Spiro Men’s Bikewear Crosslite Gilet

Review by Colin Dennis

Often misunderstood, a good quality Gilet should be an essential item in your cycling armoury – a bit like this one, really.

Is the weather with you a little too warm for a jacket, or is it a bit too cool for just a single layer? The answer my friend, isn’t just blowing in the wind, I think you’ll find the answer in a Gilet. 

Ok, so Bob Dylan didn’t write that song with those lyrics, but if he was a cyclist he would probably have seen the sense in wearing a Gilet; it’s the perfect garment for when you can’t make your mind up.

Spiro’s take on the classic Gilet is that you get plenty of wind protection up front balanced out by a stretchy mesh back that lets the stream out when you warm up.

Wind is the real enemy when cycling, anyone will tell you that, and protecting your chest and lungs is paramount on chilly morning or evening rides. If you can protect the vital core areas, such as the chest without overheating, then you’re off to a flying start.

On the collar tab of Spiro’s Bikewear Crosslite Gilet garment there is a lovely little tag-line that says ‘Breathe to perform’ I like that, it says a lot without sounding to pretentious. Here it means that your Gilet is going to allow any superfluous heat to escape via the mesh backing, while affording your core body area a great deal of wind protection. 

Its worthwhile noting that wind often translates into even colder temperatures. Finding the balance between keeping warm, but not overheating is always a fickle thing; a good quality Gilet is often a huge step in the right direction though. Well, that’s my take on things!

The reflective markings on the Crosslite Gilet are plentiful without making you look like a school crossing lollypop person. The colour is a subtle shade of high visibility yellowish green that kind of works for me. It’s certainly bright enough to be classed as safety wear, but it also works as a regular biking item any time of the day or year without making me look jaundiced. 

Neat little touches like the zip garage at the neckline keeps things nice and tidily out of the way and the collar sits reasonably high when zipped right up, I like this; it helps keep my scrawny neck just that little bit more protected from the chill. There's a nice long drop on to the tail too, just right for keeping your bum warm and dry.

Elasticated hems around the arm pits are a godsend, any garment that’s too tight, or pulls around the pits, needs consigning to the car boot sale box. Spiro design boffins clearly ride bikes and know what works and what doesn’t – a lot like Bob Dylan and his lyrics, I guess!

Spiro Men’s Active Bike Gloves

Review by Colin Dennis

Soft and durable lightweight cycling gloves that fit the bill like, well ... a glove!

A good pair of cycling gloves has a number of criteria to fit, not at least they must help absorb road shock and vibration and soak up moisture from sweaty palms so your hands remain safely attached to the handlebars.

Cycling gloves must also be snug fitting without cutting off the blood supply to your digits. If they are too big and baggy for your hands, the fabric that makes up the area around the palms will bunch up and crease to create an ineffective and uncomfortable grip with the handlebars.

On a more personal note, I find that if there’s too much padding on the palms, I find myself detached from any feedback from the handlebars; sometimes there can be an uncomfortable lack of security to a glove that has too much padding. Shock absorption is one thing, lack of security and control is an important safety issue. A rider should always feel in control of the handlebars and therefore, the bike.

Spiro’s bike gloves certainly allow you to feel in control of the bike with plenty of feedback from the road without too much vibration. The medium sizing was a little too roomy for my slim fingers; a small size might have fitted better. But saying that, there was very little bunching or creasing in the palms and my grip on the handlebars was always secure.

I really liked the neat little feature of the pull-tab on the middle fingers. This little trick saves all the hassle of getting your fingers in a twist when pulling the gloves of – especially if they’re a tight fitting glove.

The lightweight mesh backing allowed my hands to breathe in the warm September sunshine while providing just enough warmth during early morning commutes to work. The Velcro adjuster at the wrist is superb, this little number is often overlooked by other manufacturers looking to save weight and costs, but here, Spiro have got it just right: security and adjustment mingles perfectly with comfort.

Points of contact with your bike should never be overlooked or undersold, where your body comes into contact with your bike, never scrimp on the kit that protects your body. Shorts, shoes and glove all fall into that category.

You could do a lot worse than start with Spiro’s excellent Cycle Gloves

Spiro Men’s Full Zip Performance Bike Top

Review by Colin Dennis

Fully featured cycle top that’s safety minded and oh-so comfy to wear

You’ve got to take your hat (or should that be helmet?) off to some sports clothing companies. Here we are in the middle of the biggest explosion in British Cycling since the Victorian era where many fancy cycle tops cost well over a hundred quid, yet offer little more than a very expensive badge for the privilege. Then up-step, Spiro Clothing with their well thought out and immensely popular Men’s Full Zip Performance Bike Top.

So what’s so special about the Spiro Men’s Full Zip Bike Top?

Well, firstly it’s got all the right ingredients to keep today’s savvy cyclist happy and comfortable with enough money left over to buy your mid-ride coffee and cake – that should cover it, then. 

Most short sleeve cycle tops only come with a quarter-length zip opening; nothing wrong with this, of course, but if the weather’s really warm and you need to vent off as much as possible, it can be a little bit limiting as to just how much you can cool down – especially when climbing.

Spiro’s Full Zip Performance Bike Top (the name gives the game away) offers riders the flexibility of being able to fully vent, and show off your chiselled chest at the same time. Ok, so most of us won’t want to scare the public, but you get the idea, having the added flexibility to cool down or warm up is a great advantage on a bike.

Our test top came in a medium size, this proved to be ample, not too tight to feel restrictive, but on the same note, it’s not flapping around and slowing you down like a sail in the wind. With more panels than the X-Factor series, the fit is always going to be comfy; the more panels there are, the more the top will contour to your body – no matter what shape you are.

On the safety side, the Lime Green colour certainly stands out on a busy commuter road while the reflective side piping will come in handy now that the evenings are drawing in. I like these reflective elements to the top, it means that you’re not relying in some reflective sticker to peel off; the piping is very neatly built into the stitching of the top. There’s also a small reflective series of bars and Spiro logo on the front and lower back to back-up the full length piping.

Load carrying is taken care of by the obligatory three rear pockets, one of which is zipped for securing the family jewels or car keys and cash. I loaded up the pockets with my usual bunch of tools, tubes and energy bars and found that the pockets were just big enough to secure them tidily; any smaller and I think I’d be pushed to cram it all in. Then again, I do tend to carry too much stuff – better safe than sorry, I always say.

The Polyester fabric construction is on the whole of excellent quality, the stitching is certainly tough enough to withstand the repeated washing that all cycle apparel must endure, while the elasticated hem is just strong enough to ensure the top retains its shape under all conditions.

Although not as light as some stupidly expensive and trendy cycle tops, Spiro’s Full Zip Top works hard at wicking away moisture to ensure body temperature is maintained at a comfortable working level. There’s always the full length zip to fall back on if it gets really warm, remember?

Overall I think that Spiro’s Full Zip Bike Top for men is perhaps one of the best value cycle tops out there. It’s fully featured with enough zips and reflective whistles and bells to keep your everyday commuter and weekend sportive rider happy as a pig in ... well, you know – Lycra!

Craft Active Bike Shorts Men’s

Review

Superb value cycling shorts for riders of all abilities, Craft’s Active Bike Shorts for men provide that all-important mix of: comfort, support and durability at a superb price. 

 

There is probably one item of cycle clothing that we will always be more familiar with any other: the ubiquitous Lycra cycle short. Much maligned by non-cyclists, the cycle short is the one true give-away sign of an ardent cyclist’s passion – if he’s wearing padded cycle shorts, he must be keen, yeah?

Well that is true, but there is an awful lot of cycle apparel out there that just doesn’t fit the mark, and probably the biggest crime is a pair of Lycra shorts that are simply too big for the wearer. If the shorts are too large they will not offer the support that men need around the groin – it’s that simple.

Cycle shorts are made from manmade fabrics like Polyester and Lycra so they will that stretch in every direction. Let me reiterate: cycle shorts need to be comfortably snug fitting to a man’s groin – baggy Lycra shorts just don’t work.

A good pair of cycle shorts such as Craft’s Active Bike Shorts will make all the difference to your cycling, no if’s or buts’; life without decent cycling shorts is going to be hell. 

So let’s look at something ‘heaven sent’.

Slipping on the Active Bike Shorts instantly makes you feel like a proper cyclist: I’m instantly aware that the snug fit is holding everything in place without me looking like a budgie smuggler strutting around on a beach. I’ve worn plenty of cycle shorts in my time, some good, some bad, and some down-right ugly but when something feels good, you know that it’s going to work.

Starting from the inside out of the Craft Active Bike Short, the padding is an engineering delight in its self. The pad is shaped just like my saddle, there is no wasted material here, and the padding sits on top of the saddle and protects you and supports you just where you need it most; this adds greatly to the level of comfort on offer too.

The padding thickness is graded and shaped to where the protection is most needed, cycle shorts have become big business and any sports clothing manufacture who ventures into the world of cycling needs to be aware that second-rate apparel will no longer be acceptable to today’s discerning rider.

 The Active Shorts have done quite a few miles now, and that means a great deal of rough and tumble in the washing machine (always wash your kit straight after riding) they look as good as new and the reflective Craft logo shows no signs of peeling off.

Length wise they sit somewhere around mid-length on my legs, fine for the warmer weather but I’ll soon be putting leggings on to keep the autumn chill at bay. Their lightweight construction ensures that they sit comfortably under my full-length leggings with no added bulk; I like that.

The real trick here though with Craft’s Active Bike Shorts is their eight panel construction; the more panels there are, the better the contour to your body and the more comfortable the fit. You don’t often see eight panel construction shorts at this sort of price-point, so big kudos to Craft.

The high waist band doesn’t feature an adjustable pull-cord but this isn’t a problem as they they’re such a snug and comfy fit anyhow. The seams are all flatlock construction and don’t cut into your leg. This is important especially around high pressure areas such as around the seat area of the shorts.

The silicone leg grippers are a pretty unobtrusive too, they work by keeping the hem secure to your legs but aren’t that noticeable – always a good sign on a long ride. There’s nothing worse than your kit rubbing you up (quite literally) the wrong way to spoil a good ride.

In a nut shell (excuse the pun) Craft’s Active Bike Shorts for men are terrific value for anyone’s money: supportive where they need to be, and comfortable enough for epic cycling journeys. Keep them clean, and the rewards for wearing a good quality pair of bike shorts go far beyond the family jewels.