Lycra Wearers: How tight should bib tights be?

I’ve gone by the size guide Prendas gave me when I bought my first pair of bib shorts

It goes along the lines of:
“The waist size is pointless, that bit can stretch as much as you need it to. The size you need is in the height and leg length.”

Followed that with the 2 bib shorts and 2 bib tights I have, and right enough they’ve coped with me dropping from 95 kilo down to 68 and back up to 75 as well as daytime bloating fine.

So, if the shoulder straps are digging in then you’re probably a size too small.

IF they are feeling a bit tight on calves and thighs double check whether they are meant to be compression tights, and then don’t worry about it, again that’s a stretchy bit designed to be worn for leg sizes between Rasmussen and Hoy.

with lycra it should all be under a bit of tension. Unless you were the modle for the makers they won’t be perfect but thats why its stretchy. If in doubt, which means you might buy either size, go down. It will always fit whereas if you go up it my be baggy which is wrong. thicker fabric has more potential to bunch behind the knee as do simpler designs which tend to be the cheaper ones. My DHB 3/4 bibs have given good service for perhaps 100 days a year for at least 4 years. without a doubt the only piece of clothing that gets more use are my wellies and then are not any longer lasting.

You ned to add some arm warmers to complete the look 😉

Whenever I see that photo the first thing I see is their mismatched helmets.

I try not to look that closely, tbh.

“man uses size doubts as excuse to post pic and gets away with it”

shame on you!

Graham, I find lycra bib shorts to be pretty tight at first – they gently ease off on the fitting a little bit – but if they are really tough to get on, and constrict blood flow (!) then may be time to trade up.

It’s difficult to get sizing right on bib shorts, totally. I got a pair from Morvelo; almost impossible to get on. Traded up and they’re still, ah, neat. But it hopefully encourages me to keep off the pies 🙂

My Enduras were pretty tight when first purchased, have now eased to ‘fitted’ if that makes sense. You just don’t know really until you trade up and they flap about.

Am I wrong in still having lycra in my 50th year? 🙂

***** UPDATE *******

In case anyone is interested. The XL bibs arrived today and are a much better fit. (Still skin tight but less taught and thankfully less prone to leg hair poking through)
Good thing too as I got to test them out in the snow on the way home. 😀

So there you have it. 6’2 (188cm), 34-36 waist, ~90kg, big legs?
then ignore the official size guide and go for XL.

GrahamS.

Just been through exactly the same thing myself. Though I’m only 6′ with a 32-34 waist.
Ordered a L going by their size guide, tried them on and there was hairs sticking out of everywhere 😯

XL seems much betterer.
Seriously no one needs to see my hair sticking through lycra. 😐

I was gonna go for some dhb bibs as well, not sure on the sizing now! What size would be best for me at 5’9″ ish with a 29″ inside leg and 32″ waist?

Dunno but I’d be tempted to go one larger than their size chart suggests. The dhb stuff always seemed to be sized quite small (gets mentioned in a few reviews). By their size chart the XL should be huge on me but it’s fine.

You can always return it if there is an issue – the wiggle returns process went very smoothly for me.

I tend to run on the warm side and have an hour road commute, how warm do you find these? Would you wear a pair of baggies over the top or just these? I currently have some padded 3/4’s which I wear under waterproof baggies when the temp starts to drop.

I tend to run on the warm side and have an hour road commute

ditto on both counts. I ran them last night under a set of old MT500 baggies and a riding jersey plus jacket on top. Was fine. Mind you it was snowing!

I have the eVent baggies so similar bag of bones. Its not snowing down south just cold. I’m not sure I or the general public for that matter are ready for the whole lycra and nothing else experience so I may go with baggies all the same lol