I bought some to have a pair for club TT’s. I don’t want to wear out my race only items. Last night was the first club TT of the year. I went to get dressed and put the Rule 28 aero socks on. The upper gripper seemed beefier or sturdier than others I have owned that eventually wear out pretty fast. So that seemed good. But then the bad was that once I got them on, that gripper was so tight that my calf/leg literally ached. Like, it hurt so bad I immediately took them off.
Before anyone says it, yes, I emailed them. And they responded that maybe just let them stretch from wearing them more.
Well, problem is…the inquiry was about them actually being quite painful once on. As in not possible to let them wear in. I also asked them if perhaps they could have put the wrong size in the wrong sock pouch and included my body size info. But the pouch itself matched my order of XL. I’m 5’ 10" and 160lb. And not a trackie stud either. So despite having some nice cyclist calves, they aren’t huge at all. And XL is their largest size. So there’s no way that seems right.
I have Castelli and Aerocoach/Nopinz socks and overshoes. None of them have ever been remotely this tight. So that’s why I’m coming here to ask user experiences.
If this is just the norm for that brand, I’ll have to sell them to perhaps a lady TT or triathlon rider that is a lot smaller. As they hurt THAT bad that I cannot even fathom wearing them long enough on rides to get them to “stretch out”.
Thanks.