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review

Cafe du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts

8
£179.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Impressive quality and comfort from a top notch pair of bib shorts
Supportive fabric
Excellent chamois comfort
Not cheap
Weight: 
201g

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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These Café du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts join a few others in my collection that are just really hard to fault. The material is fantastic against the skin and the pad is basically unnoticeable. It's a fair outlay for a piece of kit, but it's backed up by some excellent craftsmanship and if you want to get away from black they come in a whole range of colours including this Anthracite grey.

Okay, £179 of your hard-earned cash on a pair of bib shorts is a big investment, but if you spend a lot of time in the saddle it'll be money well spent.

> Buy these online here

The Marinettes are up there with the most comfortable shorts I've worn – the likes of the 7mesh RK1 and Endura Pro SL bib shorts. They all follow the same theme: excellent fabric which feels great against the skin and an awesome chamois.

2020 Cafe du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts - back full.jpg

The only thing that differs really is the price. The RK1s are a cool £200, while the Enduras manage to achieve this level of luxury at just £119.99.

So, what do you get from Café du Cycliste for the money?

Let's kick off with the pad. Like many, Café du Cycliste has used a chamois from CyTech's Elastic Interface Technology range. It's a good choice – pad comfort is subjective, but I've never used an uncomfortable CyTech pad.

2020 Cafe du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts - chamois.jpg

This one has three varying densities of foam covering the saddle shape, with a single central groove running from back to front to relieve a little pressure.

It's a little bulkier than some but not overly so. One thing I do like is that the foam is relatively firm, so it's supportive when you are in the saddle and soaks up the rough surfaces beneath your tyres, but not so thick that it separates you from the bike in terms of feedback.

2020 Cafe du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts - back detail.jpg

I did some big rides on both road and gravel wearing these shorts and I was impressed with how they coped with both terrains.

According to the label, the main section of the shorts is made up from 52% polyamide, 32% polyester and 16% elastane. It feels smoother and softer than that used for the majority of bib shorts costing £100 or less, and they are very nice to wear. The material offers good breathability, too, especially on really hot days.

2020 Cafe du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts - cuff.jpg

There is plenty of stretch in all directions, so the shorts move with you completely, whether riding steady or out of the saddle and sprinting hard. There's no bunching or anything anywhere.

They don't have quite as many panels used in their construction as the Enduras I mentioned above, so you don't really get that 'shaped' (or 'pre-shaped' if you prefer) riding position from them; they aren't quite as race-orientated as the SL Pros when crouched in the drops, but not so much that you'd notice unless you were wearing them back to back.

> Buyer’s Guide: 32 of the best cycling bib shorts

Quite wide leg grippers combined with small silicone dots spread the pressure while keeping the bottom of the shorts in place whatever your riding position.

2020 Cafe du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts - gripper.jpg

Continuing the theme of breathability, Café du Cycliste has gone for a lightweight fabric for the bib section, which includes a wide mesh pattern for the central section that covers your spine. It works well, and with a baselayer beneath and a summer jersey on top I never felt any major build-up of sweat when riding hard in the summer sun.

2020 Cafe du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts - straps shoulders.jpg

These are manufactured in Albania and the overall quality of the stitching is very good. Everything is neat and tidy, and tugging at the different panels shows no sign that the seams are likely to fail.

As well as this anthracite grey, you can get the Marinettes in navy blue, Limoges (a kind of royal blue), deep red and electric raspberry if you like to jazz up your kit a bit.

> When should you replace your shorts?

Overall, I'd say the Marinettes are very good and worth the outlay. Yes, the performance is similar to the much cheaper Enduras, but they do compete well against the more expensive 7mesh RK1s. If you buy them, you won't be disappointed – especially if you want a bit more colour in your kit.

//301 from 2017//

Verdict

Impressive quality and comfort from a top notch pair of bib shorts

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Cafe du Cycliste Marinette Bib Shorts

Size tested: M

Tell us what the product is for

Cafe du Cycliste says, "The litmus test for any bib shorts is the chamois. Marinette, along with all of our other shorts, use the very best available, a top of the range Cytech pad. Designed for ultimate comfort, the shorts are constructed using the latest technology and materials to ensure maximum performance across any type of ride.

'Marinette match the premium chamois with equally premium fabrics to strike exactly the right balance between stretch and support. The bib section is constructed from two variable types of mesh, open and closed, to provide a constantly stable fit, aid core temperature control and ensure the exceptional comfort continues across every touch point.

'The laser cut grippers are constructed from the same core fabric to continue the modern contemporary styling while silicon beads ensure that the legs stay firmly in place, no matter how great the pace. Reflective elements add visibility in poor or low light conditions."

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

CdC lists:

71% polyamide | 29% elastomere

colour bib shorts

premium chamois

balanced stretch & support

mesh bib section

reflective elements

silicon beaded grippers

made in europe

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
10/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for fit:
 
9/10
Rate the product for sizing:
 
9/10

The fit isn't as restrictive as some high-end race shorts, so follow the guide and you'll be fine with a little bit of wiggle room thrown in.

Rate the product for weight:
 
9/10
Rate the product for comfort:
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

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

Cafe du Cycliste recommends a 30 degree wash and I had no issues with that.

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

A great pair of shorts however far you are riding.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Excellent pad and fabric feel.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

There is nothing to really dislike, unless you want a pair of black shorts...

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

Comparing them to excellent shorts like those from Endura and 7mesh in the review, the Marinettes sit towards the upper end of the price bracket.

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

The Marinettes are a quality pair of bib shorts, offering superb comfort, exceptional performance and an excellent cut. Some brands can do it a touch cheaper, but overall I'd say these are very good.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 41  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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2 comments

Avatar
Prosper0 | 3 years ago
0 likes

I'm a big fan of CDC, absolutely lovely kit, but never got on with their bib shorts.
They have much narrower shoulder straps than other brands, I find they dig in somewhat. Rapha straps are always wide and comfy for example. 

Avatar
Chris Hayes | 3 years ago
0 likes

I have a pair of Cafe du Cyclist shorts.  They're a few years old and are holding up well - though probably a bit longer in the leg than Rapha or Assos shorts.

There's a leg-waxing amount of gripper on them....so much so that I fold the grippy bits up when I put them on.  It should probably come with a health warning...

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