Castelli Premio Evo bib shorts review: tremendously comfortable but oh so pricey 

Castelli claims its new Premio Evo line is its “most comfortable cycling kit ever”, with these bib shorts the centrepiece of the collection. 

They’re certainly very different from the Premio Black bib shorts they replace and pack some fascinating tech that represents a departure for Castelli in certain areas. 

In testing, the Premio Evos impressed mightily with their luxurious comfort on long rides.

Although I found they required breaking in and some might prefer the pad to sit a little higher at the front, there’s very little else I can criticise these shorts for… bar the upsetting £299 / $329.99 / €289.95 / AU$469 price. 

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Castelli Premio Evo bib shorts construction

Castelli says the Premio Evo bib shorts are designed for “ultimate long-distance comfort, support, speed and durability”. 

The word ‘ultimate’ is important here because the Premio Evos are Castelli’s most expensive bib shorts for 2025 by a significant margin – the brand’s next costliest bib shorts are the Superleggeras at £210 / $239.99 / €199.95 / AU$339. 

Compared to the Premio Black bib shorts, Castelli has reduced the number of seams and revised the shorts' compression, as well as the fit, “so that you don’t feel like you’re wearing” them. 

At the centre of the shorts is the tried-and-tested Progetto X2 Air Seamless seat pad – this pad has sat at the top of Castelli’s chamois tree for many years and for good reason. 

The pad also features on the Castelli Espresso bib shorts, which I dubbed the best bib shorts under £200 (alongside the Q36.5 Gregarius Pro), as well as the Free Aero Race S bib shorts my colleague, Ashley Quinlan, reviewed earlier this year. 

The big-ticket update on the Premio Evos is the use of ”gradient-stretch woven fabric”. Castelli claims this fabric weighs 30 per cent less than a comparable knit fabric, and that it provides optimal support. 

The bib straps are designed to be soft and stretchy for comfort, but interestingly omit any of the perforations Castelli has been using for quite a while on its other shorts for extra ventilation. 

Those perforations have now moved to the back panel of the bib straps, with Castelli saying it didn’t want an excess of fabric at the chest on the men’s model. 

Rather than use a silicone gripper, the Premio Evo bib shorts have an integrated gripper elastic on the entirety of the leg. 

On its arbitrary scale, Castelli rates the breathability and lightness of the shorts as five out of five, with insulation, waterproofness and windproofness each scoring one out of five. The brand recommends a 16 to 35ºC temperature range for these shorts. 

The shorts weigh only 161g in a size large on my scales (albeit it’s worth noting that at the time of writing, Castelli erroneously quotes a 304g weight). 

The Premio Evo bib shorts come in three colours – black, Smoky Gray or Belgian Blue – and seven sizes, from XS to 3XL. There’s also a women's specific version called the Castelli Premio Evo W DT Bibshort. 

Castelli Premio Evo bib shorts performance

I tested the shorts on both road and gravel rides of varying distances and temperatures ranging from 9 to 31°C. 

The shorts were one of two options on rotation for a five-day bikepacking trip – the Traversée du Massif Vosgien, a 408km off-road route through the French Vosges mountains, covering a hefty 10,800m elevation. 

Another notable ride I used them for was an eight-hour escapade around Salisbury Plain in the UK. 

The bib shorts were tested on three saddles – a Fabric Scoop, a Specialized Romin EVO Pro with Mirror and a WTB Volt. 

The shorts felt very different from other Castelli options I’m familiar with, and I wasn’t sold on these over my first couple of rides. The material underneath the pad felt slippery on the saddle and the straps rather tight. 

Fortunately, it proved to be just a breaking-in period because after my third ride, the material stopped slipping and the straps’ tension loosened slightly. 

On the whole, I found the fit exemplary for my anatomy. You should feel similar if you’ve got on with Castelli bib shorts in the past because the fit is unchanged compared to its other shorts – a good thing. The new ‘gradient-stretch woven fabric’ feels very compressive and premium against the skin, with no bagginess whatsoever when assuming a riding position. 

One thing I noticed was the front of the waist is a little higher than other Castelli shorts, but this didn't affect the shorts' performance. However, a higher waist offers a little more gut coverage, which may or may not appeal to certain riders.  

The only criticism I can level at the fit is that I wish the front of the pad came up a little higher, to stop sweat patches showing (although this wasn’t a problem on the black shorts I tested). 

It’s one of the few qualms I had about the Castelli Espresso, too, with the front short panel starting to saturate on particularly hot days (27ºC upwards) because of this. 

It might prove to be a more significant problem on the Smoky Gray colourway because of its lighter shade. 

The Progetto X2 Air Seamless seat pad is a proven performer and these shorts didn’t cause me any problems on my all-day sojourns – chamois comfort is subjective, of course, but few have such a positive reputation as this.

The average-length, but tight bib straps are excellent and keep the shorts firmly in place, distributing tension evenly across the shoulders, while being comfortable. I didn’t miss the open-panel bib design found on other Castelli shorts, instead finding heat channelled out of the back fabric, just as the brand claims. 

I was happy to wear these shorts up to 28ºC – anything hotter, and I’d switch to a dedicated hot-weather option. Although Castelli states a minimum 16ºC temperature figure, I was comfortable to run these down to 10ºC with knee warmers. 

The integrated gripper elastic on the entirety of the inside of the leg is a nice alternative to grippers, sticking the shorts down like glue. 

There’s no denying the Premio Evos are very expensive, but the performance is certainly commensurate. Rapha’s Pro Team Powerweave bib shorts are £300 / $380 / €345 / AU$530, but are distinctly more race-focused. 

It’s a very close-run battle between the two – I prefer the fit of the Premio Evos and the pad over longer distances. However, the unconventional fit is something to be admired on the men’s version of the Rapha shorts, they ventilate better at higher temperatures and the Powerweave fabric is similarly impressive. 

The Premio Evos are certainly streets ahead of any of the 3D-printed bib shorts I tested recently – and some of those are significantly more expensive. 

Heading down to the other end of the bib-shorts spectrum, when you consider the Castelli Espresso shorts are priced at £160, is it worth spending almost double the cash? 

The answer is (annoyingly) a yes – there’s a noticeable difference in the materials and these shorts perform better across a wider range of temperatures, but the Espressos are very impressive for the price. 

Castelli Premio Evo bib shorts bottom line

Castelli’s Premio Evo bib shorts are a brilliant option from the Italian brand and thoroughly impressed with their comfort over my longest rides – they rank firmly among my favourites. 

There’s no denying they’re eye-wateringly costly, but you’re getting top performance to match – if riding over long distances is your bag. 

Yes, there are excellent bib shorts available for much cheaper, but the Premio Evos make a compelling case with their lavish construction methods. 

If the pad sat a little higher and they were priced a little lower – say, £200-£250 (I realise that’s still a lot of money, but I’ve based this on the context of other shorts) – the case to score full marks would be strong. 

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