From dealing with seams to getting the breathability balance right, a lot goes into the design of these cycling must-haves
● Need to know
01 Seam success
Key to construction is waterproofing where each piece of fabric meets, namely the seams and zipper. Simon Hodder, senior lecturer in ergonomics at Loughborough University, is a man in the know. “Most jackets will be stitched, which clearly means you end up with little holes where the needle’s punctured the material to sew the thread. To remedy the situation, manufacturers will bond a stretch of waterproof tape to the inside. That said, some jackets dispense with stitched seams and simply bond the pieces of material together. “The zipper’s another area of water ingress,” Hodder adds. “That’s why many zips will have a rubber encapsulation around the zip teeth like you might have on a dry bag.”
02 Durability demands
“All our garments undergo both lab testing (abrasion resistance, repeated wash testing and the like) and human-wear testing,” adds Sergio Jensen, the product manager at Rapha. “We don’t sell a single performance garment that hasn’t undergone at least 10,000km on a bike ridden by a human, and this is really important when we think about durability. Certain materials will also have sun protection, sweat-wicking or antibacterial properties built in, as well as DWR (Durable Water Repellent) to make the fabric more hydrophobic (rain resistant). However, durability is also achieved through high-quality trim and construction (zips, seams and other components), to make sure the garment can be used for as long as possible.”
03 Breathability breakdown
Breathability is a key industry buzz term, with many brands touting the ventilation benefits of their sporting wares. But what exactly is breathability and how is it achieved? Over to Rapha’s Jensen. “Breathability is essentially moisture vapour transmission – how well is sweat wicked away. At the same time, air permeability is the amount of air flowing through the material that can help aid the thermal comfort/moisture wicking away from the skin too. Strategically placing lighter fabrics in various places (for example, side stretch-mesh panels on jerseys or lighter-mesh bib straps) will help achieve breathability more effectively. Without giving away the specifics, at Rapha we do material breathability testing that is correlated to end user experience/human subject testing and helps replicate real life more accurately.”
04
Waterproofing vs breathability
There’s no point in having a waterproof or water-resista
