Sports bras

Sports bras represent a major potential area of improvement for the current crop of cycling clothing brands – but there are some winners out there.

The primary issue in finding a good cycling-friendly sports bra lies with the fact that, as it sits against the skin during high-intensity activity, it needs to be breathable and sweat-wicking, while supportive or compressive fabric generally needs to be denser.

Female cyclists with smaller chests are likely to choose a light, low-support bra which will pair well with a base layer and jersey combination designed to keep the skin cool and dry.

Those requiring more support will either sacrifice this, and spend their rides weaving between potholes, or endure the cold and sweaty caress of a compressive but damp sports bra acting as a layer between the skin and those high-quality base layers brands spend so much time and energy designing. This is a particularly unwelcome sensation during coffee-stop breaks on long winter rides.

The second trade-off is between the comfort afforded by a stretchy construction minus chafing hooks and eyes, versus the ease of removal afforded by a back fastening, which does away with that post-turbo thrashing somewhat