Hors Category Century Compression Bib Short

Why Hors Category Century?  Here’s why.

When you spend four days in the saddle and over 500 miles are rolling under your wheel on the way from North Carolina to Washington DC, you have a lot of time to think.  I love riding, and I’ve done my fair share of it over many years.  And this particular ride was fantastic, but the saddle time sucked.  It didn’t suck because of the distance.  It sucked because of the chamois time.  Over ten hours in my bib shorts on some days, and frankly, it hurt.  Being in the cycling gear industry, I had the best bibs at my disposal to use for this ride.   But what I noticed was that even with the “best” bibs on the market, as the hours passed, the shorts relaxed and loosened.  And you know what happens next.  Yep, the chamois started moving around down there.  Which started chaffing.  Oh, and it was hot, too from the start, which meant the chamois stayed moist from the first hour on.  A wayward and wet chamois do not the best riding conditions make.  I think Shakespeare said that.  

Anyway, with miles and time to think through this problem, I formulated a plan.  With over 140 miles to cover in a single day, I decided to change into new bibs at every rest stop.  I changed them three times that day, and it worked like a charm.  Goodbye loose bibs, hello saddle comfort.  But three wardrobe changes?  There had to be a better solution.  And there was.  When I came back from that epic ride, I started working on developing a bib that wouldn’t lose its shape even after long efforts.  And thus, the Century Bibshort was born.  Here’s how I did it.  By focusing on every panel on the bib short, I was able to fine tune its function with cut and specific materials to address the loosening I experienced with other bibs.  Then, I sourced a high-performance chamois that is perforated and can dissipate that pesky moisture more effectively.   Working closely with our Classic designers, we tightened up the front of the bib short with a combination of five new materials – two of them compression fabrics, changed the cut of the pattern and changed the straps.  My reasoning here was to make sure there was no movement in the short so that everything from gripper to upper stays firmly in place.  It’s not enough to just make the short tight.  It must be perfectly cut and patterned to conform to the rider’s body while in the riding position.  And yes, we mean riding position (hint – if your bib is super-comfy standing up, your chamois is going to move when you bend over into riding position, and you’ll be as miserable as me at my halfway to DC point).  The next thing we addressed was the chamois.  After countless samples and testing, we found the holy grail.  The Dolomiti pad we selected for our Century bibs uses two different foam densities with 3mm and 8mm holes.  These holes significantly increase the passage of air and moisture, allowing it to dry in less time than the traditional chamois.  And, did we mention it feels pretty incredible?   In case we didn’t, it feels pretty incredible.  So, after four uncomfortable days of thinking about it and eleven months of product development and testing, I feel that we have perfected the product we set out to create.  We’re fairly confident that given a chance, the Classic Hors Category Century Bib Short will become your go-to.  How do we know?  Because we ride, too.

How does it fit?  Snug.  Every part of this bib short is designed to fit correctly and correctly means snug.

Tech Specs:

Bottom Sizing Chart

Features:

• Lightweight and Breath-ability
  The made in Italy material is lightweight with a focus on breath-ability and compression.  We use 5 different materials in the search for the perfect combinations.

• Chamois
  We proudly use the Dolomiti Stelvio Gel chamois which is a staple in many high end Italian brands.  Made in Italy with high density foam including multi layered and multi thickness foam with soft fabric for extreme comfort. The combination of the foam and fabric provide optimal moisture transfer, short dry time and absorption. Antibacterial resistance is achieved through the silver Ion infused fabric. Also, equipped with a 3D anatomic design.

• Italian Materials
  Italian materials strategically picked to optimize performance for each specific panel.

• Leg Bands
  Silicon lay flat leg bands that are asymmetrical to help achieve maximum performance helping the bib shorts to stay in place and not ride up even with warmers on.

• Fully Dyed Material                                                                                                                    The fully dyed material insures that the bib shorts stay a rich dark color over the course of their life.