Pactimo Women’s Summit Classic Bibs

The Pactimo Women's Summit Classic Bib Shorts are ideal for spending long hours in the saddle thanks to a supremely comfortable pad and the supersoft fabric that gently hugs your thighs. Although expensive, they are still cheaper than quite a few rivals.

The drop-down comfort break design is a useful touch when you're out on the open road for long periods, but there's not quite enough stretch in the upper for it to work with all body shapes.

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Pactimo has used a single, flat-sheen, double-knit fabric – 46% nylon, 38% polyester, 16% spandex – for the main body of the shorts. It's a super soft, supple material that feels incredibly comfy against the skin across long days in the saddle with its gentle compression. The overall fit and feel across the thighs and hip is spot on, and there are no transparency issues at the rear.

Up top, the upper strap construction revolves around Pactimo's Clip&Pit system, which is designed to allow female rides to pee without removing layers up top; the chest strap can be unclipped and then the shorts pulled down for speedy and easy comfort breaks.

However, a different blend – 50% polyester, 35% nylon, 15% spandex – is used here, and there is not enough stretch in the strap construction to enable me to pull down and pee. To put it bluntly, I couldn't use this feature of the shorts at all, which was a shame – this system could certainly be improved to better accommodate riders with longer torsos.

The straps themselves are very comfortable as well as suitably supportive. They're wide, have raw cut edges and lie flat neatly for a flush finish. This thin fabric takes a little longer to arrange perfectly, but once in place the pressure is evenly distributed over the tops of the shoulders.

There's also a raw cut finish at the front, just below the tummy. However I didn't find this very comfortable in this location – the edge is quite sharp and it dug uncomfortably into my tummy when not wearing a baselayer.

The Endurance Anatomic Super Air chamois has been designed with Elastic Interface and promises comfort across 12 hours of riding as well as varied terrain.

It works exceptionally well in all circumstances. There's very good support when leaning into a more aggressive riding position and tucked down in the drops for intense efforts. Even after five solid hours in the saddle I had no issues with soreness or rubbing.

While these shorts are very much suited to long days in the saddle, they also cope with sweat well and are quite breathable. They wouldn't be my go-to on the hottest summer rides, but if you're ramping up the pace on a climb or packing in some intervals these perform pretty well.

The raw cut legs provide just the perfect amount of support, with absolutely no bulging or digging in. There's also 5cm-wide silicone gripper tucked inside, which effectively ensures the leg ends don't ride up. Some faint marks remain after a ride, but there was no irritation at all when riding.

A reflective strip has been included at the rear of each leg for some added visibility in low light condition. The stitching could be a little neater at the leg ends, though – I had a few loose threads.

At £165, the Summit bibs are at the premium end of the market, though they cost just a little less than the extremely breathable Velocio Ultralights (£168). The pad on these is on a par with the Summits, but the Ultralights have an effective easy pee design with much stretchier straps which better accommodate all body shapes.

The Summits are also cheaper than the Le Col Hors Categorie Bib Shorts II at £180; the material is thinner, softer and even more luxurious, but in testing I had issues with premature wearing.

More expensive again are Gore Wear's very comfy and supportive C7 Women's Bib Shorts which have gone up to £199.99 since Emma tested them.

You can certainly get good quality bib shorts for a lot less too, though. The Iris Signature Bib Shorts II are £119, for example.

> Read more road.cc reviews of women’s cycling kit here

Overall, I really like these shorts for long rides. The pad is very supportive and the super soft material is cosy and comfortable across endurance efforts. They could just do with a little more stretch in the upper construction for a comfort break design that works for more riders.

Verdict

Extremely comfortable endurance shorts made from a supersoft fabric, but the upper construction could be improved