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Bib buying woes

bawbag

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Mar 20, 2013
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Fancy finally going "full cyclist" and getting some bibs. Twas only two years ago I muttered to my wife something along the lines of "If you ever see me in lycra, please either stab or divorce me. Or both." Hey ho, times change and here I am, ready for the blade or the writ.

Went to Y's Road to see how the sizing goes and it's a proper nightmare. It seems my body shape is something akin to a drainpipe, so the few shorts I actually liked didn't fit. I was told I'm a "Euro" body shape and that a lot of brands would be unsuitable, save for Assos and a few other brands whose price tags made my eyes bleed.

I got in touch with Wiggle, and one of their customer service guys recommended a small in the new DHB kit on the grounds that he's 6'4" and wears the medium, and as I'm the same build, albeit shorter and thinner, the small would be fine.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-asv-bib-shorts/

Being 6'00" /183cm, the idea of a small makes me raise an eyebrow somewhat, but the other numbers suit me much better than the medium so maybe I'm just being paranoid about being snapped in half by the straps. I'm just under a 32" waist, 35" chest, narrow hips and weighing 68/69kg My thighs also correspond with the small sizing on the product page. I've heard DHB are both vanity sized and undersized, so to be honest I'm not sure about the height issue.

Any advice from those who know the brand?
 
Go Rapha. You won't regret it (your bank manager might though).
If you do go with wiggle, I'd say either a medium or small. I have a few pairs of medium dhb bibs and they fit fine. I'm 6ft2 and weigh in around 69-70 kg with a 30-31inch (ish) waist.
 
Go Rapha. You won't regret it (your bank manager might though).
If you do go with wiggle, I'd say either a medium or small. I have a few pairs of medium dhb bibs and they fit fine. I'm 6ft2 and weigh in around 69-70 kg with a 30-31inch (ish) waist.
I would go Rapha, but as it's my first foray into the world of stretchy duds, I thought I'd choose a pair that's neither too ghetto nor too bling. Sadly all the ones in Y's Road gave me mad shellsuit vibes or pissed me off with their logos (hello Castelli with your cheese scorpion design).
 
I buy my kit from Chain Reactions - medium fits me fine - 182cm - 28 inch waist and 68/69kgs. Their own style full zip short sleeve shirt is good quality / price
 
I've got the dhb Aeron Pro bib shorts in medium. I'm 177 cm and 69 kg, and my thigh is 48 cm around (just measured). The medium works well for me, and would probably be fine for someone a bit taller too, while the small size could result in the shoulder straps feeling a little tight.

As far as quality goes I've no complaints.
 
dhb might be okay to try for a while--I do have one pair that seem to fit on the tight/snug side for the size. But they're clearly showing wear (they're winter tights, which I don't use that much).

I've tried assos and didn't like them at all.

Try Pearl Izumi 3D Neo, which you can certainly find and try on in shops here. They're easily worth the money, have a great pad, and wear like iron.
 
As a first foray go with DHB. They don't cost the earth, they don't fall apart, they don't scream at other riders, and Wiggle's returns policy is easy to deal with if you feel they aren't for you.

I am the same build as GranT and have the M size, too.

I have a few different brands including the cheesey scorpion and they all fit differently. Just because one brand fit as one size doesn't mean another will so a good and easy way to swap is the clincher for me. Dealing with exchanges in Japanese shops is a f%#nkin' nightmare in my experience.
 
Dhb used to be cheap now it is comparable to a lot of other brands. I have bought a few sets and pearl Izumi.
If you are going dhb you will be rewarded by getting the more expensive in the range as the pads are a lot better.
My pearl Izumi and cheaper dhb bibs never get worn due to the inferior pads= chaffing.

187cm and I always have bought large.
 
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The top two of the DHB range are good, you'll regret the cheaper ones.
Because elastic is .. well elastic, it stretches so Small, medium and large will all fit you.
Do you want it stretched tight, just right or loose?
I'd go for the M.
Assos, great pad and comfort but have a wear problem at the back.... they just go see thru!
Castelli, nice but don't like their new ultra thin bibs traps.
Rapha.... seem to be worn by riders more interested in other men's bib shorts!
 
The 2012 TCC kit was from dhb and I picked mine in S, which turned out to be too small (i.e. too tight for leg and arm diameter).

Last year (when we switched to Bicycle Line as the supplier) I went for M and was happy.

I'm 171 cm, 68 kg. The idea of S fitting someone much taller than me when it doesn't fit me has me scratching my head. I think you'd be safer with M.
 
As always, great advice. Just checked some pictures of the 3D neo and they look rather tasteful compared with the ones I saw in Y's Road. Those must have been the top-line ones as they were about 20,000 yen as I recall.

I wonder why the Wiggle guy told me to go with a small then? He said the ones I linked above supercede the Aeron Pro as the top-of-the-line model so perhaps the material is in some way different and stretchier. Medium sounds like a much safer bet.
 
To throw yet more info your way, I'm 179cm, 68kg and have bought both M and S DHB bibs (the Aeron ones, I believe, as well as a pair of roubaix bib tights). Either size is fine but I find the Ms to be a bit loose around the arse. I wear S in Rapha classic and lightweight bibs.

If you're buying online I'd recommend getting both S and M and returning whichever one doesn't fit. Knowing that you definitely picked the right size is worth paying the extra in return postage, in my opinion.
 
To throw yet more info your way, I'm 179cm, 68kg and have bought both M and S DHB bibs (the Aeron ones, I believe, as well as a pair of roubaix bib tights). Either size is fine but I find the Ms to be a bit loose around the arse. I wear S in Rapha classic and lightweight bibs.

If you're buying online I'd recommend getting both S and M and returning whichever one doesn't fit. Knowing that you definitely picked the right size is worth paying the extra in return postage, in my opinion.
Are the lengths in the legs similar between the S and M sizes? According to the spec it's a 1cm difference, but 1cm of lycra probably equates to about an inch of stretch.
Nice idea on the return front, thanks.
 
@bawbag 1cm sounds about right. 1 inch of extra leg flesh on display isn't a problem with cycling shorts: you're not going to 'pop out' mid ride as you might do with ultra-short running shorts.
 
OOOOF cheeky barstewards at Wiggle.
Was just checking out when I got a popup warning saying the prices of the items in my basket had changed. Everything just went up in price by 15%, totally negating the voucher.
 
Don7t worry wiggle has sales on DHB all the time, you just have to wait a bit, and well, you have waited this long!
 
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