Spring 2010 Cycling Apparel is Arriving

2010 Giordana Silverline Bib Short (available w/ lime green, red, black, or blue gripper)

It’s that time of the year again — spring!   Well, maybe it’s not exactly spring yet, but I know it’s around the corner when all the new spring/summer cycling apparel starts to roll in.  Basically, it’s like Christmas around here.  Besides seeing the samples months ago, this is the first time we get to see a lot of the new apparel items for summer 2010.  New fabric technology, new colors, new chamois’, new leg grippers, new bib strap designs, new…everything!   [I swear the bike clothing industry is advancing faster than any other textile business.]   When a box opens up it’s a constant, “Check this out!,” “Feel this material,” until we’ve seen all the new items and newly tooled features.   What can I say, we like cycling apparel, and we’re overly excited to have our customers get their hands on the stuff and see how killer the good really are.   Before we open the flood gates and push

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Cycling Apparel Jargon and Vocabulary

Cycling apparel has it’s own set of vocabulary.  Within the industry we throw around phrases like, ‘zipper garage’ or ‘raglan sleeve’ like it’s going out of style.  The problem is that we use these words and phrases with customers — and they think we’re speaking a different language.  To bring meaning and clarification to what we’re trying to say, here’s a list of cycling apparel buzz words that you might hear:

Leg gripper: band of elastic or compressive fabric at the hem of shorts to keep them in one place when cycling

Moisture wicking: fabric made to pull sweat away from your skin and push to the surface of the fabric

Moisture transfer: another name for ‘moisture wicking’ (see above)

Hidden zipper: type of zipper that is set back from the surface of the fabric and cannot be seen when zipped

Raglan sleeves: sleeves made with a single panel of fabric that starts at the collar; not at the shoulder

Cam-lock zipper: zipper head that locks in place (and cannot be pulled down) when flipped down and can be pulled open, or unzipped, when flipped up

Comfort waist: waist band made with non-binding compressive Lycra and without the usage of elastic

Pro fit: a fit designed to be tight with no bulk or loose material (aka euro fit)

Panels: refers to the number of pieces of material used in a pair of shorts to give a more exact fit (examples: 8-panel, 6-panel, 10-panel, 12-panel)

Silicone injected gripper: any hem that has silicone laid on top of it; silicone ‘grabs’ better than elastic

1/4 length zipper: zipper that spans 1/4 the length of the cycling jersey

3/4 length zipper: zipper that spans 3/4 the length of the cycling jersey

Zipper garage: piece of fabric attached to the top of the zipper that can be pulled over the zipper head to cover it up when zipped

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