Core Cargo and Pro Team Training shorts offer performance at a lower price
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Rapha have launched Core Cargo and Pro Team Training bib shorts(Image credit: Rapha)
Rapha say the Pro Team Training bib shorts are designed to complement the Pro Team Training jersey(Image credit: Rapha)
A look at the Rapha Pro Team Trainiing bib shorts(Image credit: Rapha)
Men's and women's versions of the Core Cargo shorts are available(Image credit: Rapha)
The storage is a good option for easily accessible extra food(Image credit: Rapha)
The leg pockets are big enough for phones, food or other small items(Image credit: Rapha)
The Core Cargo shorts feature a pocket on both legs as well as two to the rear(Image credit: Rapha)
British clothing brand Rapha has launched the Core Cargo bib shorts and Pro Team Training bib shorts, offering more affordable options to the company’s bib short range.
Both sets of bib shorts offer much of the design and performance attributes of the more expensive options but use different materials and chamois pads.
Rapha Core Cargo bib shorts
Rapha launched its first iteration of the Cargo bib shorts last spring, offering additional mesh cargo on the legs and lower back section of the bib shorts for storage on multi-day adventures or longer rides where more capacity for food, tools or spares were needed.
The shorts also doubled up, allowing riders to ride in a non-cycling-specific top, such as a t-shirt or shirt, without losing the storage capacity most cycling jerseys feature. While the shorts design were initially met with some bemusement, you can now see other brands adopting the additional pocket design.
The original and more premium Rapha Cargo bib shorts featured the brand’s ‘Brevet’ chamois pad and are constructed from a nylon/elastane material, while the newly-released Rapha Core Cargo bib shorts utilise the brand’s ‘Classic’ chamois pad and are constructed from a polyester/elastane blend resulting in the same utility shorts with around a 60 per cent price saving.
Silicone grippers on the leg prevent any riding up on the legs and lie-flat stitching should prevent any chafing from the seams.
Rapha says the material on the Core Cargo bibs is a ‘dense-knit fabric’ with minimal seams and a high-stretch offers a good fit for a range of body shapes without compromising comfort.
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Only available in black, the shorts have subtle Rapha logos sitting beneath the mesh leg pockets.
More trickle-down from its higher performance products is the new Rapha Pro Team Training bib shorts, which the brand says are ’a pair of performance bib shorts for fast training rides’ and could easily double up as racing shorts. Rapha says the shorts have been designed to complement the Pro Team Training jersey.
The bib shorts are based on Rapha's first iteration of the Pro Team bib short, which were used by Team Sky when Rapha sponsored the team, and adopts an all-new, high-density Pro Team chamois.
As expected from WorldTour-level bib shorts, the Pro Team Training bibs feature compression areas and a secure fit through silicone bands on the leg cuffs. Mesh bib straps and back section should prevent any cutting into the shoulders and add a level of sweat-wicking properties.
Like the Core Cargo bibs, the Pro Team Training shorts are only available in black, with the shorts featuring contrasting white Rapha lettering in the left leg in the classic style of the brand taken from designs from a by-gone era.
