Sugoi RS Crew Sock

The Sugoi RS Crew is a decent, comfortable cycling-specific sock, but for £10 a pair you might want them to look good for longer.

In terms of performance, the RS Crew is a good sock. It fits well, has reinforcing in the right places and breathable bits in others. It's generous of length, too – not too long, not too short, a Goldilocks 'just right' for me.

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My feet were comfortable in them, even on long, hard rides in hot conditions. The sizing was pretty much spot on, and they didn't shrink in the wash either. It's hard to write more about a sock that's not, say, specific to extreme cold weather, or waterproofness. Socks are socks, and these are fine.

Unless you really care about what your socks look like. For some cyclists, they are up there with casquettes and bar tape... a low-cost, easily changeable accessory that can speak volumes about your affiliation, sartorial appreciation (or lack thereof) and respect for the history and culture of le vélo. Let your socks become slack, saggy, stained or – horrors – perforated, and you send a message of disregard for self and kit, and by extension the whole of cycling and people therein. Or, they're simply the thing that goes between your foot and your shoe, the aesthetics of which will have no bearing on your enjoyment of the ride.

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If you fall in to that first group, you won't be impressed with the RS Crew. After just three trips around a 30-degree wool wash cycle, inside out, with no other abrasive garment in sight, the logo on the rear of both socks had frayed into centimetre-long tendrils of polyester, standing out as red tufts of insouciance against the black background...

If you want a pair of socks that work well and keep your feet happy, and you're not so bothered about how they look, go ahead and buy these; they're good. But for £10 a pair, for me anyway, I can't recommend them.

Verdict

Nice-fitting, decent length sock, but tufting of logos is disappointing...