I’ve never owned high end bibs, but the regular Black Bibs have served me well for my purposes, and are 1000x better than the Pearl Izumi shorts I bought at a similar price. I have had them for about a year and haven’t had any durability issues. The chamois definitely isn’t the best in the biz, but for my particular undercarriage it’s totally fine (the first ride it definitely sucks, but breaks in after a couple rides and feels much better). That said, clearly Starlight Apparel saw the need to offer a better chamois, and now do so with their Ultimate line. I’ve got the Ultimate Adventure bibs in the mail now, which have the new chamois, so we’ll see how those are.
With cycling being such an expensive sport where there is so much d**k measuring around gear (which can be discouraging), I think the Black Bibs really do offer a great product for a particular segment of the market. But if you’re stocked up on and used to expensive bibs already, then yes, you may not like the Black Bibs.
I am impressed with the quality of the Black Bibs for the price. For my particular 46-year-old lady hiney, the chamois is too bulky and the waist is too high. I tend to prefer a thinner chamois. I also find the waistband restrictive where it is placed right over my abdomen as I breathe. Both of these things, however, are highly individual. I wont buy again, but I have zero complaints about the quality of build.
My one issue with my new Assos bibs is how low cut thr front of the bib is. The back of the bib is very similar in height to my BlackBibs but the front stops 2 or 3 inches below my belly button.
That’s no good for me. I really like them over the belly button a good way. The Endura Pro SL I have go high, are super comfy (there are no gaps or creases in the pad) & the materials are the best I’ve seen (which is not much). I bought 5 pairs of them because there is a new version that is sadly much lower.
Yes. This is one of the reasons I’ve mostly switched from Assos to Rapha Classic II. They come up over my gut. Also, for some odd reason my Assos itch in a particular spot right in the middle of my back.
Ordered some Bibs from here, i think send them via “Snail” mail over 6 weeks to arrive.
The price seems fair, but then you add the “postage” and then the custom charges and handling charges if you live outside the USA than what seemed like good value, become not so much.
If you live in the UK Le col - which i have found to be the best Bibs i have are a better value, if you use the Strava code which seems to always be available and factor in the “hidden” costs then these “cheap” bibs are not so cheap…
For what it’s worth, when I ordered these in Norway, the declared value was under the threshold for import duties. (This was last year, so it may be different now.)
And then i started doing longer rides.
I didn’t like them as much. They hurt. They got quite uncomfortable.
My friend laughed and said “i told you so, they suck” as he continued to show off in his Castelli gear while waiting for his Le Col gear to come in.
I ended up getting dhb classics (their mid level) and they’re still affordable but oh so much better.
I also got some Funky brand ones and love them too.
I have relegated the blackbibs to shorter rides (1hr or less) and mayyyybe on some easy going trainer rides…but for that purpose, even my super cheap Garneau cycling inner shorts can fill in for that duty.
This. I feel the exact same way.
I like them until Saturday morning.
I got a pair of black bibs few months ago. And they have been fine. No better or worse to what I already have.
BUT, on Saturday i had to ride outside and chose the black bibs, since they are new-ish.
After about 1hr…they were not really that comfortable.
So yes…i think 60 to 75 minutes is the max i would use them…
not horrible, but not great either.
My friend really likes them for his short trainer sessions but has not tried them for long rides. With the feedback I’ve seen I have not bought a pair yet, probably will get a cheaper pair from Pactimo for MTB rides since I’ve been thoroughly impressed with their Stratos and Raptor bibs
Yeah I agree with what others said about them not being great on longer rides but I also have a pretty resilient backside so that might be contributing. But I do really like them for XC MTB riding. The frequent out of the saddle bits make the sustained discomfort never really present and they are cheap enough that I don’t really mind if I slide out and scuff them up like I would if I crashed in some Rapha’s.
Life is too short to live with pain that could be solved by spending a few more dollars. I’d much rather skip an expensive dinner and buy a few nice pairs of bibs.
I have 3 pairs of The Black Bibs. One basic, one plus, and one thermal knickers. I like them well enough up to about two hours.
My one complaint, and maybe this is tmi or something but this seems like the place to share, is that I have a harder time making my very standard-sized privates any sort of discrete. Seems like no matter what I do, there’s some sort of clear and obvious anatomy going on. I’m fine with a bulge showing but not a big fan of when you can tell the exact shape of what’s underneath. I think it’s just a thinner fabric.
Haha I can agree with that. I think that part of the issue is that I sometimes find that the chamois is placed a little bit too far back. So that the majority of the padding is just behind where my butt touches the saddle and the from of the chamois ends just a little too low to cover what’s underneath.
