When the temperature drops, it’s time to tighten up. Keeping warm and weatherproofed during blustery and wintry weather can make or break your time outside.

Runners, cyclists, triathletes, hikers, climbers, skiers, and adventure racers all can use comfort, protection, and support from a high-performance tight in the layering season.

Enter the CW-X Endurance Generator Tights. Up front, the spiderweb-like high-tech tight with flashes of lime green and yellow is on the expensive side at $169.95.

But for people craving reinforcement for their knees, thighs, lower back, and joints with some warming and wicking thrown in, it may very well be worth it.

CW-X makes what it calls kinesiologically-engineered apparel. The company’s website explains that as anatomically-precise conditioning wear designed to enhance the body’s performance from warm-up to recovery.

Basically the tights are a support system for ligaments, muscles, and knees. In addition, they also provides insulation as well as some wind- and waterproofing.

The tights are made with a four-way stretch fabric with something of a spiderweb support, perhaps akin to really strong rubber bands. At least that’s how it felt sometimes in them. The idea is to lessen fatigue and give some stability to muscles and joints.

There’s plenty of stretch in the material that makes up the tights, a blend of well-known fibers to the tight and bright set—Coolmax and Lycra. So there’s some lick and lift, if you will.

The parent company behind the tights is Japan-based Wacoal, a firm that’s spent more than a generation “collecting data from over 30,000 people and developing clothing along the dictates of human anatomy.”

But the goods are made and marketed in the good ol’ USA thanks to the Wacoal Sports Science Corporation in New York.

I tested the tights over a few weeks in the ever-changing conditions of a northern New England autumn using them for road cycling, mountain biking, and hiking.

The key to this piece of gear is getting the proper fit, because the webbing needs to be in the right place by the knees to do its job. Helping out is the height and weight chart coming with a tag affixed to the tights and also available on the company’s website.

The full-length tights appeared heavier than my normal cycling tights, and I appreciated the thin ribbons of color on the road so others could see me on the trails in the drab woods as well.

While cycling, the tights often felt as it there was some invisible help on the upstroke and while hiking the aid appeared during the flexing of the knee. The extra support while heading downhill during hiking was also appreciated.

At times, while engaged in all of the activities, I would have to slightly reposition the tights to be sure that area was over my knee. Though the tights were lovingly snug, I often didn’t tie the drawstring. Perhaps that’s the cause. Perhaps not. Maybe it was just being in motion.

I think the tights did diminish some fatigue, particularly on the longer distances. As for a quicker recovery, that was tough to say, but overall, I appreciated the extra support.