Adidas launches strapless bib shorts – or just 'shorts'

Sportswear brand Adidas appears to have quietly added a line of cycling shorts (opens in new tab) to pair with its recent release of indoor cycling shoes (opens in new tab) last month. 

But while waist shorts are an established category – we’ve previously reviewed ones from Le Col (opens in new tab), Rapha (opens in new tab) and dhb (opens in new tab) – the concept of a ‘strapless bib short’ is certainly a new one on us...

To be fair, with cycling’s long history, there are plenty of anachronisms that appear counterintuitive at first glance. The idea of clipping into clipless pedals (opens in new tab) is a prime example, along with the many, many different ways of referring to wheel sizes (opens in new tab) – 700c, 29”, 28” and ISO 622mm all feature the exact same rim diameter.

Yet that still leaves little excuse for introducing 'strapless bib shorts' into the mix – the bibs literally are the straps! 

There was already the perfectly good term 'waist shorts' for referring to cycling shorts without the bibs, but that seems to have quite passed Adidas' marketing department by.

Suffice to say it's already drawn derision on Twitter, with commenters questioning whether the shorts could genuinely be for real (empathetically, yes).

To be fair, despite the oxymoron of their name, the Strapless Bib Shorts do look an interesting option. The leg length is ‘fashionably long’, so perhaps not offering the most optimised air flow for turbo sessions, but then again, these shorts aren’t designed to be indoor specific.

The ‘six-hour-plus saddle time’ that Adidas rates the dual-density chamois for is at least a promising start, while the use of 40 per cent recycled material in the total construction is a welcome nod to sustainability.

A waist short that doesn’t end up digging in can be particularly useful on long and multi-day rides (opens in new tab). Nature breaks are much easier for one thing, although the lack of any cargo or mesh outer pockets does stand to potentially limit these shorts in that regard.

To find out more about the Strapless Bib Shorts (opens in new tab), you can find them on Adidas' website here.