If you are too young to remember the original TV series ‘Fame’ and too old to have seen its big screen return, you may well just laugh out loud at the thought of cycling legwarmers. Truth be told, you might chuckle even if you DID pay homage to Olivia Newton John. For these Knee Warmers from Dashing Tweeds are not technical knee warmers, made from clever moisture wicking, quick drying thermal fabrics. These are proper, disco diva legwarmers and I don't doubt there's a gap in the market for them.
Made primarily from wool, they are designed to bridge the gap between tights and shoes, whether those tights are technical thermal cycling ones, or 50 denier smart work ones. Available in either plain grey or striped, they look casually stylish in a quirky vintage way, and they actually do a great job of keeping your ankles warm and work well as a trouser retainer and protector too.
The secret weapon that stops these legwarmers merely being an overpriced excursion into retro-land is that, as they’re made by Dashing Tweeds, they incorporate clever reflective yarns in the wool mix. These yarns looks just like the grey wool in daylight, but put them under car headlights and they reflect beautifully. They’re not quite as reflective as say Scotchlite, but as a safety ‘extra’ on cold dark evenings, they are certainly far better than nothing.
I was skeptical on first receiving these – partly because I am old enough to remember wearing legwarmers the first time around, but I’ve popped them on quite a few times now, partly for their cosiness, partly for their reflectivity, and in truth, partly because they’re just a little bit bonkers.
Verdict
Cosy, practical, quirky, reflective and just a little mad. Excellent gift material.
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: Dashing Tweeds Leg warmers
Size tested: Grey, blue, green stripes
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Aimed at the style conscious cyclist looking for added reflectivity for safety without compromising looks.
Nice niche. Surprisingly it works.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
5/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
8/10
Rate the product for value:
8/10
Did you enjoy using the product? A lot.
Would you consider buying the product? Definitely. I might buy some for friends too.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes. But I'd prefer to keep them to myself.
Age: 37 Height: 1.65m Weight: 67kg
I usually ride: My best bike is:
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, general fitness riding, mtb,
"Innocently kill" (from Ashley Neal) isn't it? There is the possibility that "the driver couldn't do anything to stop this" - and the common...
It is clear if you go looking, and I'm open to it (while acknowledging Rich_cb's argument that if we don't produce it we'll just import it (unless,...
Thanks for all the input. I was up at Nevis Range in Fort William today, on my sons hybrid, with miles and miles of fire roads to explore. ...
Paywall is certainly there now.
You seem to not know the difference between additive colour mixing and subtractive colour mixing and seem to be confusing the combination of...
In Toryland, where liberty is utter, we are encouraged to participate in the war of all-against-all so that social Darwinism may flourish as the ...
Well, that's some all-round impressive police work in that video!
Yes it is similar but oppositely timed usually....
That's an interesting question and I've heard anecdotally that there's as many bike patents as all other patents put together (not sure that I...
Looks like they are fixing the Crow Road section of the road race route. Saw signs today that it is being closed as of next week for 2 weeks for...