{"id":2806,"date":"2017-06-24T21:43:39","date_gmt":"2017-06-24T12:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2017-06-24\/2806"},"modified":"2017-06-24T21:43:39","modified_gmt":"2017-06-24T12:43:39","slug":"looking-for-cycling-wear-with-a-little-protection-built-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2017-06-24\/2806","title":{"rendered":"Looking for Cycling Wear With a Little Protection Built In"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nCanon EOS-1D Mark IV + EF24-105mm f\/4L IS USM @ 73mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMy Cycling Style as of Late<\/span>\nme plodding along at 46 kph (28 mph) during a race<\/span> last month\nphoto by FABtroni+camera; used with permission<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The photo above was kindly provided on Flickr<\/a> by someone going by the\nname “<\/span>FABtroni+camera”<\/span>. I appreciate<\/span> it.<\/p>\n\n\n

The sport of racquetball<\/a>\ninvolves a high<\/span>-speed ball in a confined<\/span> space, so when I started<\/span> playing in college, I stopped<\/span> by a sporting<\/span>-goods store for a\npair<\/span> of racquetball safety goggles. The clerk<\/span> commented that I was<\/span> the first person he'd sold a pair<\/span> to who didn't already have a\nblack<\/span> eye.<\/p>\n\n

Long-term readers of my blog will know that I've gone through phases in my choice of cycling wear, from jeans on my first ride<\/a> to hiking\/gym wear<\/a> that I already<\/span> had, then to visually outlandish (but visually safe)<\/a> gym wear, eventually morphing to the\nmore-traditional cycling style seen above. That photo is from my first race last month (where I performed<\/span> pathetically<\/a>, but that's a story<\/span> for another time).<\/p>\n\n

(The mask that my apparently-sensitive tonsils forces me to wear is definitely not traditional; the UnderArmour<\/a> long-sleeve base layer that I wore<\/span> to avoid sunburn on the 100+km\nround trip to\/from the race is also not traditional.)<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, I'm ready to move to the next step, if I can<\/span> find it. I'm looking<\/span> for apparel that provides some semblance of\nprotection in case of a crash.<\/span> The most common<\/span> issues with a minor<\/span> crash are road rash and\/or a broken<\/span> collarbone, so clothes that\nprovide some passive protection in these areas would be good to wear as a matter<\/span> of habit.<\/p>\n\n

Unlike with the racquetball story, I'm not quite<\/span> shutting the barn doors before the horses have escaped. I had a<\/span> wake-up-call\ncrash a few<\/span> weeks ago that was apparently horrific to wittiness, but caused relatively little damage. I'd like to<\/span> tilt\nthe odds next time in the same direction by incorporating a bit<\/span> of extra protection in my clothes.<\/p>\n\n

With all the middle-aged men like me with disposable income and a newly<\/span>-found sense of mortality, you'd think that the market\nwould be an attractive one to enter, but it seems there's very little out there. I'll describe the best I've found so far,\nbut I'd love to hear more ideas...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Dainese Trailknit Pro Armor Tee<\/div>\n\n

For the upper body, I'm thinking of an abrasion-resistant jersey, such as a\nScott RC ProTec<\/a>\nor a Pegasus Wear Manifesto<\/a>,\nover a baselayer<\/span> Dainese Trailknit Pro Armor Tee<\/a>. The latter<\/span> provides some light (and removable) impact protection, while the abrasion-resistant jersey would\nhelp reduce road rash.<\/p>\n\n

They're quite pricey, but less so than new skin.<\/p>\n\n

Things are a bit more difficult for the lower body, because I don't<\/span> like the padding in standard cycling wear. It makes<\/span> people\nlook like they're wearing a diaper<\/span> embroidered with “<\/span>HEY, DON'T NOTICE MY CROTCH! THIS CROTCH RIGHT HERE... DON'T LOOK AT IT”<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

Apparently my butt is sufficiently strong that I don't<\/span> need the padding, so normally I just<\/span> wear Speedo trunks. Even seasoned\ncyclists I ride<\/span> with all the time don't notice I'm not wearing cycling-specific shorts until it happens to come up in\nconversation, and then they're shocked. They're shocked both because I can<\/span> ride long distances without any padding (for example,\nthis 290km ride<\/a>), and shocked that I would<\/span> make such an affront to the\nCycling Style Gods. They're like little kids who skin their knee but don't start crying until you point out that they're\nbleeding.<\/p>\n\n

I'm wearing Speedo trunks in the photo above.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, I don't need padding between me and the bicycle seat, but I do<\/span> want padding where cyclists are often injured in\na crash<\/span>: over the tailbone, over the outside edges of the butt\/hip, and over the sides of the thighs.<\/p>\n\n

The three companies mentioned above do make lower-body versions of their products\n(Dainese TrailKnit Shorts<\/a>,\nScott ProTec Bibshorts<\/a>, and\nPegasus Wear Manifesto Bib Shorts<\/a>), so I could<\/span> try\nthe same kind of combination, but here I'm more worried about the bulk. <\/p>\n\n

The Dainese TrailKnit padded shorts seem to provide really minimal padding, so instead I could<\/span> try something with a bit<\/span> more\nprotection, such as Shock Doctor Shockskin 5<\/span>-Pad Impact Shorts<\/a> or Fox Racing Titan Race Liner Short<\/a>. They provide more coverage with the padding,\nbut the padding just foam pads, so still protection is still minimal.<\/p>\n\n

I'd much rather see padding made from one of the amazing force-distribution materials developed in the last decade, such as ArmourGel<\/a> and SofShell<\/a>. They look like they'd be perfect when sewn\ninto an abrasion-resistant set of shorts, but sadly, as best as I can<\/span> tell, neither product has actually made it to market yet.\n\n \ud83d\ude41 <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

As for the helmet, I've upgraded from my Costco helmet to one with MIPS Technology<\/a>, which adds quite a bit<\/span> to the\nprice, but is said to help greatly in off-axis impacts that would normally twist the head like a boxer<\/span> getting plastered by\na left<\/span> hook. The rotational<\/span> shock is apparently a big<\/span> causes of knock-outs in boxers and concussions in cyclists.<\/p>\n\n

Here's a video that explains MIPS well<\/a>, and another one that\nshows the extra testing for MIPS helmets<\/a>. I'll also be sure to get\nMIPS when I upgrade<\/span> my motorcycle helmet.<\/p>\n\n

A friend here in Kyoto crashed at high speed a couple<\/span> of days ago, and the shattered state of his helmet showed that it most\ncertainly saved his life. He did end<\/span> up with a concussion,<\/span> though, and I wonder<\/span> whether a MIPS<\/span> helmet would have prevented that. The problem<\/span> is that high-end helmets are extremely<\/i> expensive in Japan (the MIPS version of my friend's helmet is on the\norder of $700 in Japan, which is a lot<\/span> cheaper than death, but this kind of comparison feels real only in hindsight).<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Update: I've also found the Fox Ascent Pro line (jersey<\/a>, \nbib shorts<\/a>), which uses craspace<\/a> abrasion-resistant fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The photo above was kindly provided on Flickr by someone going by the name \"FABtroni+camera\". I appreciate it.<\/p>

The sport of racquetball involves a high-speed ball in a confined space, so when I started playing in college, I stopped by a sporting-goods store for a pair of racquetball safety goggles. The clerk commented that I was the first person he'd sold a pair to who didn't already have a black eye.<\/p>

Long-term readers of my blog will know that I've gone through phases in my choice of cycling wear, from jeans on my first ride to hiking\/gym wear [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}