Santini Unico Edge Bib Shorts review: Comfortable, stylish and expensive

More than any other piece of clothing, cycling shorts have the potential to make or break a ride. Most of us will have experienced the uncomfortable feeling of a pair of shorts that doesn’t quite work for us, and what begins as a minor irritation can, hours later, become serious discomfort and even skin damage.

With a 60-year history of cycle clothing production, it would be reasonable to conclude that Santini should have a pretty good idea about how to make the saddle-bum interface as comfortable as possible. The Unico Edge is its highest-priced offering, with some interesting technology and premium touches intended to make the shorts look and feel great.

Construction

At the heart of any cycling short is the pad, and Santini has used its C3 chamois in the Unico Edge, which it says is designed for endurance and 'long hours in the saddle’. This consists of a soft, sculpted face fabric that sits against the skin, a ‘carved foam’ layer, some gel inserts and a base material.

This gives it a three-tier effect with a lot of padding under the sit bones, a bit less under the perineum and just a thin layer elsewhere. There is also a channel between the two sit bone pads, meant for ventilation, I imagine. It's worth noting that this C3 pad is used elsewhere in their range, so it can be accessed at a slightly lower price point.

The most striking thing about the Unico Edge shorts is the lack of seams and stitching. Whereas more seams used to equal a better fit, modern technology means that the opposite is now true. On the Unico Edge, there is a single seam down the rear of each thigh and a central seam that runs front to back, and that’s it. Furthermore, the two thigh seams are thermo-welded, not sewn, so there is no potential for irritation from any stitching. The C3 pad is still sewn in place, though, and the central seam is also stitched (very neatly) together.

The legs are raw-cut, but more interestingly, they don’t have any form of grip, which will be great news for anyone whose legs have been irritated by over-enthusiastic silicone grippers.

The material of the shorts is more matte-looking and softer-feeling than normal. Santini simply calls it ‘Italian microfibre’, but it adds a very classy feel to the shorts.

The bib straps use a mixture of thermo-welding and stitching where they are attached to the shorts with a clean, stitch-free design; the whole strap system is laser-cut from a single piece of material. The inside of the straps is a psychedelic, tie-dye pattern that won’t improve your speed but looks pretty cool.

Equally, the iridescent Santini branding on the right thigh is not for performance gains, but adds to the premium feel of the bib shorts.

Santini offers the Unico Edge in 10 sizes, from XS to 6XL, and 4 colours.

The ride

Number one on the list of things not to do with any new gear, especially bib shorts, is to wear them for a long ride without a test ride or two. So, obviously, my first ride was a five-hour jaunt…Luckily, the Unico Edge Bib Shorts felt brilliant from start to finish and have continued to do so over many hundreds of kilometres at home and abroad.

The pad is noticeably thicker under the sit bones than many, measuring up at a maximum of 15mm, which is similar to the popular Progetto X2 Air used in some of Castelli’s top shorts. This fits with Santini’s rating of the pad as being suitable for eight-hour-plus rides; even on my fairly sparsely padded Selle Italia SLR Boost saddle, comfort was never an issue. I sometimes find that the thinner, outer edges of a pad can ruck up a bit and cause a little discomfort on longer rides, but this has not happened at all with the C3 pad. I’m pleased to report that all areas of my derriere have been blissfully happy.

The other area that can irritate with a pair of bib shorts is the silicone grippers at the bottom of the legs. I don’t normally suffer with this, but there have been occasions on very hot rides when the grip pattern has been nicely replicated on my thighs in red for a day or so. No such problems with the Unico Edge, as there aren't any grippers.

By and large, the lack of grippers did not cause the legs to ride up, as the tight, slightly compressive nature of the fabric holds the shorts in place. I did feel that after a few hours into each ride, the material relaxed slightly and maybe moved up a few millimetres; utterly inconsequential in terms of comfort, but detrimental for tan line crispness!

Being picky, the broad raw-cut bib straps were heavier-duty than on many shorts, meaning that they took longer to dry, but they did spread the pressure very well, and the length was spot on.

The size large shorts were perfect for me (186cm/73kg); the same size that I take in Castelli, Assos, Sportful and Universal Colours.

Value and conclusion

Overall, the Unico Edge felt very premium, both in terms of the pad and fabrics. The laser-cut and raw-edged design lifts it above more standard options, as do little touches like the iridescent Santini branding. There is no doubt that these are lovely shorts.

The bigger question is whether they justify their £220 price tag and provide good value. In my opinion, they do, with the caveat that I would rather have two £110 pairs of shorts to wear and wash on rotation than one more expensive pair, so long as the cheaper shorts are comfortable enough for my riding. However, if you are in the market for a premium-priced pair of shorts or don't get on with silicone grippers, then I very much doubt that you will be disappointed with Santini’s Unico Edge Bib Shorts.