Howies Leadout bibshorts

The Howies Leadout bibshorts are part of Howies' new technical cycling range; gear for riding, rather than just looking cool. And they're really pretty good - comfortable, impressively hard-wearing and sensibly priced.

There are a couple of similarly black jerseys in the range, the Slipstream short sleeve and Slipstream long sleeve, to complement the Leadout shorts. Continuing the all-black theme, the Leadout bibs eschew big logos and bright colours for a sober black look. All-black is a fairly standard colour for bibs, however, so it's not that radical here.

Construction

The Leadout bib shorts are made with a 'seamless circular knit technology'; seemingly (sorry) a technology that exists primarily in the marketing sphere, as there are still seams here. Not nearly as many as most bibs, it is true, but seams nevertheless. Those seams are flatlocked, so at least they're pretty unobtrusive. The fabric is matt rather than shiny, which I think looks good here.

The pad is a Professional CNB 90 from TMF in Italy, the same supplier used by Adidas and Chapeau in their bibs. It's a good'un. On the first test ride it felt a little on the wide side between the legs, but this didn't bother me again so I think it just needed to soften up. The pad is made of two different foam densities, varying between 4mm and 12mm thick, and has a particularly soft open-cell top layer which feels great against my fairly fussy undercarriage.

Comfortable and surprisingly crash-resistant

I had no noticeable discomfort in road rides of several hours in the Leadout bibs, but the toughest test was the recent Bristol Bikefest mountain bike enduro race. This was an eventful day by any standards, with more than my fair share of crashes and hot temperatures all race. On my final lap I found the bibs as comfortable as the first, even if the rest of me wasn't. Most impressively, they even survived a couple of heavy landings on rocks and dirt without tearing.

The fabric here is a little thicker than traditional Lycra and pretty stretchy, and this perhaps helps them shrug off things that would have left a gaping tear in other bibs. I'd expected them to feel a little warmer, something I noted in the short-sleeve Slipstream jersey, but they were fine.

The seamless weaving allows Howies to do without silicone grippers on the legs. The fabric is tighter for the bottom inch around your thighs which does a great job of holding them in place without grabbing leg hair (for those who don't shave). There is a subtle blue Howies logo at the bottom of the left leg.

At the top, between your shoulder blades, is a pocket for a race radio. You could probably fit your phone in there too, but it would be pretty hard to get it out during a ride, so for most people this is not a terribly useful feature.

Howies say they will soon be launching a women-specific version of this bib.

Conclusion

If you ride long miles, then there are two main things you need from your bibs: a good pad, and for that pad to stay in the right place. Both of these depend to some extent on the shape that you are; what works for one rider might not for another. Here, the the clever fabric engineering does an excellent job and these bibs fitted very well. They're stretchy enough that I suspect they would work for a fairly wide range of shapes too.

Add in a comfortable pad, an impressively rugged construction that shrugs off crashes that would ruin other lycra and an eminently fair price and you've got a real winner.

Verdict

Comfortable and impressively tough bib shorts at a good price.