I recently splurged on a long overdue cycling wardrobe refresh from Pearl Izumi, sampling a pretty wide variety of their bibs and jerseys in the process. These be my thoughts, I hope others will find them useful.
For fit and use context: I am 5’11ish, 60ish kg’s. Most of my rides in all the gear reviewed below have been in the 4-7 hour range on mountains, flats, rollers, gravel, pavement, etc.
Bib shorts:
- Extremely comfortable. Of all the shorts I’ve tested, these do the best job of ‘disappearing’. You put them on and they just work, hour after hour after hour.
- They are seamless and laser cut everywhere, so nothing digs or rubs anywhere.
- Elasticity built into the lower leg material, so no annoying too wide/not wide enough grippers to deal with.
- They are not very compressive --not loose or baggy by any means, but not compressive-- which makes them the most forgiving when it comes to fit.
- I chose the Medium. I might have been able to go with a size Small, but I’ve learned with performance bibs that when in doubt, size up. The Mediums feel great.
- Not much more to say about them because I really have no complaints --these are top quality bibs that do exactly what you want a top quality bib to do, 100%.
Pearl Izumi Pro/Black Bib Shorts
(The ‘Black’ in Pro/Black refers to the model line, not the color, although they are available in black, too!)
These are, according to my Pearl Izumi rep, the ‘we pulled out all the stops and tried to make the ultimate bib’ product in the line. For the most part, they succeeded, with one area that I have to hem and haw about a bit. But first:
- I chose a Medium. A Small would have been too tight, for sure, at the legs and at the torso and crotch.
- These are moderately compressive bibs. The legs aren’t squishy, they won’t cut off circulation, but compared to the regular ‘Pro’ bibs, they are a little less stretchy.
- The leg material and fit feels amazing. You put 'em on, and nothing moves or slides around, ever. Everything stays firmly and, if you’ve sized right, comfortably in place.
- Lower leg grippers are a reasonably width and very comfortable. They grip without clinging.
- Chamois is superb, set it and forget it, just like on the regular Pro bibs.
- They dry so quickly. Get soakingly sweaty on the climb, and by the time you reach the bottom of the descent you will be dry again.
- Problem #1 - Despite these supposedly being the be-all-end-all for quality in the PI bib lineup, there is a hem, or seam, around the top of the torso area. The torso area is of the ‘high bellied’ variety, which means that the seam can dig in or rub the area above your belly button or above your hips where the material terminates there.
After a few washes, the irritation diminished significantly. Once you are well into a ride, the irritation also diminishes as the material stretches and gets a little moist. - Problem #2 - The straps are very comfortable. Very stretchy, very soft, very frictionless. So what’s the problem? They criss-cross in the back. I’m not sure what the function of criss-crossing straps is, other than to add a minute of complication to getting dressed before a ride, as you try to untwist the material and get everything to sit flat.
- Overall: I’d buy these again in a heartbeat, despite the above little niggles. The shammy and legs and straps *are so good.
Pearl Izumi Expedition Pro Bib Short
These feel very similar to the Pro/Black short reviewed immediately above, although the criss-cross straps in the back are designed in a way that is not annoying at all here.
The main differences between the Expedition Pro and the Pro/Black are
- The Expedition Pro bib short is extremely compressive and the material at the legs is firm with almost no elasticity. I am very thin, with thin climber’s legs, and yet the Medium cut off my circulation so bad that after a 5 and a half hour ride in these shorts, my legs were throbbing for the rest of the day, as if I had ridden twice as long at twice the effort. I solved the problem by shoving a round gallon bottle of windshield wiper fluid into each leg and leaving it like that overnight. I did this again after another wear 'n wash cycle, and now they fit great!*
-* The pockets are incredible. When cargo bibs came out, I was a little skeptical, having been just fine using my jersey pockets for the last 15 years. But taking some of that weight out of your back pockets and putting it somewhere else changes, in a very pleasant way, the way it feels to stand up and move around on the bike. Once the stuff is situated in those leg pockets, you won’t even feel it’s there after a minute or two. Spacious enough to fit a pair of midweight gloves or a lightweight jacked, plus a plug kit, a key fob, and my national park pass/license/credit card. Or more snacks and a combination of the above. I enjoy having those pockets so much, I kind of wish all my bibs had 'em. They are especially going to be a boon on long winter rides, when my jacket or vest will cover my jersey pockets and I want quick n easy access to snacks. - Overall, if you can figure out how to deal with the extremely compressive fit (perhaps size up twice!) these bibs are highly recommended. I mean, if you can have extra pockets without sacrificing anything else, why not?
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And now for the short reviews of shirts.
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Pearl Izumi Expedition Jersey
A well priced jersey, very comfortable material. The smallest size is a ‘Small’, which was too baggy around my shoulders and armpits, leaving too much flap for my liking. Not terrible, in fact, well within the range of perfection for many people’s preferences. But this is not a race/form fit jersey, and Small is the smallest size they make, so I sold the three of them I had bought to a friend. In hindsight, maybe I should have kept them, because they’d have been perfect on top of a thick winter baselayer. In any case, I liked everything about this jersey except that I wanted it in a non-existent XS size, aaaaand: There are 5 pockets, including two zip pockets. Hence the ‘Expedition’ nomenclature, which indicates More Cargo Space in the Pearl Izumi line. However, those zip pockets sit right on top of the regular pockets. If you put, say, an electric micro inflator in either the zip pocket or the non-zip pocket underneath the zip pocket, you are diminishing the cargo space in the other pocket. So yes, we have extra pockets but only a very marginal amount of extra storage space. Still, marginal gains and all. Overall, highly recommended. I’d say the size small would be great for someone 145-150 lbs person who prefers a snugger fit, or someone 135-145 who wants something with a little more space.
Pearl Izumi Pro Jersey
This is an easy jersey to get along with and recommend. It’s very race fit/form fitting without being ultra compressive. Material is very comfortable and cool. Sleeves feel nice, with the edges falling just above my elbows on lower slopes of my ‘biceps’ (so to speak). Torso coverage is plenty long enough for a tall and thin person to wear a size S without the jersey looking like a cut-off belly shirt. Like the Pro Bib short, this jersey is simple in the best way possible. No fuss, just perfect ‘set it and forget it’ comfort. **The size Small fit me great!
Pearl Izumi PI/Red Jersey**
(Red is the name of the product line, not the color of the jersey, although the Cherry Tomato red version is brilliant and probably my favorite color of any jersey I own.)
Overall this is my favorite jersey of the bunch, but beware of two things:
#1 - It fits like a belly shirt. at 5’11", the size Small only just covers my belly button. This is because the jersey is made to be worn with PI’s high-waisted PI/Red and PI/Pro Black series bibs, where the bib takes care of half your torso coverage. Pearl Izumi also says it’s made to (paraphrasing) “provide all the coverage you need when in a riding position”, apparently without too much concern for what you look like when you stop at 7-11 for bottle refills.
#2 - Despite Pearl Izumi’s product description making this jersey seem like a more relaxed fit than their Pro jersey, it is in fact much snugger. I’d call this an aero race-fit. A medium would be too large for me, but the Small, while incredibly comfortable, does not leave any spare material anywhere.
This is the kind of jersey where you put it on after wearing a bunch of mid-tier jerseys for the last few years and say ‘oh yeah, so there is a difference beyond just the price tag.’
Pocket space is a little smaller than on the Pro jersey, but there’s still plenty enough room to fit a micro compressor, plug kit, Clif Bar, package of Shotbloks, phone, and a few cards --without feeling jam packed at all.
Overall, this is the first jersey I choose out of a fresh wash cycle. I love the Cherry Tomato color. I mean, I love that color. It’s super high-viz and the rich bright reddish/orange brightens my mood when I look down at it while riding. For fit purposes, try it on over a pair of bibs before cutting off the tags.