Primal Men’s eSport Bib Shorts

Designed for indoor training, the Primal eSport bib shorts have some clever tweaks to make them more suited to your garage rather than the outside world. Fewer seams, a decent pad and breathable materials make them ideal for going nowhere fast.

• Pros: Soft shoulder straps; pad is good for sitting in one position over time
• Cons: Very high front panel

For some of us it's getting near that time of year when the turbo trainer will be getting a dusting off and the direct debits for the interactive training software packages will be resumed, and this is where Primal sees its eSport bibs coming into play. They are like a lighter, stripped down version of the shorts you'd normally ride out on the road.

First up, the fabric feels a lot thinner. The Vita material is soft and highly stretchable but with plenty of compression, ideal for those full-on interval sessions.

Unless you have one of the new fully immersive turbo trainers that allow the bike to move around beneath you, you're going to be sat in one position for a long time which can increase the likelihood of irritation. Primal has made the eSports from just four panels to cut down on the need for so many seams. This does mean they don't have such a contoured fit as a quality multi-panelled pair of shorts, but the compression in the fabric more than makes up for it, reducing any bunching of the material.

The only thing I would say about the cut is that I found the front very high, almost squashing my stomach at times because of the compression in the material, and a little uncomfortable when in the drops.

For those long efforts in the saddle you're also going to need a decent chamois to ward off numbness. Here, the E6 Carbon pad does a pretty decent job. There are various density layers and channels to promote blood flow, and on the whole it worked quite well. Even though it is relatively thick I didn't find it the most cushioning of pads – not a major concern when on the turbo but if you were to wear them on the road (this pad is used in some of Primal's road shorts) you'll notice that they don't damp surface imperfections that much.

On the turbo is the only place I don't wear a baselayer, so it's good to see that Primal has given some consideration to the bib straps. They are lazer cut for a start, which means no seams anywhere to rub against bare skin, and they are plenty wide enough to avoid hot spots. They have small ventilation holes, but you are still going to need a decent fan to keep you cool.

Value-wise it's tricky to rate the eSports, as it comes down to how much you are willing to spend on kit that you are going to use indoors only.

As I said earlier, they are just a little thin and don't quite have the right cut to be massively comfortable when riding outdoors, so £95 could be a little steep.

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If you are an avid Zwifter, though, these might be the only shorts you wear for three to four months of the year.

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For £75 you can get an excellent pair of dhb Aerons. I've worn these on the turbo many times in the past without any real issue.

Or there are the Lusso RS19 bibs, which are very slightly more than the eSports at £99.99.

You can obviously use both the dhb and Lusso shorts out on the road, but I have to say I did notice small improvements when using the Primals on the turbo over standard bib shorts, in both fit and comfort.

If you ride the turbo a lot then they make a lot of sense.

Verdict

Well-thought-out and comfortable shorts for the indoor racer