27-03-21
Santini is well known in the cycling world for road cycling performance wear, which I have been wearing for the last two years and love, but they have been a little late to the ‘gravel party’. Thankfully in mid 2020 I was contacted by Santini to try out their new ‘Gravel Bib-Shorts’. I have been riding in them for six months now and I love them!
I haven’t worn a lot of different cycling clothing brands, but had to explain them to my mate Heath (IG @southernhoax), which went a little something like this…
"...first bibs I’ve used were low end Specialized bibs and was only riding road and shorter rides. They were alright, but felt they shifted and were never quite right. The next bibs I tried were mid range POC bibs. Loved them. Not a thick pad, but felt pretty good, even on long rides over 100km. Then I bought the Santini Redux bibs because Jack Thompson was using them on his epic long rides and they’re made for long days in the saddle, top of the line, they must be sweet! Comfortable they were, but wearing a size small, the pad felt a bit bulky for me. But, these Gravel bibs! They are a tighter fit (the lightweight compression), but personally I like that because the pad doesn't shift.”
Overall, the Santini Gravel Bib Shorts are a great fit, the lightweight compression keeps them in place and the GITevo pad doesn’t shift. Oh, and they have pockets! That’s right, extra pockets! Always handy on a huge road ride, an epic gravel adventure day, or a bike packing trip. There are mesh pockets on both legs, and two mesh pockets at the small of the back. I have used the back pockets to carry emergency gels, but most recently used them to hold a battery pack to charge my Bluetooth headphones while riding on my solo 215km ride from the Mornington Peninsula to Ballarat. I didn’t have to miss a beat.
In conclusion, I can’t get enough of my Santini Gravel Bib Shorts. I highly recommend them, and hope that Santini are working on more items to have in the gravel column.
Author: Richard Stubbins
