Rapha Raeburn wind jacket: getting closer

The build up to the release of the Rapha Raeburn wind jacket has been tantalising to say the least. The latest little teaser ahead of the release of the collaboration with Christopher Raeburn is this moody 30-second video.

With only 600 of these to be made, ever, it's going to be a case of blink and you'll miss it.

Gantoli cycling gloves: get your hands on some heritage

There's something quite cool about cycling mitts, especially when they look like they could have provided marco Pantani himself with added grip as he carved through the field on one of his Tours de France. 

But appearances can be deceptive. This is the debut collection from Gantolini, a small Canadian company which has been so taken with the romance of the heritage of cycling they decided to make something that could have come from the archives.

You get three styles, in the colours of Italy, Germany and France, as well as a pair with plain crochet backing and another pair with black crochet backing, and you can choose to go with knuckle holes or without.

Available now from Gantolini Cycling Acroutrements. 

Rapha Raeburn wind jacket: things to do with parachutes

Who would have known that parachute silk would make the perfect cycling jacket material? Lightweight, inherently stashable and totally windproof. It makes sense when you think about it.

Something that didn't escape Christopher Raeburn, who is no stranger to parachute silk in creating his garments. This is a man who has built a brand from recycling military-grade clothing and equipment using cutting edge processes and adding a technical twist. Old parachutes have always been a favourite, inspired by a picture of his Gran getting married in a dress made from one in the Second World War. 

The collaboration with Rapha directly stems from Christopher's brother Graeme, who has designed Rapha's products from the outset. The only real surprise, given the obvious compatibility of the two brands and the fact that they are brothers, is that the collaboration has taken this long to come to fruition.

But it is here now, in the form of a capsule collection of three pieces - a pair of jeans, a henley T-shirt and the key item, a city windproof jacket. This is so limited in production that it is individually numbered and is available in only three colours, orange, white and green, dictated by the colours of military issue parachute canopies. Only 600 pieces have been produced: 300 white, 200 green and 100 orange. 

They are handmade in England at Cooper & Stollbrand's factory in Manchester, the manufacturer of the Private White VC brand, and as you would expect from individually numbered pieces (number 13 is stitched on upside down in cycling tradition to avoid bad luck), each one is unique, often bearing the original USAF serial numbers which offer a reference to the material's original purpose. As you would also expect, the jackets are exquisitely made, with industry-leading Swiss Riri zip fastenings, glove-friendly neoprene cuffs and a hood that rolls up neatly and secures behind a Rapha Raeburn branded snap-rivet. 

Mid-ride safety has also been incorporated, with high-viz reflective seam strips which give the rider a Tron-like glow and a reflective polka dot screen print to the sleeves offering a twist on a digital camouflage pattern. 

The one thing the jacket does not purport to be, however, is waterproof, although a quick Google search has uncovered forum posts from people who have successfully waterproofed parachute silk using proofing spray. 

How the Rapha Raeburn rain jacket would stand up to a squirt from Rapha reproofer is as yet undocumented but it would make what is destined to become a classic in cycling jacket design nothing short of perfection. 

It is close to that already.

Santini kit review: Italian dash in Essex

Santini. The very name oozes Italian style. It says panache, it says speed, it conjures images of a little Italian rider named Pepe, or maybe Francesco, dancing his way up a dolomite on a vintage Colnago or Pinarello.

And since Santini was founded back in 1965, it would be fair to say that plenty of little Italian riders, maybe not necessarily named Pepe, have indeed conquered mountains wearing Santini.

This is a brand with a heritage which others would give their eye teeth for. Santini jerseys were on the back of Bernard Hinault when he became world champion in 1980, Marco Pantani when he won the Giro in 1998 and Cadel Evans when he took the world championship in 2009. And we haven’t even scratched the surface. 

Santini is such an integral part of cycling that it has been a partner of the Giro d’Italia since 1993 and has been the official supplier and sponsor of cycling clothing to the UCI since 1994. 

It’s surprising the brand hasn’t made more use of these facts, worn them on their sleeve, so to speak. But rather than shout it from the rooftops, Santini has taken the rather more refined, Italian approach and let the clothing and its pedigree speak for itself.

All this history mattered not one jot to me on a minus-one degree morning at the beginning of April. All I could think was that this time last year we were basking in a heatwave.

By some miracle, given the time of year and the promotion of the new spring-summer collections, the kit was sent autumn-winter kit to review - a fact that did not escape me as I sailed past the frosted car roofs at the beginning of a four-hour ride. I will be forever thankful. 

My outfit consisted of a fleece-lined long sleeved jersey in bright blue, a windproof gilet, fleece-lined bib shorts, a Polartec beanie, oversocks and socks. I wore the lot, as well as a long-sleeved base layer and an additional pair of thick wool socks. I was that cold. 

And as I coasted out I remember thinking that it obviously doesn’t get as cold in Italy as it does here. There was a bit of cold penetration through the beanie and the three-quarter length bibs would have left me with frozen shins if it wasn’t for the wool socks. But I wasn’t as cold as I thought I would be, especially seeing as I was only wearing a gilet to keep the wind out.

The thing with cycling is that it doesn’t take very long to get warmed up. The first ten minutes are going to be teeth clenching even with an arctic parka on when you’re doing 20-odd mph in the open air. It’s the bit after that which sets decent gear apart from the rest. You need to reach a temperature and maintain it. If you get too warm you need to start de-layering and then you’re looking for places to stash the unwanted kit, unless you happen to have a team car trailing you. Then you stop for a couple of minutes and the layers go back on. It can be a nightmare.

Santini, as you might expect, utilises wicking fabrics and other similar features to make sure your discomfort is restricted to the lactic in your legs and does not extend to your gear. The fleece lining of the jersey was as cosy as it was comfy, and even at three-quarter length, the bib shorts also offered a decent degree of snugness, especially where it mattered the most. The padding was also mercifully generous.

But as we all know, comfort might be an overriding factor, but style and looks play an increasingly important role when choosing cycing kit, particularly when it has the kind of fit of your average Spiderman outfit. There were no worries there. Santini is as Italian in style as it is in name. The jersey was reassuringly fitted, and the bib shorts were cut for riding, so there was no material dangling like a sack in front of me. A chin guard would have been good on the jersey's zipper and maybe one or two additional valuables pockets would have been handy, but overall it felt good. I felt like I should be doing a dolomite rather than tackling the Essex lanes. 

I guess there are some things even heritage can’t recreate. 

Windproof gilet

Bib shorts, jersey, gilet

Mission Workshop and John Prolly's tour of Taipei

Take a look on the frame of that Italian bike you just bought and you'll most likely discover that it was actually made in Taiwan (but designed in Italy). This is true of many bikes these days and the industry is so big and makes bikes so well that the country's cycle industry is probably the biggest in the world. 

So it really needed an expo. Enter the Taipei International Cycle Show, which attracts industry insiders and cycle lovers in their thousands every March. Among these afficionados are the Mission Workshop crew and John Prolly, who have made a little video of their trip.

Rapha satchel ride: in the bag

In 1912 a relay race was held in Australia to see how easy it would be to despatch telegrams from one side of the country to the other. Bearing in mind that this is a fairly big country with some of the most extreme and hostile environments known to man, it was never going to be easy.

The original ride of 1,150 miles was accomplished in 69 hours and included 60 relay points.

More than 100 years later the ride was identified as a prime candidate for a Rapha Continental and the Satchel Ride was born, along with a specially-made satchel. The above film is a teaser.

Rapha spring / summer 2013: another look

Car-free roads, perfect weather, this is fantasy cycling fo'sho

Rapha spring/summer 2013: the looks revealed

Where else could Rapha shoot the lookbook for its spring-summer 2013 range than the location of the Grand Depart of this year's Tour de France? 

So Corsica provided the backdrop for an altogether more colourful collection, featuring a new line of 'trade jerseys', which draw inspiration from 1962, when trade teams replaced the national teams. 

There is also a Paris-Bordeaux jersey-gilet combo which capitalises on the nocturnal element of the ride with reflective panelling. 

And for those who prefer a bit of the same, the classic offerings make a return, with refreshed colour options for the classic jersey, and new brighter coloured wind jackets.

See the lookbook here, find a couple of videos below the pictures.

http://ss13.rapha.cc/#

Rapha spring summer 2013: that time of year again

Rapha are teasing out their latest spring summer collection and while the naysayers will hark on about how it looks just like all the previous years, isn't that the point? People buy Rapha for a certain look, a style. There's plenty of other stuff out there to cater for the tasteless brigade.

I even read one comment which suggested Rapha release a jersey with skull prints on it. I'm not entirely sure he was being serious.

A few bits are trickling on to www.rapha.cc

Garmin Edge 510 & 810: not a ride without it

Thanks to Garmin we are all now obsessed with technical data from our rides, from the average speed to heart rate and cadence, elevation, the list goes on. We compete with each other on Strava and Garmin Connect and compare our performance over the apres-ride coffee.

Which is all very nice, but Garmin felt we needed more, and having looked at the features on the new Edge 510 and 810, it's quite clear now that we did.

Because as well as being able to compare rides in a historical manner, you can actually interact while they're actually happening, by following from the comfort of the armchair, or even heading out there yourself and intercepting. Great news for those who turn up late for group rides.

On top of that you've got infinitely more useful touch screens, as well as pairing with smartphones. It even tells you what the weather's like.

It's next level cycle data, that's what it is.

Shame it can't make coffee though.

Buy it here

Inside the team: Andrew Telling's Rapha Condor film

Sella from RAPHA on Vimeo.
Around about this time last year, Andrew Telling, the film maker and winner of the Rapha short film competition, travelled to Spain with the Rapha Condor Sharp team. The resulting short film offers us a glimpse into the everyday grind of a professional cycling team, from the arduous climbs such as the Sella, after which the film is named, to post-ride gatherings, meal times and massage. All set to a suitably atmospheric soundtrack. Well worth a look.

www.andrewtelling.net

Eastway bikes: rolling out now

RD-1 carbon with Sram and disc brakes £1999

This is the big gun in the armoury of a new cycle brand aimed at people who need their bike to do everything from the daily urban commute to an epic ride up an alpine mountain. 

The bikes in the Eastway stable are a result of more than a year of solid research and development focusing on finding a solution to the needs of the urban sports cyclist.

The RD-1, above, consists of a monocoque carbon frame, Sram groupset and is equipped with disc brakes, which are fitted to only one or two top-end road bikes at the moment and are more commonly seen on mountain bikes. Eastway's CX1 cyclocross bike (below) also stops with discs.

Eastway is what happens when two cycle-mad friends get together to create a new player on the bike scene. Matthew Pryke and Stephen Britz have been friends since the year dot and used to race at the old Eastway circuit in Stratford, which used to occupy the land the Olympic Velodrome now sits on. 

"The name Eastway means means a lot to everyone who has had a hand in creating this brand, it was about capturing the essence of all that's good about cycling in an urban environment, which is what the old Eastway circuit exemplified."

There are 13 models in the Eastway range, catering for all tastes with something for the road rider, the cyclocrosser as well as hybrid and single speed offerings. "Eastway was born from a desire to create something that meant riders don't have to 'make-do' with what's currently on offer," said Matthew Prycke, who is also the product manager for Fisher.

In keeping with today's values of longevity, Eastway says it has built its bikes to last, which is no small feat given the size of the potholes around our towns and cities. 

But best of all Eastway's bikes do not come at fantasy-level price points. The road bikes start at £799 for the aluminium offering and rise to £1999 for the drool-worthy RD-1. 

Serious bikes with a sensible price. Expect to see them on a road near you very soon.

http://www.eastwaybikes.com/

CX-1 £1999 

FB-1 £1249

R1 £1849

ST 1 £1499

H&M for Brick Lane Bikes: for wheel

Never, in all my days, would I have expected this. A collaboration between that monster of fashion retail, H&M, and a tiny little bike shop down Brick Lane.

But the message from all this can only be positive. For someone like H&M to release a clothing collection specifically tailored to cycling is something else. This could feasibly lead to a load of high street fashion luvvies rushing out and buying bikes with no brakes! Imagine!

In all seriousness anything that promotes cycling gets a massive thumbs up and there's no better way to introduce it to the mainstream than this.

Rapha x Oakley: shades of style

Rapha's Oakley team sunglasses have long been a grail item among cyclists, issued as they are only to team riders and never on general availability. Team Condor uses the black and pink frames, whereas Team Rapha-Focus use this rather fetching cream, with red, pink and blue stripe colourway.

Now Rapha is making a pair of Frogskins and Radarlocks available via auction to help promote and support the team. The winner also gets a set of team rider trading cards. Although who you're going to trade them with I have no idea.

Find the auction here.

Quiksilver track bike: not a surfboard

Quicksilver could be the last company you would expect to be associated with bicycles given their unashamed association with boardsports in the past. But if you see a wheel coming past, even if it's not attached to a bandwagon, you might as well jump on it.

Not such a bad thing in this respect, especially if you are into stealth-looking track bikes for getting about. Quiksilver has teamed up with Tange of Japan and Yuki Takamiya from Far East Smokin’ Skidderz to come up with this machine - all matt black with glossy patterns and deep section rims. The frame is alluminium, the forks and headset carbon, the rest up to you.

You will, however be lucky to get hold of one. Production is limited to 50 units and it will be available at Quiksilver stores in Japan. Of course.

Via Freshness

Union 34: ride sharp

Cycling is without a doubt the most exhilarating and efficient way to get around town. But it is not without its pitfalls.

Aside from the obvious hazards of sharing the road with traffic of varying shapes and sizes, there is the sartorial issue to contend with. After all, lycra is all well and good if you're riding for riding's sake, but it does throw up its own problems if you're commuting to work, or cycling to the pub.

Thankfully, this is a dilemma that has not passed Union 34 by. The brand's launch range of cycle kit features bags and outerwear designed to work flawlessly while riding and look fantastic when off the bike.

Union 34 has introduced a capsule collection which includes jackets and trousers manufactured from weather and environment-resistant Schoeller nanosphere fabrics, which shrug off everything from water to oil. Designs are sharp enough to make the transition from road to office without the need for a 20-minute kit change. Bags are sturdy and equally at home on your back or on your bike and there's even a moisture-wicking shirt with subtle stretch for comfort on the bike. 

Products pictured: Capital jacket; Elements trouser; Stripe rucksack / panier bag; Paragon shirt.

Find out more at http://union34.com/