This installment of Wish List touches on an intimate subject: Clothes. Everyone has different needs when it comes to what we put on our bodies, and sometimes those needs just aren’t being met. So, Travis is here with four suggestions of how the bike industry could make everyone feel just a little bit more comfortable.
Bibsuit
When exactly did bibs take over? What sparked the coup that installed shoulder straps as the ultimate mark of quality in bike shorts? I guess it makes a little sense. Bibs keep your chamois firmly in place, while still feeling loose thanks to the lack of a waistband. But they really just shift the burden from your bum to your back. In fact, I’ve taken to wearing old-fashioned lycra lowers when I know I’ll be in the saddle for more than eight hours. It keeps my fingers from getting the tingles halfway through the day. Those tingles are why I stopped wearing backpacks as soon as hip packs got cool. And it’s a shame, because bib shorts can offer juuust enough storage that you shouldn’t even need a hip pack either. So, here’s my idea.
The skin suit seems to be primarily a race outfit, but that’s ignoring its real-world potential. I wish someone would cross-breed the skin suit with the bib short to create some sort of “bibsuit.” A garment that would never let the chamois creep out of its sweet spot, but also never burden your shoulders with hot spots. It’d be like a traditional short-sleeved skin suit, so the tension would always be distributed evenly across your shoulders. But the “upper” would be cool, minimalist mesh instead of traditional jersey material. You could put a shirt of your choice over it, and if that shirt didn’t have pockets, the bibsuit has plenty of real estate to offer pockets of its own. As a perk, I reckon the lack of suspender-like straps could make it an easier fit for women. Women may need a zipper in the back, and men may need a zipper in the front, but it would be worth it.
The Knee Pad’s Connected To The….
While we’re on the topic of tights, I’ve always had this idea for keeping knee pads from slipping. If you wear pads, you know the struggle. They twist and slip, especially if you do a lot of pedaling in them. The problem is particularly bad on minimalist pads that don’t have a bulky three-dimensional chassis whose structure naturally hugs the knee. These so-called “trail” knee pads are like leg warmers with weights on the front. Designers can add friction via silicone pads, but those pads can only be so big (and so effective) before that friction becomes irritating to the skin. Unless designers were to take my design and let a set of lycra shorts lend a hand.
One brand would produce both the lycra shorts and the knee pads. The pads would go pretty far up the thigh, and would have a large silicone patch lining the inside of the upper cuff. Too large to be comfortable against the skin, but it would never touch the skin. The outer surface of the tights would feature vertical silicone strips on the thighs to catch the silicone on the knee pads’ inner surface. Rubber-on-rubber makes for a pretty firm connection. It’d be better than permanently integrating pads with bibs because you could still remove the pads for long pedals. And you wouldn’t run into fit issues on long- or short-legged riders. The lineup could expand to apply the concept to leg warmers or knee warmers. It’s the type of component integration I can get behind.
Heat Index
Speaking of warm, there are a lot of options for when normal winter gloves just no longer cut it. You can install a set of pogies on your bars, or opt for a “lobster” half-mitten. Or, you can just get some big, bulky ski gauntlets. But they each have their drawbacks. I like the freedom and dexterity of a simple pair of shoulder-season gloves. And I need to have one-finger braking. The Giro 100 Proof gloves split the difference, dividing the four fingers into what I guess you’d call a 25 / 75 split. But most of these gloves have a puffy winter build. I have a different approach. And in true Travis style, it involves putting batteries where there once were none.
Heated gloves are nothing new. But most have intrusively big batteries, and frustratingly short run times. Heating elements are power-hungry. So, my suggestion is to put those elements only where you need them most. My index fingers always go numb first. They’re hanging out there on their own, unsupported and unsheltered. They’re also arguably the most important. It’s unnerving when you lose feeling and can’t tell how hard you’re pulling your brakes, or if you’re pulling at all. So, I’d adopt the 25 / 75 split of the Giro 100 Proof into a moderate-thickness windproof glove, and run a single heating element along the outer surface of just the index finger. It’d cut down on the juice required because, ideally, the thumb would be hidden from the wind and the pinky, ring. And middle fingers can huddle together.
Dial 5.10
Another technology I’d like to see in wider use is the BOA dial. I even did a round-up of flat-pedal shoes with fancy knobs last year. And although there were some worthwhile entries on that list, it was missing the first name (and first number) in flat-pedal shoes; 5.10. A beloved 5.10 design among the Radavist crew is the Trailcross lineup, so that’d be my first choice to get dialed in.
I think a central-mounted single dial would be the best configuration. It’s out of harm’s way, and won’t interrupt the Trailcross’s flexible, comfortable uppers. It’s the approach Giro used on the Tracker shoe, which seems like a good analog to the Trailcross. But the Tracker doesn’t have the Trailcross XT’s debris-blocking ankle sock, nor 5.10’s unmatched Stealth Rubber grip. Honestly, I’d take just about any Stealth Rubber shoe with a BOA dial, even if BOA flat-pedal shoes are sort of a niche market. But so is the Trailcross lineup! So, it’d be a perfect fit in more ways than one.
