CASTELLI Wet Gear – part 2.

By Richard Pestes – PezCyclingNews.com

PAVE BIBTIGHT
Living in Vancouver I’ve been looking for a bib tight suitable for my wet, rainy winters. So far the search has been fruitless unless I wanted to pull on a pair of waterproof rain pants over my tights. I’ll admit my ego would rather I got wet than be seen riding around in baggy rain pants. Then I caught sight of Castelli’s Pave Bibs and started bugging them for a review pair.

The Pave bib tights made from Castelli’s Nanoflex fabric are also available in a bib knicker.

On the bike, in the rain: water really does bead up and run off the Pave bibtight.

The Fit • These fit me great. I was initially concerned that the lack of seams construction would result in some goofy stretching, and bunching behind the knees and at the front of the hips, but honestly I never noticed any. Typical of Castelli’s fit on my corpo, these were snug all around, which I like, and the zippered ankles made for a flush fit over my socks and under (or over) my booties.

The mesh back adds support for the thin and lightweight shoulder straps, while helping to prevent getting too hot.

Construction • This bib is all about the Nanoflex material which repels water and keeps you warm across a huge variety of weather conditions and temperatures. There’s only one seam running up the back of the legs, which makes sense for a water repellent garment, since water treats seams like doors. The straps are their ‘Giro++’ , lightweight and thin, but still do the job keeping the bibs up. Even the logos are not sewn or embroidered – but in fact debossed to maintain the water-resistant integrity of the full garment.

The chamois is their KISS3 pad – the ‘pad’ part is made from one-piece of foam which is shaved to different thicknesses. This is a good chamois – I’ve found zero chaffing or irritation – even running sans cream.

Performance • My first test ride was on a day when it rained through the night and right up until I rolled out the door. Dark clouds surrounded me but in a strange twist of fate, not a drop of rain fell on me – until I was almost done and just 5 minutes from home. I could see rain falling just a few blocks away, so I bee-lined it and for once was thrilled to be pedaling in falling rain. Interestingly, I immediately noticed the colder temperature of the rain as it hit my legs, and initially I thought I was getting wet. No dice – back home a close inspection revealed no moisture had soaked through to my skin.

You can see the rivulets where the beaded water has run off the tights. The water repellency of the Nanoflex material is impressive.

I also had the chance to test the Super Nano Glove and Pioggia 2 shoe-covers, so let’s check those in Castelli Wet Gear – part 3.

By Richard Pestes – PEZcycling.com

Go to PAVE BIBTIGHT product page, click here >>