Castelli SuperLeggera Culotte Tirantes Hombre, azul

Light, cool and straight out of the future
Castelli has been pushing the envelope on lightweight shorts since 2011 but has butted up against the limits of compromising durability for ever lighter weight. They needed to step back and find a better way.

Castelli examined what the short really needs to do: it needs to hold the seat pad securely in place while otherwise adding as little weight or fabric as absolutely necessary (without being transparent, obviously), and it needs to last a season of hard use. So they engineered a brand-new fabric using a woven rather than a knit that shaves 30% in weight for the same level of support and non-transparency. Also Castelli worked with the world's leading mill to construct a gradient fabric that becomes increasingly lighter the farther down the leg it extends, with the last part weighing a mere 90 g/m2 compared to normal short fabric, which weighs around 220 g/m2.

This fabric, while being insanely light, maintains a decent durability along with excellent abrasion resistance, at least against the saddle. Note that while the short saves a mere 48 grams while dry, this means it also absorbs around 30% less moisture when you're sweating. So when you're sweating your way up the Alpe d'Huez you're actually saving closer to 150 grams.

This short doesn't compromise on comfort. Castelli uses their top Progetto X2 Air Seamless seat pad, the spectacular striped mesh bibs from the Free Aero Race 4 Bibshort and a flat stretch woven leg gripper to keep everything in place.