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all, cold, condirions, flex, gabba, garmin, nano, nanoflex, Product talk, sharp, snow, wet -

Wet days, just call it Nano flex days!

Wet days, I just call it Nano Flex days as these are the pieces that get used most during this time of the year. Commuting or riding at the weekends requires a little bit of a wardrobe change. It’s still not the climate for anything truly winters or summer yet, but the arms and knees can feel a little cold, even if the dial on the thermometer is reading the mid teens. The old adage that there’s no such thing as bad weather gave the birth to the Nano Flex concept. Nano Flex is a water repellent range of garments based on our warm fleecy Thermoflex material but with silicone filaments added to the surface. These filaments are what keeps the rain out, causing it to bead on the surface and be moved away by the wind. The  Nano Flex Warmers perform much as any regular set of warmers do in keeping the limbs at a more comfortable temperature, especially in the stop start environment of commuting. Heavy drizzle, road spray and riding through fog have little impact on these warmers and you’ll remain dry for a very long time. happens. It does have a saturation point, but in use, and unlike others, you ...

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alpha, bikeradar, castelli, cycling, jacket, News, Product talk, weekly -

Alpha Jacket: Superb winter jacket

The Alpha brings innovation to winter jackets, and plenty of style. Stretchy Windstopper 150 fabric creates the windproof, water resistant shell but, rather than a conventional softshell material, Castelli has detached the insulation, and only added it where necessary. The back has a mesh panel and ventilation flap and most of the sleeves have a warm waffle pattern fabric, as does the zip-up waistcoat that insulates the chest. It’s fixed at both sides, but if you overheat, the Alpha allows you to open the main zip to expel moisture without chilling your core. All the insulation moves independently of the shell, giving great freedom, and Castelli’s raw edge cuffs and waistband seal perfectly, lying totally flat for excellent glove-like fit and no draughts. Even the articulated collar is super snug. Practicalities are taken care of by three drop pockets and two zipped, one rear and one on the waist. This article was originally published on BikeRadar and in Cycling Plus magazine. Sweet, take me to the Alpha products, click here >>

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cycling, free, jacket, product, Product talk, review, test, weekly -

Free Jacket, excellent for keeping you warm in cold weather

The Gabba might have grabbed the headlines over the past few years, but Castelli have an impressive range of other jackets to cater for every meteorological scenario. The Castelli Free jacket is designed  to keep the cold out on dry, winter days, and does a good job with a garment that is close-fitting in all the right areas to keep the wind at bay. The Castelli Free jacket is an impressive piece of kit that will keep you warm on all but the coldest of days. At MSRP €189,95 (£175) the Castelli Free jacket sits bang in the middle of the Italian brand’s range of windproof jackets and is designed for temperatures of between zero and 10ºC. In reality though,  you can extend this range depending on what other pieces of clothing you choose to pair it with. The main body of the jacket is made from Gore Windstopper X-Fast 2 fabric, which, as the name suggests, does an excellent job of stopping the wind. What’s more the inside is light fleece material, meaning that we were comfortable riding in temperatures up to 15ºC with only a base layer underneath. But the highlights of the Castelli Free jacket are in the ...

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alpha, castelli, cold, conditions, jacket, jersey, land, Product talk, richard, sublime, trasparente, wet, wiggle, winter -

Long-sleeve Jerseys? Everything you need to know

Autumn is here, but does this mean you immediately switch to wearing winter jackets or continue to wear jerseys?  Obviously this depends on where you live on the globe, but if it’s neither too hot nor too cold, here’s the first article on some autumn cycling clothing tips to help you out, let’s start with long-sleeve jerseys. Now to clear a couple of things up between the Castelli  Trasparente and the Alpha Jersey. At first glance that’s exactly what you should ask. But I’ll first give you my thoughts on the Trasparente Jersey, or is that a jacket. The reason I mention this is that unlike a standard brushed polyester Jersey, or Roubaix if you’re going to use the branded Miti fabric, both the Trasparente punch well above their weight compared to a standard long sleeve autumn Jersey. Trasparente Jersey The Sublime Jersey weighs in at 215g, the Trasparente 334g, and the Alpha 265g. Between a standard Jersey its a whopping 119g per size, or roughly a summer jersey. The Trasparente uses Windstopper’s X-lite plus fabric on the front. This basically negates the need for a gilet, but it goes that little bit further in that the wind proofing stretches down ...

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hawaii, ironman, kona, O’Donnell, Product talk, Timothy, Triathlon -

Tim O’Donnell featured in the October issue of Outside Magazine

The yearly highlight for almost every pro triathlete is just around the corner. After his 5th place last year, TO’s final Kona preparations are in full swing. Nevertheless he found some time gathering with one of the biggest magazines in the US Outside Magazine for their October issue. Tim’s favorite kit for bike training: VOLATA JERSEY FZ FREE AERO RACE BIBSHORT (printed version)

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