Maap Alt_Road Cargo Bib 2.0 review: A marked improvement over the previous pair

Gravel is, to quote Eminem, going through changes. Yes I know these shorts aren’t technically gravel-specific, but Maap’s Alt_Road range is gravelly in all but name, so please just go with it for a second. A lot of the washing machine cycle of gravel chat has been focussed on the bikes, with wider tyres, the advent of suspension, and the death of The Spirit of Gravel (whatever that means) as a result of the ever more popular gravel racing circuit. 

Even the adventure riding side of things has changed, and as a result, so have the best cargo bib shorts. The industry assumption that gravel riders want to wear a set of bibs and a T-shirt and so need the three rear pockets on the shorts to compensate is slowly fading, and happily, it means pocket configurations are improving. 

Enter the Maap Alt-Road Cargo Bib 2.0, the Australian brand’s second attempt at making an adventure bib short - and a much more successful one, I might add. I rode in the previous iteration for a long time, and the pockets were a bit off and just too compressive for all-day sessions in the saddle. The 2.0 version has addressed many of these issues, and I’ve been riding them on and off-road in recent weeks, as well as indoors, to see how they handle the heat. 

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Design and aesthetics 

I’m going to start with pockets here because it’s actually something I think can truly make or break a set of cargo bibs. The old version had pockets that were… not great. One open one on the thigh, an odd zipped one on the other leg, and two elastic ones in the small of the back. The zipped leg one wasted the prime real estate that should be there for regular-use items (snacks, phone, a Dynaplug Racer tool), and I never used it because I don’t want to risk falling on my keys or other valuables. The pockets in the small of the back were fine, but I’ve never found the rear pockets on most cargo bibs useful. 

The pockets on the Maap Alt_Road Cargo Bib 2.0, however, are much better, great even, and up there with other usefully-pocketed options like the Albion ABR1 Pocket bibs and the Le Col ARC Gravel bibs. Two full-sized thigh pockets, both open, and a novel new rear pocket arrangement consisting of an open, central, phone-sized pouch, and two overlapping, full-width pockets accessed with zips from each side. 

Pockets aside, the general vibe of the shorts is very similar to the outgoing version, just with different materials. The old version was incredibly compressive, with a luxe, almost velvety feel. That’s all gone, with a lower-compression Lycra front and rear and a similarly compressive but far more abrasion-resistant fabric for the outer thighs and pockets.

Despite a trend towards lower profile or raw edge grippers, Maap has stuck here to a more traditional but very wide elastic gripper for the end of the thigh. 

The straps are a two-part affair, with thick elastic straps at the front and a hemmed lycra Y-strap up the back, into which the pockets are built. 

The Chamois is off-road specific (see, I told you they were gravel shorts!), but don’t let that stop you from riding them on the road, too. Having ridden plenty of Maap shorts, I can say the difference is more in the chamois firmness, with the Alt_Road bibs having a slightly firmer pad than the brand’s road-oriented shorts. 

The aesthetics are going to split opinion. Personally I really like them; there’s a soupçon of the gorpcore about them now, especially with the gridded thigh fabric, and while black shorts reign supreme on the road, I do like having something a little different.  

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Performance

Ultimately bib shorts, whether cargo or not, are judged on whether they are comfortable. I am happy to report that the Maap Alt_Road Cargo Bib 2.0 are a comfy pair of bibs. Part of this is down to the chamois, but as I’ve gone into in my own lab testing chamois comfort is personal to one’s anatomy, and things are far more dependent on whether the saddle you have suits you. 

That being said, I do really like the Maap pad, especially in this firmer variant. Maybe it suits my anatomy well, but on rougher roads, the firmer pad seems to compress less, and on indoor sessions it also ended up feeling a little less sweaty too. It might not be to everyone's taste, so if you like a softer chamois, then look elsewhere. 

The lower levels of compression on offer help greatly too, especially for longer days. Compression feels appropriate for shorter, harder rides, but for longer sessions (and particularly if your riding involves an amount of hanging out off-bike too), it can feel restrictive. They are still more compressive than more classic bib shorts like the Rapha Core Cargo and the Rapha Cargo bibs, but not so much to make you want to peel them off as soon as you get home. The lower compression means that you can stick to your normal shorts size, whereas I had to size up in the old version. 

The leg grippers are still a little tight for my liking. I don’t have particularly large things, but there was a modicum of sausage-legging going on, though they are so wide that they never felt biting once, something I criticised the Rapha Cargo Bibs for, and nor did they shift at all. Likewise, the straps seem to be made of unnecessarily thick elastic. They certainly stay in place, but they’re overkill in my opinion when compared to something like the raw edge lycra used on Pearl Izumi shorts. 

The pockets, as you might have gathered from the design section, I am a fan of. Leg pockets should just be a pair of bins into which all manner of snack, phone, spares etc can be stuffed. I particularly like the fact that the outer fabric is still that more durable grid, meaning things are less likely to wear through. 

The rear pockets are also up there with the best. Off road I am always a little concerned with my valuables (keys, wallet, lucky rabbit's foot) ejecting when the going gets rough, and so having two large zipped pockets was great for putting stuff that you rarely need to actually access. I tend to keep my phone in my leg pocket for easy photo access, but the central phone pouch at the back I am also on board with. You could still probably use these with a rad lad gravel tee if you so wish, with some tactical packing. 

While testing bib shorts in February and March can be a chilly affair I did make sure to give them a few sweaty sessions on the indoor trainer. They aren’t going to challenge a dedicated set of lightweight, peak summer bib shorts, but they did relatively well. In the brown colourway, I did end up with quite an unseemly stomach sweat patch, but without the evaporative effect of actually riding outside in the heat, this is bound to happen. Ultimately, more durable fabrics tend to be less breathable, but I’d happily head out in all but the hottest weather Britain can conjure up. 

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Value

Maap is certainly among the more premium brands out there in the cycling space, and with an RRP of £250 / $320 these are certainly up there with the most expensive bib shorts on the market, but they are of a similar price to top-end options from the likes of Rapha and Assos. 

Value isn’t the same as price, and while these are quite expensive compared to many shorts, I found them to be comfortable, well-thought-out, and well-made. The pockets are better than many other options out there, and the durable fabric on the outer legs should mean they last a little longer if you’re prone to riding through thorny thickets, rocky gulleys, or are prone to the odd unscheduled lie down. 

In short, they’re reasonably good value. Not amazing, but far from a rip-off. 

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Verdict

The Maap Alt_Road Cargo Bib 2.0 is a marked improvement over the first version. The comfort has been improved greatly by reducing the compression levels, which will be of benefit for those heading out on longer excursions where distance is more important than speed. The firmer chamois, mad as it sounds, makes sense off-road, and the pockets have been made far more useful, too. 

The large leg grippers are perhaps a little tight, but not uncomfortable, and in the hottest weather, you may want to reach for something more breathable, but those are my only major criticisms of what is an excellent pair of bibs that I’ll continue to use on and off-road.