I met Andy from Oddoutdoors when I went down to Bristol to ride with the Araf.cc crew and he was wearing a pair of unusual looking socks that I commented on. He nonchalantly said that he and his business partner had designed them and had them manufactured in the UK. The fact that they are made in the UK is interesting in itself these days where lots of clothing is designed in the UK but manufactured in far flung countries. We rode together at various times during the 50 mile ride out from Bristol city centre to the trig point on the top of the Mendip hills and got to know more about the reasons behind designing and having your own socks made. As the day went on Andy dropped back to me (he’s pretty handy on a bike!) and asked if I’d be able to try a pair of the socks out and tell him what I thought about them. Of course i said yes and at the pub after the ride (the cottage Inn, Bristol) we swapped details and a week or so later two pairs of socks dropped through my letterbox.
Andy and his business partner dreamt up odd outdoors during the first lockdown in the UK, we all went a little bit crazy after all! Both design engineers the Oddoutdoors guys came up with the socks after finding that the socks they could buy either weren’t exactly what they wanted in a sock or were so horrendously unethical with labour and transport issues that weren’t paying the workers enough or costing the climate too much.
First off The Socks are super comfortable from the off. There’s no secret that I like a longer sock but not football sock height and the oddoutdoors sock is pretty much a perfect mid calf length at 8″ and the socks stay up without any circulation issues. The front of the sock is ribbed to give a little more protection against windchill and for those leg to bramble moments you get when riding off road. There is breathablility across the forefoot though to regulate temperature, padding on the bottom and achillies give added protection and compression around the foot stops the sock shifting when pedaling and bunching up or moving. The material isn’t waterproof but will shake off a little spray and is very fast drying.
In use these socks have become that pair that you always look for first when they come out of the wash because they are so comfortable. They also wash very well and keep their shape after multiple washes. Add the ethical ideas behind these socks and there really aren’t any downsides unless you don’t like the colours. (since writing this more colours have been added as well as 3 sock gift sets)
Although I got these socks to try for free I’ve got to say i liked them so much I’ve just paid for two pairs of the black stripe versions to help the angst when the originals are in the wash!
you can find the oddoutdoors website here Oddoutdoors and their instagram account here @oddoutdoors
As with all my tests, this is an impartial and real world review. I’m not sponsored and I’m just an average rider like most of the cyclists out there. I do inform anyone who sends me things to test that It will be an honest review good or bad.
UK GRAVEL COLLECTIVE 