You’ve gotta have knee warmers. Enough said. With them, you can extend your riding season or ride times to adjust to varying temperatures. Keeping those knees warm is essential and Bontrager’s Thermal Knee Warmers are a great addition to either your regular kit or thermal bib shorts.
Bontrager Thermal Knee Warmers Features:
- Thermal fabric adds warmth and wicks moisture
- Breathable and fast-drying
- Anatomic left/right design
- Wide upper cuff with silicone print
- Stretchy lower cuff
- MSRP: $39.99
Warm knees = happy knees
As temperatures drop, you can almost spend as much time dressing for a ride as the ride itself, but it’s always a good idea to have a variety of pieces of kit for whatever temperatures or conditions you’ll face. Separate arm and leg warmers can extend the utility of your favorite kits or add protection for those shoulder-season specialty items.
Let’s start things off by covering something really nice about the Bontrager Thermal Knee Warmers. The design is anatomic for right and left knees and they feature articulation for proper fit. Sometimes, knee or arm warmers are simply a sewn fabric tube, which causes bunching. With Bontrager’s design, bunching is all-but eliminated and the fit remains streamlined and comfortable. The only niggle is that you can feel the seam behind the knee, but only if you really think about it. As you’d expect, the seams are flat-stitched, so they don’t dig into your skin (bonus).
As important as the fit is, knee warmers absolutely must stay put for fuss-free use. To do that, these feature a 2-inch wide, thin upper band with a subtle silicone print backing. It’s stretchy enough that it never gets in the way of your leg muscles and yet it stays put underneath every pair of bib shorts I’ve used. I will say that the cuff does have a tendency (at least mine did) to fold over itself. On one particular ride, the left cuff folded over itself as I put them on. About a mile later, they crept down my leg. Upon inspection, I flipped the cuff open and they remained fuss-free.
I’ve loved the stretchiness of the fabric and never felt constricted under any riding conditions. The warmth offered is awesome and wind protection is superb. Keeping those knees warm on a cool fall day is essential and these do that trick nicely. It’s nice that the fabric stretches enough to take them on/off without removing your shoes as well. I do wish they had a light DWR to keep moisture at bay, but they do stay warm when wet.
Pairing these with a set of thermal bib shorts is naturally the best option. I’ve been using them with both the Sportful Fiandre NoRain and Bontrager Velocis thermal bib shorts. Either one matches up nicely with fleece-backed goodness for warmth and protection. I suppose you could pair them with regular bib shorts as well.
The Good
- Good stretch for a comfy fit
- Wide upper cuff keeps things in place
- Flat stitching
The Bad
- No water resistance
The Bottom Line: Bontrager Thermal Knee Warmers
As far as knee warmers go, the Bontrager Thermal Knee Warmers are fantastic. The anatomical fit and warmth offered allows me to stay warm on cool rides while still wearing my favorite bib shorts.
Buy Now: Available from TrekBikes.com
