Universal Colours Chroma Women’s Bib Shorts review

The Chroma is a high-compression women's cycling bib short from Universal Colours, Sigma Sport's in-house brand, that offers top-level performance while looking great.

A range of recycled materials are used in the range-topping short's construction, yet testing revealed no compromises have been made to fit, comfort, durability or aesthetics.

Universal Colours Chroma Women’s Bib Short specifications and details

Constructed from a high-compression woven Nylon blend, the Chroma women's bib shorts use recycled materials across multiple elements, including the Elastic Interface-made chamois.

The Road Performance Space 2 pad is a thick, high-density chamois, said to be suitable for all-day riding.

Up top, the wide elasticated bib straps join briefly on the upper back as part of Universal Colours’ ‘Nature Calls’ design (more on this to come).

The legs are finished with a raw hem, backed by a strip of printed silicone dots using the brand’s logo.

Design tweaks have been made since the first iteration of the short, according to Universal Colours, including a higher waist, a refined waistband, and a longer leg length.

There’s a plentiful range of seven sizes, a range of colours away from the bog-standard black, and lots of recycled materials both in the bib short’s construction and in the packaging and tags supplied.

The Chroma bib short costs a princely £190, making it one of the more expensive bib shorts on the market today.

It is also available in a men’s variant.

Universal Colours Chroma Women’s Bib Short performance

From the very first time I tried on the Chroma bib short, it was clear that these are worthy of a place among the best women's cycling shorts.

The high compression bibs gave a true-to-size fit on my 165cm frame and offered a really lovely matte appearance, which I strongly prefer to the glossier finish of Universal Colours’ cheaper Mono bibs.

As with many of the best women’s cycling shorts, the Chroma features a raw hem on each leg to avoid any sausage-leg discomfort, and those hems are kept perfectly in place thanks to the subtle silicone dots on the inside.

The luxuriously soft short material extends quite high up the waist too. You can see why when worn with the matching Chroma jersey, which is slightly more cropped than many other women's cycling jerseys.

The fabric is also double layered on the lower back panel down to the chamois, which improves opacity and gives peace of mind for modesty.

There’s no change when you start pedalling; each hem and strap stays perfectly in place, without digging in or chafing. The thick chamois excels, providing more than ample comfort over longer rides as well as quick blasts.

Not all riders will enjoy this extra thick chamois, which I certainly noticed off the bike, though for riders like me who appreciate a little extra cushion, it’s a real win.

The ‘Nature Calls’ bib design allows you to drop the shorts for toilet breaks without having to remove any additional layers. This is one of my favourite mechanisms, similar to that found in the Velocio Women’s LUXE and 7mesh Women's WK3 bib shorts. You simply pull down at the back, with no unclipping or unfastening required.

Breathability was generally pretty good, only showing very slight damp patches on the crease of the thigh in the most humid rides. These soon evaporated off the bike after finishing the effort.

I sense that if the shade of purple were a little lighter, this would have been much more obvious.

The Chroma bib shorts have been on heavy rotation through the testing period, though even after half a dozen laundry cycles they’re still looking good as new, a testament to the high construction quality.

Universal Colours Chroma Women’s Bib Short bottom line

It’s clear that the Chroma bib shorts are worthy of their top spot in the Universal Colours bib line-up, with the design's clear attention to detail creating a fabulously figure-fitting and comfortable pair of cycling shorts.

High standards do come at a price, though.