Sock height is one of the few kit decisions that comes down entirely to taste, and POC covers the argument by building the Cadence Road Sock in three shaft lengths. This is the middle one, at 17cm, which puts the cuff just below mid-calf — the height most road riders settle on once they stop thinking about it. Long enough to sit above where a bib short ends, short enough that it doesn't read as a deliberate statement. The 12cm and 20cm versions exist if you want to go either direction.
The knit does most of the work here. Air mesh zones run through the sock to move heat out, and a waffle-knit structure along the shaft gives a cushioned feel without stacking up bulk inside a road shoe. The yarn is soft against skin and pulls moisture away, which counts on the kind of day where your feet are the last part of you to dry out. Across the toes, the seam lies flat rather than raised, so nothing ridges up against your toe box when you're pushing into the front of the shoe on a climb.
Support comes from an elasticated high-density band wrapped around the mid-foot. It holds the sock in place through hours of pedaling so the fabric isn't creeping or bunching under the arch, and it adds a bit of compression through the middle of the foot on long days. Sizing runs to shoe size rather than apparel size, so match the range your everyday road shoe falls into — a sock that's a size too big is the one that wrinkles under the arch and gives you a hot spot 60 miles in.... Read More
Construction is 90% polyamide with 10% elastane, enough stretch to keep the cuff sitting where you put it and enough structure that the mesh zones hold their shape. Hydrogen White and Uranium Black are the two colorways, which is the practical pairing: white for the classic road look, black for kit that sees bad weather. The logo sits on the cuff and nowhere else, so these slot in with a team kit or a plain jersey without fighting either one.
