Velocio Foundation Bib Tight

The Velocio Foundation Bib Tight is an impressive piece of kit that offers you a lot of quality and packs a big punch for a reasonable price. Featuring a super-soft and comfortable inner material, a very impressive chamois and a great fit, their 5-15°C temperature range makes them ideal for cooler spring days as well as winter riding – as long as the weather is dry.

Our best winter bib tights buyer's guide rounds up our top choices for men and women at a wide range of prices.

> Buy now: Velocio Foundation Bib Tight for £128 from Velocio

The Foundation model is the entry into the premium brand Velocio's tights range and is a lot less expensive than its top-end kit. But you'd never guess that the first time you put them on, when they very much have the feel of a more premium product, thanks to the overall quality and the comfort.

Looks

I love the look of these tights. They're a super-minimalist affair, with only a small logo on the thighs and minimal stitching around the legs. The plush straps attach to a large mesh back, and the overall appearance is understated and stealthy, which is exactly what I'm looking for in a pair of tights.

Comfort

But it's not just in looks that these excel – I was also blown away by their comfort. I think that Velocio's designers have hit the nail on the head in creating these – there's no annoying stitching in stupid places, no pinching anywhere and there's a high-quality chamois.

I also found they work in a reasonable range of temperatures, from around 5-15°C, which will cover a lot of winter rides as well as outings on cooler spring and autumn days.

So many bib tights I've used in the past have stitching in annoying, uncomfortable and frustrating places, areas such as the backs of the knees – just why? Thankfully there's none of this from Velocio. There is stitching on the inside and the outside of the legs but no stitches to irritate the back of your knee as you pedal, which is such a relief.

The ankles aren't finished with zips, which as far as I'm concerned is also a very good decision. I wear overshoes pretty much all the time over winter and I find zips can create pressure points under the overshoes. Just having an elasticated cuff at the bottom of each leg means these tights keep their comfort all the way down.

The wide straps feel comfortable, and their material is soft enough to feel good against your skin when worn without a base layer. The biggest compliment I can pay the straps is that I wasn't aware of them even during long rides – unlike with some other bib tights, where you become all too aware of the pressure on your shoulders as time goes on.

I also found the 'Proprietary Foundation HD Chamois' extremely comfortable. While Velocio doesn't have any recommendations for ride lengths on its website, I wore these tights for rides of over five hours without any discomfort.

I think the chamois quality is exceptional for a foundation-level pad, and is right up there with the most comfortable ones I've used from the likes of Rapha and Pedal Mafia.

About the only real negative is that these tights do get chilly quite quickly in the rain. Not only are they thinner than some other bib tights but they also lack any water-resistant features, so they can get saturated quite fast.

This happened a couple of times during testing, so while they are a great choice for dry days down to a few degrees, they're not the best option if there's rain on the horizon.

Value

With top-end bib tights seeming to cost more every year, it's refreshing to see Velocio offering this level of quality and comfort for £128.

Yes, you can get dhb's Thermal Bib Tights for just 60 quid, and Stu certainly liked them, but I think the price of the Velocio Foundation tights is very reasonable considering their overall quality and long-distance comfort.

The Rapha Core Winter Tights with Pad come in a little dearer at £140 but they are quite similar, featuring a well-shaped pad and zip-less ankle cuffs. David found them warm and comfortable and also appreciated their non-Rapha-like price.

The dhb Aeron Lab thermal tights are more expensive again at £160 and they're also designed for slightly lower temperatures, from around 12°C down to zero. And while Stu liked their warmth and comfort, he did find the stitching behind the knee irritating.

Conclusion

I think if you compare the Velocio Foundation with winter tights at a similar price, their overall quality, comfort and the lack of irritating stitches put them above almost all of the competition. Add in a chamois that's good for long rides and understated looks – and I believe these are seriously worth considering if you're looking for a new pair of winter tights.

Verdict

An extremely comfortable set of bib tights with a high-quality chamois and a price that belies their quality