I bought 2 pairs of the Hincapie Signature short (1 level above the Metric) at Tour of Missouri last September. In 6 months, they have stood up to repeated washings and have lived up to my expectation of a premium short.

Since I don't own bibs, I can't speak to their fit, but my Hincapies are now my favorite shorts of the half-dozen brands I own. The pad is dense, the fabric is suitably compressive, and everything still is holding up after about 15 trips through the laundry hamper.

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DFL > DNF > DNS

I have a lot of Hincapie clothing and love every single piece. All well made, holds up great. I do not own the bibs in question, Im not sure which I do have as they are Mens' bibs from various team kits. Don't know if the custom line is different from the rest of it. I also have a Ladies winter jacket and it's fab. High quality stuff.

I love my women's Hincapie bibs!! They are my favorite cycling shorts. The compression is great as is the chamois. The straps (suspender part) are soft mesh fabric and I do not notice them on rides. The only time my shorts are inconvenient is when I need to use the bathroom but since that is a small percentage of the actual ride it is totally worth it!

awesome, thanks for the responses, ladies!

re: bathroom stops -

it's certainly a much bigger pain for women to wear bib shorts in this particular regard :(

supposedly endura makes a women's bib short that has a zipper down the side of the leg that makes it really easy to go to the washroom without having to take all your clothing off. i searched for about an hour to try to find the damn things, but have been unable to locate them, so i gave up on it!

if any of you have heard of this mythical beast and know how to procure any of it, please let me know :)

http://www.pearlizumi.com/...=1509677&outlet=

!!

what is this 'drop tail' and how does it work? anyone have any experience with it?

pearl izumi's website is quite poopy and doesn't explain it at all.

hmm, upon closer inspection, is that a zipper on the left-hand side of the bib shorts?

I just got a pair of the Pearl Izumi "drop tail" bibs. I'm trying to think of how to explain it. Basically, the front half is a regular bib and the back half is more like a short, with a waistband that you can pull down to go to the bathroom. There's some fabric that comes down from the top that you tuck down into the back so that you don't get a gap when you bend over, if that makes sense. I was concerned that there would be the waistband discomfort you have with shorts, but I really didn't notice it at all. It pretty much feels just like bibs, although it seems like that extra bit of tuck-in fabric might get warm on a hot day. I personally don't care for the Pearl Izumi pad, so I'm not thrilled with the bibs. But the pad is the only thing I don't like.

Gore Bikewear is coming out with new women's bibs that have two zippers along the side so you can pull the bottoms down. Supposedly, the zippers don't hit against your skin. I don't think they are available yet, but here's an article about them from Interbike and a video that shows how they work. The picture of the back of the Gore bibs is kind of how the Pearl Izumi's are in the back, except the unattached part of the Pearl Izumi's goes about halfway around your waist.

you ladies are fantastic! thanks for the post, heidi :)

yeah, i've heard from some of my female friends that they don't really like pearl izumi stuff, either. as a male, i've found that the pearl izumi's shorts i've tried are not particularly well designed or executed given their price, so it doesn't surprise me that much that there's a similar experience with their women's shorts.

i hope other women read this thread and realize that there are some really good bib short options for them out there. bib shorts > elastic or draw string shorts. those gore shorts in particular look promising!

Yes, I'm anxiously waiting for those Gore bibs to become available, although I'm afraid they will be horrendously expensive (I haven't seen a price, so I have no idea). Once you've ridden in bibs, it's hard to go back to shorts! I have some Garneau women's bibs I love, but it seems they don't make them anymore. I was really unhappy when I crashed on a pair and ruined them.

no doubt you're right that they'll be expensive!

on the other hand, i find that shorts (along with saddles) are worth spending a lot of money on. being comfortable makes biking a thousand times more enjoyable, so it seems worth it to me :)

and you can get some pretty comfortable frames for quite cheap (relatively speaking :)). one of my two bikes is a salsa casseroll. it's made of steel (cromoly) and rides better than the two carbon bikes i've owned (look kg451, cervelo slc-sl), in my experience - and will only set you back about $450 for the frame + fork :)

Those bibs look interesting. I've held off on bibs because when I ride we make super quick stops and I know I'd be the one struggling to get dressed again before all the guys take off.