Thursday, March 12, 2015

De Soto Sport - Skin Cooler Jersey and Bib Shorts

The following is not a review as much as it is just to highlight a cycling product that I actually use. I will leave formal reviews to those who actually do this for a living.  I just like pointing out particular products that I have used or will use on a regular basis as I log training time and miles.

The specific clothing that I ordered to try out for the majority of hot long rides in 2015 are the De Soto Skin Cooler Jersey and Bib Shorts. Jersey and 400 Mile Bib Shorts This is my first blog post specifically for De Soto. However, I've been using the 400 Mile shorts and bibs for several years with the older pad. I am enough of a fan that I have purchased several pair of bibs and shorts and anything over 50 miles I certainly will use, but I also use them for short indoor sessions as well. This will be my first experience with the De Soto Skin Cooler jersey.  Here are a few pictures provided by De Soto Sports. Check out their web site for more clothing, graphics and pad selections.

Jersey

The fabric weight of the jersey is very light feeling. The medium size fit me snug enough, but not uncomfortably tight. My build as a shrinking former competitive bodybuilder is probably a bit more muscular through the chest, back and shoulders. The short sleeves hug my arms, but do not feel restrictive. Hopefully this would give some idea of fitting or sizing.
(I will report back once I get in some really hot mid summer hours, but for now based on feel of the fabric compared to other jerseys this is going to be a cool feel)

Bibs

The two aspects that I really like about the current version of 400 Mile shorts that I own are the compressive fabric and the thicker pad. Most of my team kits have a much thinner pad and I really don't like wearing those unless the route is no more than about 40 miles. Over 50 and I definitely want to be in the 400 Mile shorts or bibs. Neat little feature on my current shorts were a couple little pockets on the leg sides that one could put gels. It sure made it easy to grab a gel rather than fishing around in a rear jersey pocket. The current version did not have these pockets, but that is okay if the new pad helps me tack on more miles.
(I am really looking forward to trying out the Ceramico pad. I will report back as soon as the weather improves enough to get out for a four plus hour ride.)

De Soto

Not only have I been really happy with the De Soto shorts and bibs, but I always seen great customer feedback on various cycling forums. The owner, Emilio, always seems to step in to do his best at helping out the customer. You can't make everyone happy all the time, but he sure makes a really good effort from what I read on the web.

Just so you know, I have no connection to the company and all the shorts, bibs and jersey that I have purchased have been out of my own pocket. Better still, my backside being happy is what matters to me the most when that saddle time gets extended and training is back to back days. Here is a popular post that I did for Saddle Sores. Scroll down on that post and you can see I've got a nice collection now of De Soto 400 Mile shorts and bibs. I keep them rotating around between clean, dirty laundry and air dry. Lot's of hours put in with each pair.










Here are a few pictures that I took when the package arrived.









1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great review - I purchased the 400 mile bibs and love them...will be riding them on my Century this month.
Thanks!