Chapeau! Tempo Bib Shorts

Chapeau!'s cheapest bib shorts, the Tempos are a classic looking bit of kit with a simple design to suit their 'lazy rides and sunny adventures at the weekend' brief. Are they just a little too simple though to justify a price tag that matches some brands' mid-to-top-end kit?

The thin, shiny regulation black Lycra material has a very old school look and feel to it reminding me of the shorts available from virtually every brand back at the turn of the century., in the days before every fabric became 'technical' and cycling kits weren't sold as outfits.

Their performance is reminiscent of those bygone days too.

That on its own isn't an issue. Not everyone wants an all-dancing, compressive, breathable pair of shorts for riding fast or bumbling around the lanes. But it does become an issue when you bring in the factor of price.

The Tempo shorts cost £79.99, a price where we've the likes of dhb excelling with their Aeron shorts or the Kalf Flux Chevrons; technical shorts that are great for racing but are also perfectly comfortable enough to take on a full day's riding.

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The Tempos have quite a thick pad which is okay if you are sitting a bit more upright and taking things steady but if you tuck into the drops and pick the pace up a little all the excess foam just bunches and creates hot spots which ain't pleasant.

There is quite a deep channel between the two main left and right pad sections so I didn't have any issues with numbness but there is too much material there.

The legs are held in place by an elastane gripper which does the job in stopping them riding up but the seam that joins everything together is then covered by another piece of fabric. If you have large thighs then this can tend to dig in and become irritating on a long ride.

Performance aside though the Chapeau's do offer a good fit thanks to plenty of panels making up the finished article. The fabric sits close to the body from the legs up to the bibs without ever feeling restrictive on or off the bike. Sizing is spot on to their website chart too and they range in waist size from 30in (S) through to 38in (XXL).

The mesh bibs give plenty of coverage and offer a good level of stretch which holds them in place and makes them easy to get on and off.

Chapeau have a neat touch of putting all of the labels on the outside of thegarment to avoid irritation The main tag with washing instructions etc is on the bib strap. You also get some Chapeau logos stitched to the outside of the shorts too plus a few token reflective strips.

The overall finish and build quality is pretty good. All the stitching feels tight even when you really pull the panels apart though a few rough edges and stray thread ends slightly cheapen the feel.

All this brings me back to that price and overall value. At eighty quid the Tempo shorts are just too expensive for what you're getting in terms of performance and overall quality. At forty or fifty pounds I'd say yes, they are good enough but against similarly-priced opposition they are a little lacking.

Verdict

Classic retro-looking shorts but don't quite deliver for the money