When it comes to performance cycling, whether it’s long weekend rides, road races, granfondos, or gravel, bib shorts are where it’s at for outright comfort. The perfect bib shorts will provide just the right balance of comfort and support for your legs when you’re pounding out those miles.
Castelli, an Italian company, is world-renowned for its incredible performance-oriented cycling apparel with a strong specialization in cycling and triathlon clothing. Castelli branded apparel is characterized by the world-famous logo representing a white scorpion inside a red circle.
We have a wide range of cycling shorts & cycling bib shorts available from Castelli on our site and this guide should help you choose from the very best.
Cycling shorts come primarily in two distinctions – Bib Shorts and Waist cycling shorts. There’s no right or wrong choice here – bib shorts offering greater support and comfort and what most serious riders end up choosing. Bib shorts also have high waistbands to ensure your back is not exposed, especially if you wear a snug jersey.
CASTELLI SEAT-PADS
If you’ve spent any amount of time on the saddle you’ve probably faced mild or even severe discomfort which is solved by wearing a good pair of Cycling shorts. The special foam or gel pad insert in the cycling shorts are an important consideration while choosing a pair of shorts and is called the Chamois.
Let’s take a deeper look at the pad technology that makes Castelli cycling shorts the best in the market.
Castelli has two types of seat pads, the Progetto X2 Air Seamless and the KISS Air 2. These come in both men and women-specific versions and aim to provide the ultimate in comfort and performance.
There are a few differences – significant and purpose-made – between a Men’s and Women’s specific seat pad. A women’s seat pad is slightly wider than a men’s seat pad – due to women’s wider sit bones – and a men’s seat pad is longer to ensure modesty-protecting coverage at the front.
1. Progetto X2 Air Seat Pad
The Progetto X2 Air is a pad with a two-layer design and multi-density padding to ensure excellent comfort no matter how long your ride is. The additional ventilated skin-care layer ensures that you are cool.
2. Kiss Air 2 Seat Pad
The all-new Kiss Air 2 now comes with an improved shape, higher-density foam and a softer top fabric making the Kiss pad more comfortable than ever before.
Which is the correct seat pad for you? Well, its best to consider your riding and then decide between these seat pads.
Kiss Air 2 has a seamless skin care layer to reduce chafing and abrasion. The anatomical shaping of the pad creates the perfect interface between shorts and body. The pad also has variable thicknesses of padding providing the right amount of cushioning in every part of the pad.
The Progetto X2 seat pad is used in all of Castelli’s pro-level shorts. The pad is constructed from two layers. The top layer is seamless and made of a four-way stretch microfiber that offers the maximum softness and moves with the body to prevent chafing or itching. There is a separate saddle-shaped cushioning layer that has gel inserts and high-density foam for comfort.
THE CASTELLI 2020 SHORTS / BIB SHORTS LINEUP IN INDIA
Castelli has a fantastic lineup of cycling bibs and shorts for Indian riders in 2020. A quick list
CASTELLI BIB SHORTS LINEUP
- Premio 2 Bibshort
- Superleggera Bibshort
- Free Aero Race 4 Bibshort
- Endurance 2 Bibshort
- Unlimited Bibshort
CASTELLI CYCLING SHORTS LINEUP
- Endurance 2 Cycling Shorts
- Entrata Cycling Shorts
Lets deep dive into each model to understand if this is the right one for you!
- CASTELLI PREMIO 2 BIB SHORT is Castelli’s premium comfort cycling short, and a result of decades spent working to make long hours in the saddle even more comfortable.
Like Castelli says it best – it’s “EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT COMFORT”
New bib construction, new silicone logos that stretch with the base fabric and the high-stretch Forza fabric with 38% Lycra content – gently compressive while never binding. Seamless construction ensures a remarkable fit without any sort of rubbing and coming undone. Perfect for those long rides.
One of the biggest features of these shorts is the inclusion of vertical silicone strips, as opposed to dots or a solid band that make more sense, ergonomically. Muscles are also allowed to move more freely, while the vertical strip has a large surface area to prevent the shorts riding up your leg as your ride.
Seat Pad: Progetto X2 Air Seamless seat pad
- Superleggera Bibshorts – Castelli took their obsession with performance to another level with the Superleggera bib shorts/shorts. Weight is the name of the game with these super-light climbers shorts that weigh in at a mind-boggling 141 grams. It’s their lightest-ever road short, using the first seamless graduated-ventilation stretch woven fabric to make a short that’s both impossibly light and cool yet supportive for the longest rides.
“We worked with the world’s leading mill to construct a gradient fabric that becomes increasingly lighter the farther down the leg it extends, with the last part weighing a mere 90 g/m2 compared to normal short fabric, which weighs around 220 g/m2”.
While being insanely light the bibs also maintain decent durability along with excellent abrasion resistance.
Seat Pad: Progetto X2 Air Seamless seat pad
- Free Aero Race 4 Bibshorts – The top race shorts in Castelli’s lineup that are also comfortable for everyday riding. The original Free Aero Race Bibshort was introduced over a decade ago and has logged literally millions of kilometers under the backsides of our sponsored pro riders and has been one of their top-selling shorts.
The Vortex fabric on the side panels is dimpled for aero performance (similar to a golf ball). It’s held in place by the latest iteration of Castelli’s seamless flat Giro leg grippers.
Seat Pad: Progetto X2 Air Seamless seat pad
- Endurance 2 Shorts & Bibshorts – Castelli’s flagship endurance bib shorts come with excellent all-day comfort for even the hottest and longest rides.
The Endurance 2 boasts excellent moisture management characteristics whether dealing with a sweaty effort or a rain shower. It also provides fatigue-reducing panel support for leg muscles at strategic locations. The Endurance Evolution fabric has a soft hand while providing good compression and excellent moisture management. This short offers amazing value and is ready to deliver lasting comfort on your longest rides.
Seat Pad: Progetto X2 Air Seamless seat pad
- Unlimited Bibshorts – Castelli’s do-it-all bib shorts/shorts that are great for XC riders, gravel riders, mountain bikers, and even roadies.
What makes these shorts special is the extremely durable Unlimited Lycra fabric. It has higher abrasion resistance and tear resistance while not compromising on stretch, moisture management, or comfort. There is a double-layer on the side panel to protect you, should you fall.
Storage is taken care of too. For added convenience, while riding on and off-road, you have two mesh pockets on the lower back that compress gear next to your body to keep it from bouncing around.
Seat Pad: KISS Air2 seat pad
- Entrata Shorts – The Entrata shorts are one of Castelli’s most affordable cycling shorts. They combine breathability, moisture management, slight compression, and a comfortable chamois into one pair of shorts that just works.
Castelli’s 8-panel construction ensures a perfect anatomical fit, while the Giro 3 leg gripper keeps the shorts in place without any unpleasant pinching. What’s truly impressive is they can be had for less than the price of a decent helmet, or a low-end jersey.
SIZING
Choosing the correct size is essential to ensure that you receive the maximum comfort and benefits. Castelli obsessively tests and refine their products to give you the best-fitting, highest-performance cycling apparel.
Castelli shorts and tights should fit tightly enough to support critical leg muscles through compression without inhibiting movement and constricting blood flow.
All products on the site have detailed sizing guides to help you measure and choose the correct size.
CARE AND WASHING
Technical cycling clothing needs to be cared for correctly, or the life span and reliability of the products will decrease. Careful washing and maintenance will ensure the highest performance from your Castelli products and extend their useful life span.
We recommend visiting the official Castelli Cycling site as they have updated tips to help you care for your clothing correctly.
There you go! Some of the best cycling shorts in the country from one of the top cycling apparel brands in the world – we’re extremely excited about
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT CYCLING
I’m an avid mountain biker and I like riding fast and flowy singletrack. As I keep riding, I continuously work on honing my riding skills. I like to ride whenever possible, especially with friends. I also like to influence folk into getting to ride more often.
Working on bicycles has also been a keen interest of mine for quite some time.
DISCIPLINE: Mountain biking and Road biking
CURRENT BIKE: Merida One Twenty 9.600 & Specialized Allez Elite DSW
DREAM BIKE: Santa Cruz 5010
