Here in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn and winter are fast approaching.

For the UK – and the Moles – that means mud. We’re not called the Muddymoles for nothing!

For several seasons now, most of us have sported long waterproof, or at least water resistant, MTB trousers. These are great, especially if you wear long waterproof socks beneath them. With kneepads and long socks you have sufficient layers to keep you warm and toasty through even the grimmest weather.

The concept

In this context, imagine my interest in an email from Madison, touting a new option, long MTB Bib Trousers.

Bib trousers? Well think of the benefit of bibshorts (which many of us wear under our MTB baggies or trousers). You get a comfortable undershort with no waistband digging in (ahem!).

Now consider if your MTB over trousers used a similar system, with straps over the shoulders. In fact I’ve often wondered this – why can’t we have summer shorts with braces, because my shorts are always falling down?

About Madison Bib Trousers

The idea behind Madison Bib Trousers seems to me something of a winner.

As with bibshorts, you get no waistband plus a higher rise front and rear to ward of chills and bad weather. On milder days you can probably get away with a relatively light top as a result.

More importantly, you get no slippage, no chance of your trousers gradually creeping down toward the floor.

Waterproofing

Madison Bib Trousers don’t try to be fully waterproof in the interests of breathability, but do have a waterproof rear and inner legs.

I don’t normally worry about whether clothing is waterproof personally, but many people do. Generally, water and mud comes from the ground up, and a decent rear mudguard saves a lot of trouble at the expense of style.

If the weather is that bad, I try not to leave the burrow.

If I am riding, getting caught in a downpour with only water resistant clothing is a price I am happy to pay to avoid sweating in a sauna suit the rest of the time. Again, waterproof socks and low profile kneepads go a long way to mitigating problems.

That said, some people do ride in bad weather with no mudguard so some effort at waterproofing is welcome.

Other features

More useful to the Bib Trousers perhaps is a couple of large pockets. One is a zipped chest pocket that looks pretty accommodating, plus you get a zipped hip pocket for phones and valuables.

A large hip zip helps make getting in and out much easier and with the high front and rear panels, you have a very practical piece of clothing. The majority of the garment is made from wind resistant fabric and there’s even reflective detailing for night riding.

The cherry on the cake is space for kneepads and the Madison Bib Trousers are available in different leg lengths at a reasonable sounding £149.99 RRP for both men and women.

I haven’t tried the Madison Bib Trousers yet, but am quite tempted since we try to ride at least three times a week, year round…

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.