I have 3 of these and - whilst they're good - they're not the bra-nirvana I would expect for this amount of money:
- I'm glad they don't chafe other people, but they chafe me: both at the front (where the logo is) and at the lower back clasp. On shorter runs up to 12 miles or so they're fine, but on longer runs they're heavy on Vaseline use.
- They are butt-ugly. The rear strap length adjustment (which offers a good range, Helen Liz) looks like it was originally designed as industrial marine lifting gear and is wider/higher than the backs of all my race vests. The front looks like a surgical truss.
- After about a dozen washes the white one looked hideous - displaying a wide range of grey shades and varying degrees of fabric distortion.
- They are very hot to wear, particularly down cleavage alley - this area could really do with some extra ventilating fabric.
- The upper back clasp is a waste of time - like others above I have to do the top clasp up before I try to put the bra on otherwise I could spend all day just trying to do my bra up
On the upside the support is very good, but not as good as the old model M&S long-distance running bras, which incidentally held up much better to washing as well. This bra is worth trying, but the Shock Absorber design peeps still have quite a bit of work to do IMO.
I'm a 36B and do 55-65 mpw, by the way. I have 3 of these because whilst I don't think they're perfect, they're still better than the other currently-available bras I've tried. If M&S got their act together again, though ...
Posted: 17/07/2010 at 11:28