Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Terry Cyclo Bra

7
£40.00

VERDICT:

7
10
Very comfortable, cycle-specific sports bra, offering support but not compression
Weight: 
84g
Contact: 
www.minx-girl.com

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

Did you know that Terry's make sports bras as well as chocolate oranges? Okay it may be different people but this cycling-specific crop-top style bra will keep your juicy fruits in check.

Sports Bras. Only half of us need them, but if you have knockers to be proud of, finding the right one is crucial to enjoying a comfortable, black-eye free ride. At 38 D I'm not exactly wanting in this department, so I was pleased to find that Terry cater for everything from 32A to 42DD.

Several design aspects make this bra suitable for cycling but the most crucial is the angled straps. Instead of sitting on my shoulder blades in a straight back to front line, they are angled in so that when I stretched out to the bars, the straps nestled in the cavity on my clavicle, leaving my shoulders free to move.

The straps are mesh, and join to form a wide racer T back which is also mesh. The support band under the bust is about 2cm wide and made of a soft but elastic fabric. I didn't notice any particular wicking properties and instead of the soft nylon which it was joined to, I would have liked to see additional mesh under the bust where things got rather sweaty.

The main fabric of the bra is a soft nylon, which is doubled layered at the front of the bra. This helped to wick swear away but again, the fabric wasn't the best at keeping my skin dry. The flat-seam construction meant that the whole bra was extremely comfy to wear.

The bra does not offer any compression and the fabric seemed a lot less elastic than my other sports bras as a result. This did mean it was not likely to be cutting off my circulation after a long ride, but if you value keeping everything exactly in its place then you may miss this. As I wasn't mountain-biking, however, I didn't feel that anything was going to go astray.

With the Terry bra there was no separation of the cups as it is of a crop top design, so it did lead to a bit of a cliff look rather than twin peaks. Apart from that the black with pink detail was pretty standard fare. This bra could quite easily be worn without further layering in the summer, a la the Sky mesh tops, without looking too different from a sports crop top.

Verdict

Very comfortable, cycle-specific sports bra, offering support but not compression.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Terry Cyclo Bra

Size tested: Black, XL

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Not just another sports bra, but one developed especially for cycling. The straps that angle slightly in at the front and form a wide racer back T shape at the back mean that your shoulder blades are kept pressure-free for maximum comfort and mobility. The fabric is soft as soft- even the tenderest of skin will love it, plus mesh inserts help keep you cool. A wide support band keeps everything in place and a flat-seam construction just adds to the comfort. Low to medium impact.

Minx likes: if you suffer (as mind does) with any feeling of pressure on your shoulders this is the one to try.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Fabric: Body: 76% nylon/ 24% spandex mesh:81% nylon/ 19% spandex

Meticulously developed out of the best feeling, best performing fabrics. Terry's new Cyclo Bra offers a wide bottom support band that won't chafe; softest, breathable mesh front and rear panels; flat-seam construction; exposed shoulder blades for mobility and comfort. Low to Medium impact.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
8/10

There were no buckles, seams or clips to get in the way.

Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Unsurprisingly cheaper in the US, where it is manufactured - we Brits lose out again when importing. Comparable to similar offerings.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It kept everything in place, but could have featured fabrics to deal better with sweat under and between the breasts.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The softness.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 5'7  Weight: size 16

I usually ride: Trek 7.5 WSD  My best bike is: Turquoise Cruiser

I've been riding for: Under 5 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Novice

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, general fitness riding, Leisure

 

Add new comment

8 comments

Avatar
Caroline Dodgson | 10 years ago
0 likes

It's not me in the photos this time (more's the pity) but thanks Mike for remembering rule 3! Amazingly even my 8yr old got a negative comment about what she was wearing in a bike review pic today!

Sorry Velovoice that we have differing senses of humour. It made me smile and I'm definitely a woman - I wasn't intending to play to a male audience, just to get the maximum of jokes in about chocolate oranges (mmm). You'll see the rest of the review settles down into technical details. I'm sure that Debbie will be more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Amanda - I am a D cup in most and double D sometimes, but the stretchiness of the fabric means that I would be happy to say that women with a slightly larger cup size should give it a try as I think it'd still be comfortable. Much larger, though, and this style of bra won't offer anything that could be considered appropriate support so I guess that's why the sizing stops there.

Avatar
amandaodell | 10 years ago
0 likes

Odd choice of cycling. Most women's brands don't offer anything larger than a size 12-14, which would be much smaller than the 42" band available here. At the same time, a DD cup isn't what I would consider to be generous at all - particularly considering that women of more generous proportions are much more likely to look for specialist support clothing!

Avatar
amandaodell | 10 years ago
0 likes

Odd choice of cycling. Most women's brands don't offer anything larger than a size 12-14, which would be much smaller than the 42" band available here. At the same time, a DD cup isn't what I would consider to be generous at all - particularly considering that women of more generous proportions are much more likely to look for specialist support clothing!

Avatar
amandaodell | 10 years ago
0 likes

Odd choice of cycling. Most women's brands don't offer anything larger than a size 12-14, which would be much smaller than the 42" band available here. At the same time, a DD cup isn't what I would consider to be generous at all - particularly considering that women of more generous proportions are much more likely to look for specialist support clothing!

Avatar
amandaodell | 10 years ago
0 likes

Odd choice of cycling. Most women's brands don't offer anything larger than a size 12-14, which would be much smaller than the 42" band available here. At the same time, a DD cup isn't what I would consider to be generous at all - particularly considering that women of more generous proportions are much more likely to look for specialist support clothing!

Avatar
amandaodell | 10 years ago
0 likes

Odd choice of cycling. Most women's brands don't offer anything larger than a size 12-14, which would be much smaller than the 42" band available here. At the same time, a DD cup isn't what I would consider to be generous at all - particularly considering that women of more generous proportions are much more likely to look for specialist support clothing!

Avatar
velovoice | 10 years ago
0 likes

KiwiMike, your response made me smile! Unfortunately, other guys may not show such restraint in view of Caroline's "oo er, missus" style of writing.  2

Caroline, I am interested in this bra and am really glad to see road.cc publishing reviews of women-specific items like this, but I'm really disappointed at your use of language here, which definitely plays to the guys in the audience rather than to the ladies. I actually have some questions about the product that I would liked to ask you here (which might have been of interest/help to other women readers) but think I'll go ask Debbie at Minx instead.

Avatar
KiwiMike | 10 years ago
0 likes

Just to clear this up right now:

Rule 3: http://road.cc/content/blog/108571-how-not-be-knob-female-cyclists

(good review Caroline, will point my wife at it as this was an issue. Thanks)

Latest Comments