review: primary clothing

my daily getty-up, here pulling recycling duty in Carcasonne

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of products that we used during that tour.

Vivo Barefoot Ultra shoes. 28cm; 215g

Castelli Rosso Corsa Endurance shorts. medium; 145g

Nike N.E.T. tennis shorts. large; 161g

Castelli Rosso Corsa UltraLeggera jersey. large; 96g

Castelli Rosso Corsa gloves. large; 33g

Giro ProLight helmet [no longer made]. large; 195g


I had one set of clothing that I used daily. Gross as this sounds, it worked very well so long as I kept on top of the washing routine. Given the de-luxe accomodation at French campgrounds, this was easy to do. Two items, the over-shorts and shoes, were not designed for cycling. The bicycle-specific items were all in the ultra-light category.

The Vivo Barefoot Ultra shoes were the least cycling-appropriate item in my kit. They lack the sole quality that makes a cycling shoe -- stiffness. The attraction for me of the Ultras was their weight and the flexibility they afforded me. At 215g for the pair, they are 50% of the weight of the typical road racing shoe and 30% of the weight of cycling shoes. Despite heavier platform pedals -- 25g heavier than my clipless pedals -- I saved an aggregate 570g by using these shoes (this includes an additional 50g savings from not having to carry the jury-rigged flip-flops I had planned to bring)

The whole shoe is made from ethylene vinyl acetate, the mid-sole material of nearly every running shoe made since c'a 1980. By the middle of the first training ride, my satanic pedals had wormed into a corner of the outsole (see photo). But that's where it stopped. For the thousands of kilometers left in the trip, the pedal barely made any more impact on the outsole. I wore these any time I was outside of the tent, in the rain and cold, in the shower, through dessicating heat, on training runs (a grand total of four for the whole trip, but still....), up and down every mountain. They were far less efficient on the bike than a stiff-soled shoe, no doubt, but they left a bitchin' tan on my foot (see below) and they were truly an all-in-one shoe.

The Nike N.E.T. shorts were a last-second find. I needed something with secure pockets so that I could house my passport and debit card on my person. Mountain bike shorts are heavy (350g) & iRule, a New Zealand company that makes a pocketed bike short, failed to respond to my inquiries. Because I thought I could find a pocketed rip-stop nylon short in the 100g range, I didn't pursue purchasing the obvious option -- Bellwether UltraLight shorts (270g). Pocketed rip-stop nylon shorts don't seem to exist. All I could find was a pair of tennis shorts weighing 161g. Though I was disappointed in the weight, they are what I found on short notice. Outside of showers and clothes washing (in which case I wore my rain gear -- and that's it), I wore these every minute of the trip, from the plane ride over to the plane ride back. They had hundreds of hours of direct saddle time, but only a few seams came out. These shorts don't have a 2nd zippable pocket, which would have been nice, but the front pockets were deep and airy. The shorts dried quickly. In future I will custom make a pair of shorts out of ultra-lite rip-stop.

Castelli Rosso Corsa gear is very light and ridiculously expensive. I found deals on these items, though, so it was only expensive.

I've had the Rosso Corsa shorts for years. They are indescribably tough. I've had three major accidents -- each of which shredded the other clothes I was wearing and which eventually destroyed my helmet and left shoulder -- but they have survived without so much as abrasion to show for it. A bit disappointing. Where's the war story in that? More important than that, they are comfortable, even on my minimalist saddle. Light, too (145g).

The R.C. jersey is basically crepe paper. One of my major accidents was on this shirt. It is sufficient to say that they are not as tough as the shorts (see photo above right). To its great credit, any day we rode our bikes, I wore this shirt, yet the areas of abrasion never got worse. The shirt is so light that the rear pockets are good only for 50g each; more than that and they sag. Still, they can each hold a micro-pump or a small energy bar.

The R.C. gloves were solely to protect my hands. I did not mean to advertise for Cervelo. Not being a road biker, I thought that that gargantuan "e" was just a cool graphic design. But, no, when we got to the Tour de France we saw it everywhere -- it's a billboard. Shoot. Nonetheless, these gloves functioned as I hoped. They are super light (33g) and have no padding beyond that provided by the material, which is how I prefer it. One major accident was on these, too. The nylon upper shredded, but, as with the jersey, the tears did not get worse. Except, near the end, a 4mm by 1mm tear force marched across the whole top of the glove. It was easy to repair, but not until I got back (see photo above left for my Ma's brilliant repair job).

The ProLight helmet is a wonder. It ventilates exceptionally well and is very light. My previous helmet, a Giro Monza, weighed 270g. After 2h in the saddle that helmet's weight caused my neck to ache. After three -- no, five -- major accidents on the Monza, it was finally destroyed. I replaced it with the ProLight to see if it would help with the neck pain. Mission accomplished. Really.