Sugoi Firewall 220 three-quarter tights £115

As the seasons do their yearly switchover, three-quarter length tights become a useful, and for the RCUK team, an essential piece of attire. They keep your knees and some of the calf muscle covered up without the warmth that full-length tights provide, and in the right conditions are preferable to bib shorts worn with knee warmers.

It’s perfectly reasonable too to suspect that you might get caught in some undesirable weather at this time of year, with sudden and heavy bursts of rain a frequent occurrence. So Sugoi has pitched these three-quarters at exactly this kind of weather. It’s used a combination of Firewall 220 fabric on the front panels, providing an impenetrable shield to the wind, and SubZero DWR elsewhere, a fleece lined waterproof fabric.

The material is fairly stiff so the major lack of stretch makes getting into them a bit of a mission. Once on they’re noticeably close-fitting. Despite an eight-panel design the fit is less than perfect around the crotch area, where the material pulls quite badly. The knees are pre-shaped which helps the on-the-bike fit, and the elastic and gripper taped leg openings prevented them from shifting around.

A top-of-the-line Formula FX chamois provides plenty of comfort, even on day-long rides, and the mesh-lined bib straps and large back section are plenty comfortable enough, with a generous degree of stretch. Flat seams hold everything together and there’s some reflective panels on the legs.