Best seamless sports bra skin#

The band comes up much tighter than a standard, non-sports bra - it is advised that you go up one band size, but maintain the cup size. We’ve had several of these bras in the past, and they have all lasted excellently through many wash cycles, with the hook and eye wires only failing after a good few years use. The Multi Sports bra uses a racer back, with two hook and eye clasps as well as adjustable straps. The University of Portsmouth’s test found this style reduced breast bounce by 74.7%. The inner layer uses ‘Simplex’ to encapsulate each breast, and then over the top is a classic crop top style which provides compression. This is a ‘combination’ bra, meaning it combines compression and encapsulation to offer support. Best sports bra for cycling: combination and encapsulation bras They found that the bras that were most effective at restricting breast bounce had an encapsulation style, padded cups, nylon as the principle fabric, and adjustable underband and high neck drop. The researchers also looked at underwire presence, shoulder strap adjustability and configuration, principle fibre content, underband adjustability, cup padding presence, underband closure type, underband closure location and neck drop. Those who have larger breasts or enjoy off-road riding would likely be better served by an encapsulation or combination style bra as these provide more support. Some encapsulation sports bras include moulded cups and underwire to separate each breast however with advances in design, separation can also be created without the use of wire.įinally, there is the combination style, which encapsulates each breast, and then adds a front panel which provides compression. The encapsulation style has completely separated and defined cups. This style of bra is typically the quickest drying, as well. Compression style bras provide the lowest level of support, and it's likely that cycling brands choose them because road riding is relatively low impact and therefore doesn’t require as much support as running or mountain biking. These often have wide shoulder straps, a larger back panel and are usually taken on/off by pulling over the head. They are designed to restrict breast movement by flattening the breasts against the chest wall. Most bras created by cycling specific brands fall into the 'compression' category. The first of these characteristics was 'bra style'. When working on the study 'How the characteristics of sports bras affect their performance' researchers at Portsmouth University split bras into categories, based on ten characteristics. The second trade-off is between the comfort afforded by a stretchy construction minus chafing hooks and eyes, vs the ease of removal afforded by a back fastening, which does away with that post-turbo thrashing somewhat reminiscent of a salmon caught in a damp net. This is a particularly unwelcome sensation during coffee stop breaks on long winter rides.

Best seamless sports bra skin#

Those requiring more support will either sacrifice this, and spend their rides weaving between potholes to avoid bounce, or endure the cold and sweaty caress of a compressive but damp sports bra acting as a layer between the skin and those high-quality base layers brands spend so much time and energy designing. The primary issue in finding a good sports bra for cycling lies with the fact that a piece of clothing that sits against the skin during high-intensity activity needs to be breathable and to wick sweat, whilst supportive or compressive fabric generally needs to be denser.įemale cyclists with less breast tissue to support are likely to choose a light, low support bra which will co-operate with a base layer and jersey combination designed to keep the skin cool and dry. However, we've put a selection through their paces and found some clear winners both in terms of providing support and breathability. Finding the best sports bra for cycling is no easy task - sports bras represent a major area of improvement for the current crop of cycling clothing brands.