Rapha Brevet Element cargo bib shorts review: pared-back features, but plenty of long-distance comfort

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Brevet is Rapha’s long-distance oriented kit, with a range of features designed for comfort, often including hi-vis elements to help keep you safe when riding through the night.

Rapha has recently launched the Brevet Cargo Bib Shorts III, which major on ultra-distance features, with an abundance of pockets and large reflectives. They carry a £260 price tag. 

The Brevet Element cargo shorts pare back the features, and are priced at £155 / $210 / €175 / AU$260, but still provide extra carrying capacity and a design that's built for distance. 

Rapha’s shorts include three cargo pockets in the legs, with the inner-right leg fabric pocket overlaid with a slightly less deep mesh pocket. Unlike many cargo bib shorts, including Rapha’s Brevet Cargo Bib Shorts III, there’s no pocket space at the rear.

The cargo pockets are wider than most and also deep, so there’s room for more stuff.

I found the overlaid mesh pocket on the right leg less useful, because there’s only so much you can load into it when you’re carrying gear in the fabric pocket underneath. It's a good place to stash empty wrappers, though, so they don’t leak residual gel onto other items.

The Rapha shorts are comfortable over a range of terrain, both on- and off-road. Rapha’s seat pad is less sophisticated than some, with a single-density foam insert with a pronounced outer edge. It’s thick, though, and there’s a thinner section that runs down the midline and helps reduce the risk of irritation. It absorbs shocks from uneven surfaces well and does a good job of distributing saddle pressure.

Rapha’s shorts aren’t the most compressive, but the pad stays in place through repeated shuffling to distribute weight and balance the bike off-road, thanks to the well-designed bibs and the large surface of the leg grippers. There’s a mix of flatlocked and raised seams, with wide sewn-in leg grippers with raw ends and silicone dots to keep them in place. 

The shorts have a very high waistband, which places their top around the mid-stomach, rising a long way up your back. It’s held in place by wide bib straps without sideways stretch, which have a long anchor that runs from the top of the waistband to the main body of the shorts. At the rear, the bibs’ yoke is made of thin mesh with side hems.

The high waistline helps to stabilise the shorts and their pad, as well as ensuring a broad overlap with top-half garments.

The fabric used is a mix of recycled nylon and 21% spandex. Rapha quotes a broad temperature range from 7 to 32°C, which suggests the Brevet Element shorts could be useful for an extended period of the year. 

I didn’t get the opportunity to see if they provide too much insulation once the temperature gets closer to the suggested 32°C upper limit, but the shorts were comfortable at mid-range temperatures.

Rapha Brevet Element cargo bib shorts bottom line

Rapha has produced another quality pair of shorts that handle off-road and on-road riding well, with a comfortable pad and quality details.

However, the mesh right-leg pocket is only really useful for empty packaging and the high waistband could provide too much insulation when the temperature rises.

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