Life In The Saddle

The Italian brand Scicon is well known for their industry-leading bike bags and luggage solutions, but earlier this year they released an interesting new line of sports sunglasses; designed to offer maximum protection and clarity of vision in all cycling conditions and disciplines. The ScICON Aerotech Sunglasses have been my personal choice this summer, and I rate them highly. Regular blog readers will recall my review of the Scicon Aerocomfort Road 3.0 Bike Bag  — that innovative product revolutionised the ease of transporting a bike during air travel. The Italian innovators have not become complacent in their dominance of the bike bag market though, and in 2019 they have branched out into saddles, bib shorts, and eyewear. The ScICON Aerotech Sunglasses are the flagship model within the new ScICON Performance range. They are inspired by a quest for adaptability and versatility; to be usable whether you are a road cyclist, mountain biker, triathlete, runner, or any other...

Chapeau is a new arrival on Life In The Saddle, and the Chapeau Club Jersey has proven to be an impressive introduction to the UK brand. Lightweight, form-fitting, and with a great colour scheme, it certainly looks and feels the part. Chapeau cycling kit is designed by a small team in the south-west of England; they aren't as well known as lot of the brands, but their output is impressive... The Club jersey is the mid-range offering from Chapeau. Taking inspiration from a classic cycling jersey, but with a modern lightweight wicking fabric, it is both stylish and practical. The fit is slim and flattering, and the wide smooth arm grippers provide a great look and feel. The hem gripper is good quality, and keeps three full-size back pockets in check. Then stylish details like the reflective logo badge add a definite touch of class. For £69.99 RRP, the Chapeau Club Jersey seems like great value, with a higher quality fabric, zipper, and fit than you will find on many jerseys...

Summer has arrived *touch wood*. Time to Shape Up and get the short sleeve cycling jerseys in action. This cool and quirky design from Primal Europe is a sure fire winner. The Primal Europe brand was first introduced to me because of their custom team kit; we chose it as our kit for the Isle of Wight Cycling Team and at the Island Games . Our kit for the Island Games was in fact the Evo jersey, so I knew well before pulling this new design on that it would be a quality jersey, with a great fit and feel. As well as their custom kit, which is high-end race-ready apparel, Primal also produce a fantastic range of fun and cheerful cycling kit, such as the Shape Up jersey. It is always great to have a few light-hearted designs in your cycling wardrobe, and you will find a great selection at Primal Europe. The design of the short sleeve jersey is certainly fun and different, but the Shape Up jersey is also very well made. The fabric is thicker than some jersey materials, but that mean...

It's not very often that I weigh a piece of clothing. In fact, I don't remember ever doing it before... It was the first thing that I did with the new adidas adizero jersey though; because to be blunt, it's ludicrously light. Adidas claim that the jersey weighs in at a minuscule 65 grams; my medium sample actually came in at 62 grams on my scales, so it is indeed a serious featherweight! The thinking behind this record breaking design, is simple: lighter is faster, thinner materials are more comfortable in the heat, and a lower profile style is more aero. In recent years, we've seen Grand Tour contenders such as Chris Froome wear skimpy (and see-through) jerseys and skin-suits on Alpine stages; the adizero jersey comes from the same school of thought, and pushes the boundaries in terms of ventilation and minimalism. Shrouded in tissue paper, the jersey arrives like a precious piece of art. When you unwrap it, you can see why; this is a piece of apparel made of ...

Often it is the most outlandish products that turn out to be the best. It's the wacky, innovative and interesting ideas that set new standards. You only have to consider products like the iPod, to prove the point; or of those that I've reviewed on the blog, perhaps the Aftershokz Bone Conduction Headphones . POC is somewhat of an outlandish brand. An innovative Swedish company, which wants to improve the comfort, safety and performance of sports people, in equal measure. In making those steps, they haven't been afraid to push fashion trends as well; coming up with some alternative new looks and designs. POC sunglasses made their first appearance in the pro cycling ranks, when Canadian Ryder Hesjedal donned a pair in the 2013 season. They got a bit of a 'Marmite' reception from most onlookers, but the foundations of their fan base were firmly laid. The big lens profiles and strong bloc colours have expanded into a range of POC casual and sports sunglasses, an...

Aero is the 'new black'. White is still the 'new black'. Black is still up there too. White, black and aero; well... The new adidas CD.Zero3 bib shorts and short sleeve jersey have got to be up there on the 'cycling fashion' scale, and they're also up there for design features, quality and fit. Whilst it has only recently been getting warm enough to test these lightweight products in the UK, I feel I've done enough miles in them now, to cast my vote on this latest edition to the adistar range... The adidas CD.Zero3 Bib Shorts Bib shorts are perhaps the most difficult piece of cycling apparel to get right. The material needs to be light and flexible enough to breath and not restrict movement; yet weighty enough to cover your muscles and provide decent durability. The bibs themselves, need to be tough enough they won't stretch over time; yet not so heavy-duty they leave red indents on your shoulders from their tightness. The pad needs to be...

Many people obsess about making their bike lighter (the weight weenies), but what about the kit that you wear? Adidas today announced that they're releasing a complete set of summer cycling kit; including socks, bib shorts and a jersey, which will weight in at just 200 grams for the lot! That's incredibly light, and follows on from the ludicrously light adizero jersey that won awards at Eurobike. Light doesn't always mean better, but I'll be very interested to test this kit out in the coming (hopefully warm!) summer months. Here's some great photos to get you warmed up in the meantime...

Adidas doesn't need a whole lot of introduction, the 'three stripes' have been featuring on sports kit since 1920, and in that period they've kitted out millions of runners, footballers and swimmers (amongst many other sports-people) in great kit. Their foray into cycling kit has been relatively recent though, and they first started to really get noticed with their sponsorship of Team Sky for their inaugural year in 2010. Since then, their range of products has expanded significantly, and it's well worth a look, so in this review I trial their mid-range Supernova jersey and adiStar bib shorts. adidas Supernova Jersey Straight out of the box, the Supernova jersey looks interesting and unique; the climalite fabric instantly speaks of breathability, and the mesh underarms, wide sleeve grippers and four rear pockets promise to make riding comfortable and easy in the summer months. Adidas have clearly spoken to cyclists about how they would like their jerseys...