dhb Aeron Speed bib shorts review

At £80, the dhb Aeron Speed bib shorts give you the high-end features usually only seen on shorts at well over £100

dhb is a brand renowned for providing value for money - its kit is not necessarily the cheapest on the market, but it's very often the best quality you can get at a remarkably reasonable price tag. 

Aeron is the more performance orientated range from dhb, and though we've tried several pairs of bibs from the selection available, it was these which impressed us the most - earning them a place in the 2017 Editor's Choice.

The Aeron Speed bib shorts from dhb offer superb quality for their £80 price tag, providing all of the technical features you need - most importantly a well designed chamois and excellent fit.

At the heart of any bib short is the pad and dhb has specified a high quality Elastic Interface Comp HP pad in the Aeron Speed bib shorts. It’s not too thick, but dense and well padded under the sit bones, with a structured fit with less volume at the front and sides.

The attention to detail where it comes to the chamois means these are suitable for long days out in the saddle.

Dhb Aeron Speed bibshorts

Dhb Aeron Speed bibshorts come with a quality Elastic Interface pad

Dhb has used a coldblack fabric in the Aeron Speed shorts. Developed by Swiss textile company Schoeller, this reflects infrared light to reduce heat build-up and also protects against ultraviolet. It’s a treatment often used in high end bibshorts.

The cut of the shorts includes a wide silicone gripper on the outside of the leg. If you don’t like the contrasting red, there are a variety of other colour options, including plain black.

Bibs feature seamless braces and a lightweight rear yoke

The inside leg bottom seam is a doubled layer of the fabric used in the rest of the leg. It’s comfortable and means that the part of the leg in contact with the saddle is seamless, as the main seams running the length of the leg are displaced to the top and bottom of the thigh. Sizing is a bit more generous than Italian makers’ shorts.

The front straps of the Aeron Speed’s bibs are flat, wide and hemless, making them comfortable unobtrusive. And the rear of the bib is made of a more technical, less stretchy mesh.

It all adds up to a nice package of features. At £80 the Aeron Speed bibshorts are the match of £100-plus premium models from leading brands.

 

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Paul Norman

Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.

He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.