Sportful Giara bib shorts review

The Giara bibs take Sportful’s knowledge of road shorts and bring it to the world of gravel riding.

They’re designed to be comfortable and practical as well as robust. On the whole, the Giaras fit that brief very well, but we'd prefer to see pockets on gravel-specific shorts like this.

At the heart of the Giara shorts is the BodyFit Pro long-distance pad, developed in conjunction with pro cyclists. It features variable thickness padding that’s thickest around the sit bones, with decent padding in the undercarriage zone and thinner padding around the sides and front.

Sportful uses a robust yet truly lightweight Lycra for the legs and lower body. The idea here is to offer muscle relief for big days in the saddle while remaining durable enough to take the rigours of off-roading.

Smooth laser-cut leg bands prevent the shorts riding up and have reflective detailing on the rear to help drivers see you. The upper bib is a stretchy mesh fabric to keep you cool in hot weather.

Sportful Giara performance

The chamois is right on the money with padding where it’s needed most. The thinner edges and frontal area work well and ride almost unnoticed, even when you’re moving around more when riding off-road. The perforated top layer helps with moisture transfer so chafing wasn’t an issue during testing.

The overall fit is on the small side, so you might need to size up, but the leg length is ideal. The midweight Lycra offers ample support and provides a forgiving ride wherever you’re pedalling. Sportful’s mesh uppers do a great job of holding things in place without every getting overly sweaty.

Performance and durability are right up there for shorts this light, especially at this price. What I did miss as a pair of gravel bibs, though, was the lack of pockets.

Sportful Giara bottom line

These bibs ride well for the mid-range price but the lack of pockets was a niggle. Otherwise, the Sportful Giara bib shorts are a quality, top-performing piece of kit.