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TECH NEWS
Road Rags launch merino bike clothing
New London-based bike clothing company Road Rags are offering a range of men and women’s merino wool seamless garments all made in England.
The clothing is aimed at urban cyclists, the idea being that you can wear it on the bike and then keep it on in the office, out on the town or whatever – without looking like you’ve just stepped off the bike or smelling like a locker room.
We’re pretty sure that you’ll know about merino wool’s natural wicking properties that help keep you comfortable, and the fact that it’s naturally antibacterial so it doesn’t start to hum like many synthetic fabrics do as soon as you get the slightest bit sweaty.
The Hoxton is the simplest item in the range; it’s essentially a merino T-shirt/base layer with an extended tail and a double pocket back there. You get aerated underarm stitching and a ribbed crew neck. This one is £95.
The Smithfield, priced at £115, is long sleeved with a thumb hole retainer to make sure your wrists stay covered. The underarms are aerated and the rear is dropped, like they are on the Hoxton, and the neck is really high so you can cover up your chin and even your ears when it’s cold out. Obviously, you can roll it down out of the way when it's not.
The Shoreditch, worn in the main pic up top, is pretty similar to the Hoxton but for the off-centre neck zipper. It's priced at £130.
Road Rags offer women’s clothing too. These Holborn legging, for example, come with an integrated skirt for £90.
“In essence the clothing has been inspired by the needs of the commuter and the desire to look a little more stylish than many of the present offerings allow,” said Road Rags Director Vaughan Hobbs. “We cut and shape for the normal rather than the 'racing whippet'.”
Barely a week goes by these days without us hearing about a new line of clothing intended for use both on and off the bike. Hopefully that’s an indication of the growing popularity of cycling as a means of urban transport.
The postman should be delivering some of the products to road.cc shortly so we’ll let you know how we get on with them as soon as pos. In the meantime you can check out the full range at www.roadrags.cc.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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40 comments
You're on to somnething there - maybe they should add a Merino onesie to the range?
Looks OK but massively over priced! which is the norm for cycling clothing........
Is this Angry Wednesday or something? Chill yer boots, people. It's woollen clothing.
Ugly, overpriced woollen clothing. I can't honestly think of a single situation it would be well suited for.
The 'Hoxton'... really? I mean, really!? Hipster much? I hate London.
LOL! +1
or more hate things only made for people who live and commute about 1/2 mile to work in London and not near 8 miles via town & country roads
oh, their lady model though - ah now,a thing of beauty
That's just bilge. "It's not made for MY commute so it must be sh*t". Cycling snobbery of the highest order
HH - a bit of an ott comeback there!!
i never said it was sh~t, in fact i actually quite like it and the logo doesn't bother me at all but it like many of the new brit brands are aimed at people who live in Metropolis cities rather than the larger commuter community at large therefore the big brand boys end up getting my bucks rather than the likes of this manufacturer otherwise my warerobe would be full of rapha & the likes
There is probably a very good reason for this, you probably require highly technical clothing for your commute, many start up's cannot afford the minimum's required to order this stuff or have the technical knowledge. merino is the easy foot in door. I'm guessing, anyone reading this work in cycling clothing shed any light? I suspect there is more merino out there than required with all these casual/city brands emerging but I still wish them all good luck and take off my Rapha cap to them.
How lovely. Nothing to stop me wearing these in the office - apart from the massive logo on the front that screams I AM A CYCLIST...
Seriously, people, leave off the logos and the labels. I'm at work. In an office. Not in Shoreditch. Sportswear really doesn't cut it.
All I want is a nice black merino base that has NO LOGOS. Icebreaker put them on the front in embroidery. Howies either print them on the sleeve, or embroider them on the hem, in contrast colours. Rapha left off the neck label on the women's baselayer but still couldn't resist leaving the one on the side in place. And their label shows what size I am, for heaven's sake. Now, I realise Rapha don't intend me to use their base layers as office wear, but if they just left off the blasted labels then I could. *sigh*
PS what's with the integrated skirt legging thing? It looks like 80s dancewear. Leggings are for going under other things that I already own, like tunics or miniskirts. You don't need to issue them with their own skirt...
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