What my cyling summer is going to look like, I am not exactly sure. What items I am going to rock this spring & summer? I am quite sure. Tour de France or not, I am going to choose yellow.
On a sunday morning, as I was scrolling through Instagram, my eye was caught by a DHB international women’s post. I particularly fancied a yellow dotted jersey. I commented and liked, got in touch and was asked to test some of their styles. Nice!
Let me first tell you a bit about DHB sportswear. DHB is the in-house clothing and accessories brand of UK based online sporting goods retailer Wiggle Ltd. DHB is a technical tri-sports kit brand, founded in Hampshire, UK, in 2004. They are passionate about the exhilaration of being outside and enjoying sport. Their collections are designed for all levels of participant – from novice to professional across a range of disciplines.
I am not a professional nor a novice but I am a fashion loving female cyclist, which is why I tested DHB’s MODA line, called their confident, versatile and supportive line.
I choose MODA’s Kyoto longsleeve dotted black and white shirt and matching bib shorts, as well as a MODA’s high-cut bibshorts and Dahlia shortsleeve shirt. And to go with all that a light weighted baselayer.
DHB’s MODA line is a new member of the DHB family – and as its’ name reveils, to those who speak Italian, it is an utmost fashionable family member. Consider it as the confident – always head turning- fashionable niece, who likes to break with the conventional and does what she loves most: looking good. The thing with me being a female cyclist is, that wearing lycra all over, a helmet and big sunnies, it sometimes feels that the only thing that distinguishes me from the gents is my braid. And where there are a dozen ‘coolest’ kits on the block brands for gents, somehow the lady version is often only a slightly adjusted version of the male one, in the worst case in the same fabric (not a really big fan of matchy matchy) and in the best case a pink version or a pink detailed version.
But then there was MODA. Team MODA has been doing some great research into the garments that are chosen by men and women in other types of sports and and have applied this knowledge into their latest collections. They have also looked at issues women cyclists are dealing with (in all honesty not all are issues I deal with) and came up with some great solutions.
BIB shorts – A happy and good looking bum
My first impression of the bibs was that they looked different fashion-wise and therefor great. Especially the upper part of the bib shorts looked really, really great with innovative racerbacks or a matching fabric to the shirt, fashion statements I have never seen before in any brand and which made my fashionista heart beat a whole lot faster. Second of all the fit was less tight (eventhough I already ordered a size smaller) but somehow made my waist look tinier (hear hear) . On top of that, the short was longer with no silicone gripper at the end. This took some getting used to on my part, but I can imagine there are a whole lot of women out their who start to sing halleluja, as shorter shorts with silicone grippers do tend to cause the occasional sausage leg. The seat padding has a different position, less up my bum so to speak. This does seem more logical and much more aesthetic, but I was very curious as to how this would work out for me as I am quite used to riding pretty aggressive on my aerodynamical Aeroad. I wore the bib shorts on long rides or short, heavy intervals and on both type of rides I was really surprised at the level of support in the right spot. The longer, no grippers shorts also felt super comfortable, once I got used to it and it did feel they lengthened and flattered my legs. Feeling good on the bike and looking good off the bike with these bibs. What more does a (female) cyclist want?
DHB’s cycling shirts – The way they wear
The cycling shirts have a great design, I already knew that, but would I also be as positive about the way they wear? As I unpacked them I felt the main body is made of a soft polyester fabric which feels super comfortable. The inserts are made of polyester and elastan which adds some extra comfort under your arms. Clever. The shirts have three rear pockets and a small zipper pocket (always handy!) and a lower collar which I particularly like. As I tried them on it felt they were little bit too big for me, despite the fact that I ordered them a size smaller (which worked out well for the bib shorts). On that note, I have to admit I am pretty used to wearing super, super tight shirts on the bike. This shirt was designed to please all kinds of women cyclists and I guess if you’re not a pro (or wanna be like me), you will be much happier with a less tight fit, especially off the bike going for that well-deserved coffee and cake after your ride. The shirt offered a lot of comfort during my rides and the rear pockets were positioned very well, which strangely enough often does not seem to be the case.
Overall I am super happy to add these new fashion statements to my cycling closet and I will definitely flaunt these styles this summer along the cycling boulevard.
KimQ76 