A bad bike short feels like you're wearing a thick tarp vise-gripped to your legs. Whatever metaphor you think is the opposite describes the Carbon 3 Bib. Let's start with the 4.1 Motion chamois. The Y-shaped pad has a long strip underneath the perineum and a split section under the butt, allowing you to settle into the seat. A thin rash guard layer surrounds the beef of the pad. It's not the plushest we tested, and it's softer than most, but that slimness gives you a lot of bike feel. That might sound like you'll just feel everything (you don't), but instead the chamois lets you settle into the seat better than most. The perforated chamois—more on that later—offers good support and comfort, even when fully compressed and bumping through rooty terrain on a mountain bike.
The Carbon 3 Bib's straps trend toward the comfortable. It's an interesting combination, a high-performance chamois and an almost baggy upper, but it works. Too-tight bibs often have straps that look like banjo strings when you're riding hard, but the soft fabric of the Carbon 3 Bibs' straps conforms to and moves with your body. It even feels good against the skin.
Our tester wasn't sure about the feel of the carbon fabric on the shorts. It sticks to itself a bit, like Coban, and he wasn't sure if that would feel good against his skin. Turns out, the vet wrap feeling is great, with the perfect amount of compression for good blood flow; it achieves a tightness while maintaining a high level of comfort.
The Carbon 3 Bibs have the same superpower as Mr. Fantastic—elasticity. Despite a similar panel design to most bike shorts, the five-panel lowers move with your body as much as any option out there. That's thanks to the Lycra that makes up the bulk of the shorts (the carbon is peppered throughout it). Also known as Spandex or elastane, Lycra has incredible stretch, so even without a complicated pattern, the Carbon 3 Bibs don't hold you back. We did a lot of testing on trails this time, and these bibs were right there with us every time we got out of the saddle.
Leg hems can be one of three things: loose and floppy, too tight, or perfectly supportive. The laser-cut, seamless grippers on these bibs are the third. Like every other feature, they are calibrated for stretch, feeling tight at first but capable of staying in place without inhibiting movement during an aggressive move. Lastly, the shoulder straps also fit the philosophy. The outer seams may look bulky, but a one-inch section can almost double in length when pulled tight, so they aren't getting in the way when it's time to raise up out of the saddle.
In a statement maybe never uttered about bike clothes until now, the Carbon 3 Bibs are like pedaling in a pair of fishnet stockings, in the best way. We don't fully understand the alchemical effect of the carbon, but the thin Lycra and the carbon nodules wick sweat and hot air away from your legs. The strap fabric is also paper-thin, with a waffle pattern that allows maximum airflow. These would, hands-down, be our go-to for a desert bikepacking trip or for whenever someone tries to combine a spin studio with Bikram yoga.
We promised we'd return to the perforated chamois, and we're true to our word. Louis Garneau obviously put thought into how to cool the undercarriage. We never had problems with a sweaty chamois, even riding in full sun and hot temps, because a series of vents in the pouch in front of the pad allows a considerable amount of air through. Not enough that it feels windy, but enough to stay dry. Complementing that effect are a bunch of perforations in the chamois: These help the chamois move with you, but they also wick away moisture and heat. All these features might make the Carbon 3 Bib a bit unpleasant for a fall morning ride, but they're as good as it gets for hot, summer spins.
It's safe to say that it will be hard to trust the longevity of these bibs. The lightness of all the fabrics, which is what makes them incredible for hot-weather riding, lends them a flimsy feel.
Louis Garneau, like other manufacturers of high-end bike shorts, recommends careful washing and hang-drying, and we will follow this directive with these. After a couple of months of testing, they don't show any wear in high-abrasion areas like the seat, though the straps are a bit yellowed and dingy. That might be more correlated to the amount of sweat our tester exudes, but fellow drenchers take note.
Style is, of course, purely objective, and the bike short industry can be much like Derek Zoolander. Shorts, in general, have one look (smooth fabric with some small individualities), but the Carbon 3 Bibs throw off the yoke of conformity. They do not look like anything else we tested. If you like that, then you'll be happy to stand out among the crowd. We thought they looked a bit like a pair of tight basketball shorts, but maybe we're just old-fashioned.
The two-tone look of the white upper and black shorts is very classic and clean, though the slight yellowing of the straps is worrisome for long-term use. Bulky leg hems were both functional and stylish; these seem to be the norm in most higher-end bike shorts these days, and we're here for it.
It took us a couple rides to notice it, but these have a tiny tool or snack pocket along the lumbar spine area, which is functional but also stylish: It doesn't stand out in a super noticeable way, but it instead blends into the straps well.
If you live in a hot climate, you probably should have bought these yesterday. There aren't many cyclists who we wouldn't recommend these bibs to, but the penny pinchers might be scared off by the price tag. These were in the higher range of cost in the shorts we tested. It's a bit hard to assign the phrase good value to an almost $200 pair of bike shorts, but in this case, it fits
