Castelli vs Garneau Sizing

Triathlon Forum
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TL;DR Anyone have experience going from LG to Castelli or vise versa and can comment on how to size?

Just joined local bike club who does custom kits through Castelli. Looking to get some real-world feedback since “try-on” sessions are currently out of question before ordering. Have posted in club FB group asking and searched other forum posts (all pretty old), but looking to get as much feedback as possible.

Me: 169cm & 57kg or 5’6.5" & 125lbs (probably low end weight)

Taking measurements and cross-referencing with the Castelli sizing chart, I’m either an XS or S. Looking at getting items including Aero Race 6.0 Jersey, Free Aero Race 4 Bibs, and Body Paint 3.3 LS Speed suit (or San Remo 4.0 speedsuit).

Conversely, I currently wear LG (Aero Jersey, LGneer Bib, Tri Course LGneer Tri Suit) in a size small and it fits very well (snug). The LG size chart for a small corresponds to a M in Castelli, which does make some sense as other online forums say to size up when switching to Castelli (sizes based on small skinny Italian mountain goats).

This makes me believe to not trust personal measurements & size charts, as the same measurements that put me in a XS / S Castelli put me in a XXS / XS LG, but no way I’d squeeze into that.

Has anyone else have similar results / experiences? Don’t want to go too small and be about to burst, but also don’t want to have them be too big and defeat the whole purpose of aero kit.

Thanks in advance!

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LG is 1/2-to-1 size bigger IME (note, it depends on the Castelli product: a M prologo jersey is looser than a L aero-race).

If you are S in LG, probably a M in Castelli’s “race fit” stuff.

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Buy a size bigger from normal other kit sizes I wear for Castelli. I found the same across tri and cycling apparel.

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A team I was on did custom aero race jerseys and San remo suits from Castelli a few years back. I was a small in the custom order.

I wear medium for Castelli gabba or perfetto tops.

I have a jacket from Castelli that’s an XL.

All of these items fit well. Sizing is hard, even when everything is from the same brand. Seemed like they tried to do their custom stuff in American-friendly sizes, but maybe the off the shelf stuff is a little more euro sized. I can’t explain my xl jacket.

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Thanks for the insight everyone!

Rob - How big were you (height / weight) when you went with the small size? How did it fit (loose, snug, too tight)?

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5’9 139

Small in all Castelli. I just tried the 2021 stuff and it seems smaller than previous years.

Castelli is all I wear

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Thanks for the info!

Any first hand experience with the items I’m looking at (or similar previous versions) - Aero Race 6.0 Jersey, Free Aero Race 4 Bibs, and Body Paint 3.3 LS Speed Suit (or San Remo 4.0 Speed Suit)

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You will definitely need a size up in the Castelli I think. XXL in Castelli is for somebody that weighs 175 lbs. I am 6’1" and 175 and my cycling shorts are XXL. No joke! When I tried them on in the store it was a surprise for sure.

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Yes. Aero race 6 small. Fits tight like it should.
I had the race bibs but crashed fit perfect. Only have superlagga now and fits perfect
PR Suit very tight, but very fast

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I have many pieces of both, in Castelli I am a medium jersey, in Garneau small (I am 5-11, 145 lbs so tall and skinny) I like a close (NOT loose) fit On bibs, I could probably go small in Garneau but usually use medium and medium in Castelli. Most of the Garneau stuff is custom shop stuff but it is not their race kit versions more Fondo version which is a bit larger/loose fitting. I prefer race fit and for that reason prefer Caselli…

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Thanks for the insight everyone!

Rob - How big were you (height / weight) when you went with the small size? How did it fit (loose, snug, too tight)?

6’0 and 160-165 for all of the sizes I listed. It all fits perfect (race fit). That’s the odd thing. Just very inconsistent sizing. But, other than odd sizing the quality is great.