shoulder straps are wide enough never to dig in.

You get quite a lot of reflective transfers that are all still in place several washes in, although Dave has a pair of these shorts from last year and they did start to peel over time. They always do.

Verdict

Well-made shorts for the hot weather with a decent mid-level seatpad.