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review

MP Magic Socks Premium (3 pairs)

7
£45.54

VERDICT:

7
10
A good choice for warmer riding and walking, where you want to arrive with fresh feet, day after day
Great fit
Feel against skin
Smell-resistant for a few days
Not really padded
Weight: 
47g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The MP Magic Premium Antibacterial Socks are a good choice for casual wearing and non-strenuous cycling, and they can fit into a sombre work outfit. Being a cotton-rich sock they're not likely your best choice for very hot, cold or strenuous days, mind.

Adam was rather taken with the MP Magic Crew Sports Socks, praising their comfort, padding and anti-smell tech. These shorter socks scream 'SPORTS', as do pretty much every cycling sock, but the MP Premium on review here would easily pass unnoticed paired with a suit in a workplace or job interview.

> Buy these online here

Being cotton-based with CoolMax and Lycra fibre tech, what they aren't is a cold-weather sock – MP Magic does a merino-based range for that. Of course this depends how hot or cold your feet run, the shoe, and where you're cycling as well, so you may well find the Premiums do you for a work commute in colder weather.

My go-to socks for pretty much year-round performance are the amazing merino DeFeet Woolie Boolies, but then I'm a colder-footed person and like a thicker sock in general. That said, taking the MP Premiums out for short rides on warmer winter days under a decent winter boot (Northwave Celcius, if you ask), I found them not too bad.

> Buyer’s Guide: 12 of the best cycling overshoes

Comfort-wise, they're fine – reasonably snug-fitting, as MP Magic notes: "The compression gives your feet enough support during exercises and long workdays." The cuff is slightly thicker, and with the snug fit had no problems staying up.

The hero claim of the MP Magic sock range is its anti-bacterial treatment involving a silver, copper and zinc-infusion, which attempts to render smelly feet a thing of the past. Listing a bunch of ISO and other standardised tests for deodorisation, anti-bacterial and microbiological functions, MP Magic claims: "After repeated microbiological tests, the results show an antibacterial rate of over 97% after 50 cycles of washing."

MP Magic Socks Premium - detail.jpg

Now, being a fan of nice merino and alpaca socks for daily as well as sports use, I've taken to not washing my about-the-house pairs every single day – I find I can get a good three days wear out of a pair, with each day split by a day's downtime to recuperate. So yes, a sock rotational system.

Having lived this podiatry dream for a decade with absolutely no ill effects apart from having to wash expensive socks only half as often, I'm OK with the idea of not changing socks every day. No doubt someone from the UK Podiatrist And Sock Merchant's Guild will be along in the comments section to inform me that my feet should be decaying stumps by now, but it works for me. I also take the same view of merino baselayers, but do draw the line at pants. Ahem.

So, following close analysis of the MP Magic Premium sock's performance compared with the DeFeet Woolie Boolie, another reasonably-premium merino-rich cycling sock, and a pair of alpaca hiking socks I got for crimbo, I can say with 100% road.cc scientific rigour that I really couldn't tell the difference. After three days, the MP Magic Premiums smelt as good as the others, which is to say I could tell they'd been worn, but in no way were they unpleasant. Like if you'd worn a T-shirt for a few hours – doesn't need a wash, but it's not spanking clean.

Now, if it's hot and you're sweating buckets, no sock – no matter what it's made of – is going to last long without pong. Reviewing over the middle of winter, it was not possible for me to get into a midsummer state of feet-drenchedness. That said, the MP Magic Premium is certainly thin enough to be dry-ish the following day, if you washed it after finishing a hard day's summer riding.

Value

The Premium socks only come in a pack of three for US$59, which equals about £45 with free shipping to the UK. That's £15 a pair – which is about on a par for a premium cycling sock, and less than a top merino-rich or waterproof model. Comparison for sartorial purposes (ie being able to wear into a meeting) would be with the £17 Defeet Levitator, the bonus being you get the smell-reduction that 100% artificial fibres are certainly not known for. Even Assos and Rapha struggle to charge more than £18 for a cotton-acrylic blend sock, but neither have the anti-smell properties of the MP Magic Premium.

> Read more road.cc reviews of cycling socks here

If you're looking for a sock you can commute in, or use for travel that might involve some cycling, the MP Magic Premium is a pretty good bet to keep the smells down and the comfort up.

Verdict

A good choice for warmer riding and walking, where you want to arrive with fresh feet, day after day

road.cc test report

Make and model: MP Magic Socks Premium (3 pairs)

Size tested: X/XL

Tell us what the product is for

MP Magic says:

Wear it up, Live it up!

Premium experience for your feet with undeniable comfort.

Upgrade your everyday essential and feel the difference of real premium socks!

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Highly comfortable with Japanese cotton and best knitting machine from Italy.

Maximize your performance with CoolMax & Lycra materials.

Fast sweat-wicking and super breathable.

Antibacterial and odorless with certified tech.

Snug fit: no slip-off, no swelling.

Stay soft and excel at performance wash after wash.

Please note that MP Premium is snug-fit. This design reduces swelling in the ankles and legs. The compression gives your feet enough support during exercises and long workdays. But if you prefer loose-fit socks, please check MP classic.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

Very nicely built.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

Yep, they don't smell after a good few days of wear.

Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10

Not being the thickest, time will tell how long they last.

Rate the product for fit:
 
9/10

Lovely and snug, if you like a compression feel.

Rate the product for sizing:
 
8/10

There's only two sizes, so take your pick. For me the Large worked well with a UK10.5.

Rate the product for weight:
 
10/10

Light. But then it's a thin sock.

Rate the product for comfort:
 
8/10

Yes, comfy. If you're after lots of padding, this isn't the sock for you, mind.

Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

I'd rate them about average for value, maybe a bit better. For me the competition is the Woolie Boolie, but then I like thick socks.

How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

No issues, still look like new after a good few wool washes.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Yes, the smell stayed mostly at bay – so it does the job.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The nice compressive feel.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Not as much heel padding as I'd like.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

About middle of the road, as per the references in the article. Most road.cc review socks are sporty-specific and not natural-fibre-rich, so not many comparisons for the smell-free USP.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

These are good socks. Good fit, good feel, and good smell suppression. Not better than merino or alpaca, but still good.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 46  Height: 183cm  Weight: 72kg

I usually ride: Merida Ride 5000 Disc  My best bike is: Velocite Selene

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, club rides, general fitness riding, mtb, Dutch bike pootling.

Living in the Highlands, Mike is constantly finding innovative and usually cold/wet ways to accelerate the degradation of cycling kit. At his happiest in a warm workshop holding an anodised tool of high repute, Mike's been taking bikes apart and (mostly) putting them back together for forty years. With a day job in global IT (he's not completely sure what that means either) and having run a boutique cycle service business on the side for a decade, bikes are his escape into the practical and life-changing for his customers.

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