Roadie's Ramblings

The Endurance Bib Shorts by Castelli is a new addition to the Castelli family for 2010. And in my opinion, the greatest addition. Yes, the much-hyped Castelli Body Paint Bib Shorts are great, but I’d take the Endurance Bibs over them if I had to choose (and I’ve got both pairs). Let me explain.

Long distance chamois
Castelli isn’t known for making a super-comfy chamois. Well, not until they came out with the Progetto X2 chamois. The Progetto X2 uses a combination of soft-to-the-touch foam and won’t-squish-to-nothing gel. Gel?! Can you believe it?! Castelli put gel into a chamois! So you’ve got this supple layer of foam right next to your skin and then gel underneath that to match up with your sit bones and the saddle. It’s a beautiful thing. So here’s the best part: Castelli thinks this pad is so top-notch (as do I) that they put it in their most high-end, high-dollar bibs; The Castelli Body Paint. The price tag on the Body Paint Bibs is $249.99, and the price tag on the Endurance Bibs is $179.99 — that’s a difference I can appreciate.

Castelli Progetto X2 Chamois

Compressive fabric
The ‘shorts’ section of the bibs are made of a micro fabric called Action. When you get past the lame name, the fabric is definitely more compressive than your average Lyrca, and it does give off a sense of everything being secure when you’ve got them on. I guess that’s what compressive fabrics do. And why is that good? The Compression of the shorts increases the blood flow in your thighs, which translates to getting more oxygen to your muscles. More oxygen to your muscles means less fatigue and more power output. Since compressive fabric can sometimes be a bit restrictive, Castelli added a long rectangular panel of highly-stretchable fabric to each leg from the cuff to the bib straps. Believe it or not, this small panel does make a difference. When putting on the bibs, I’ve actually watched the stretch come from that side panel.

Compressive Fabric with Stretch Panel

Leg grippers without silicon
I’m not THAT picky when it comes to leg gripper style as long as my shorts don’t end up half way up my thigh. The gripper technology Castelli is using in a lot of their shorts, as in the Endurance Bib, is a thin Lycra material that when stretched has tacky little fibers that become exposed and grip on to your skin. And I should mention that having shaved legs does increase the tackiness of the grippers — leg hair doesn’t allow them to hold quite as well. Overall the leg grippers are comfortable and do their job; exactly what you want out of leg gripper. Castelli calls this is the Giro++ leg gripper.

Castelli Giro++ Leg Gripper

Quick comparison to other similarly-priced bib shorts
Giordana Tenax Laser Bib Shorts ($179.99) – The Laser Bibs have a comfortable chamois, but if you want to compare Giordana’s most comfortable chamois to Castelli’s, you’ll have to jump up to the Forma Red Carbon Bib Shorts ($249.99) to get one with gel inserts. The Endurance Bibs have gel at the same price as the Laser Bib Shorts. 1 point Endurance Bibs.

Descente Helios Bib Shorts ($169.99) – Although the Helios Bib Shorts don’t have a chamois with gel inserts, it does have their top-of-the-line Infinity open-cell foam insert, which is a truly a great chamois. Another upside to the Helios is the price: 10 bucks cheaper than the Endurance. The downside is the usage of overly-stretchable fabric and elastic-bound leg grippers. Any Lyrca that is sublimated (different colors printed on white Lyrca), as is the Helios, tend to be of lower quality. Lower quality, less compressive Lyrca doesn’t get any points in my book. And the raw elastic leg gripper? Okay, a lot of companies use it, but it’s not a style that I find very comfortable.

Gore Bike Wear Xenon Bib Shorts ($179.99) – Same price as the Endurance Bibs. Two things that don’t impress me about the Xenon Bibs: 1)they have a raw elastic band as a leg gripper 2)second-tier chamois from Gore Bike Wear. However, the bib strap design and fabric used throughout the shorts is really solid; compressive and comfortable. Would I buy the Xenon Bibs? Absolutely, but only if the Endurance bibs didn’t exist.

Louis Garneau Carbon Ion H-Flexx Bib Shorts ($179.99) – Take the chamois out of the equation, the shorts are extremely comfortable. The fabric used in the shorts is sort of a woven fabric that has great compressive properties and has a soft supple feel that Lyrca can’t match. The AirGel chamois in the Carbon Ion Bibs is their top-of-the-line pad WITH gel inserts. That’s great, except the foam padding used is paper thin. Gel is good, lack of foam padding isn’t.

Castelli Endurance Bib Shorts

There’s part of me that is still surprised Castelli decided to make such a solid all-around bib for $179.99. The price puts it in the high-end bib category, but not the top of the top. The features of the Endurance bib do put it right next to the top-tier bibs on the market, if not above them. For the money, it’s the best bib short on the market.

Check ‘em out at Indie Bike: Castelli Endurance Bib Shorts product page.