MAAP Team Bib Evo

The new Team Bib Evo from Australian brand MAAP are very much the pinnacle of how a pair of shorts should feel and perform. The fabric delivers excellent levels of stretch and movement with equal amounts of compression which give a cosseting experience, while the 3D pad is sublime. All of this comes at quite a price, though.

On its website, MAAP doesn't disclose the name of the fabric it's used for the main shorts section of the Team Evo, just saying that it is engineered for optimal stretch, recovery and shape retention, and that it has a composition of 80% polyamide and 20% elastane.

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It also has Bluesign certification, like many other of MAAP's products. Bluesign ensures that goods are made from materials produced only using chemicals and processes that are safe for people and the environment. Air and water emissions from the manufacturing processes are also entirely clean.

The fabric has a DWR (durable water repellent) coating, but while road spray and drizzle do bead off, it doesn't fare that well against anything harder. To be fair, if it's warm enough to wear shorts then getting wet isn't really an issue in my book.

Performance-wise, I really can't fault it. It has a compressive quality, which you can feel when putting the shorts on – I basically had to inch them up my thighs.

Once in place it feels like they come up small, especially compared to others in the range, such as the Team Thermal bib tights I reviewed back in November. Once fully on, though, and in position on the bike, I found the sizing and shape to work really well.

They deliver the close fit you want to stop any unwanted bunching of the fabric, along with support for your muscles from the stretchy and compressive material.

Length in the legs and the upper body was absolutely fine, and when stretched out onto the hoods or drops, the width of the straps spreads the load, reducing pressure points.

The multi-panel design keeps seams away from where they could cause irritation and also creates a pair of shorts that just move perfectly with you while you're riding, whether in or out of the saddle.

Wide, elasticated grippers with a silicone imprint at the hem keeps the legs in place, and just like the straps, do away with any pressure points.

The pad is made exclusively for MAAP by Elastic Interface, a brand favoured by many of the top clothing manufacturers.

Its shape is created by thermoforming – adding heat to the material before moulding it to create its final shape – and you are left with a pad of varying depths of foam. The thicker sections are designed to lie beneath the sit bones, while the rest is much thinner, including at the front where it provides just a small amount of protection but the amount of material is kept to a minimum to avoid bunching.

The pad is very breathable, too, as is the main fabric used in the shorts and the mesh material used for the back section.

Overall quality is very high indeed; there is the odd stray thread end here and there, but generally all of the stitching is very neat and tidy. One place I always look out for wear and tear is the stitching around the pad – contact from the saddle can damage this quite quickly on some shorts, even after just a couple of rides – but no signs of that here.

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MAAP offers the Team Evos in a range of colours. This navy blue and the black option come with white or colour-coordinated straps and logos, and there is also an 'Olive Drab' (green) version – Emma tested the women's version.

Bringing value back into the equation puts the Tea Evos up against some tough opposition, but even at £190 they still put up a good fight against some of the best out there.

George rated the Castelli Premio Black bib shorts very highly, praising the fabric, the comfortable pad and the compression qualities. All things that the MAAPs share, but the Castellis are £220.

I recently tested the Rapha Classic bib shorts, which I liked a lot. They're a bit cheaper at £170, but the MAAPs have the edge over them in every respect.

I'd also say they perform slightly better than the Hydra Tech Pro Strada21 bib tights that Jamie recently tested, which cost £184.

Conclusion

Yes, they are a lot of money, but up against the opposition they perform very well indeed. If you want an excellent fitting pair of shorts with a top-notch pad and good breathable performance then you won't go far wrong with the Team Bib Evo.

Verdict

Absolute quality, from the performance of the fabric through to the comfort of the pad, if you don't mind paying for it