Cyclist
In the Drops: Rab waterproof jacket, mad Oakley glasses, carbon Trek helmet, the best cycling book ever
Here we go yo, here we go yo/So what, so what, so what’s the scenario? Well my dear boy, the place in which we find ourselves is of course Friday, so make some large magnitude sounds for In the Drops!
But first, let’s just step back and marvel at what a week it has been. Robyn looked back at the slowly gathering juggernaut dominance of Visma-Rent a ride, as Jonas Vingegaard took Tirreno-Adriatico and teammate Matteo Jorgenson romped home at Paris-Nice.
Will treated us to a rundown of all this year’s team bikes and tech last week then couldn’t help himself but to follow up with the equally brilliant look ahead to this weekend’s Milan San-Remo. Then over at Cyclist towers, we just put the finishing touches to issue 151, a beautiful printed Cyclist mag chockfull of in-depth stories, including my fave: how to get from the UK to Flanders, ride 80km of its most infamous bergs, then get home… all in less than 24 hours. Issue 151 is out at the end of next week, in shops, or buy online here. Or hell, why not subscribe? I can promise Cyclist is the best cycling magazine in the world and I am not biased.
But enough, it’s time for In the Drops. Though quick caveat before you all get on my case: the pictures here are all my own, but like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I am not dead, nothing unfortunate has happened to me and my marriage is fine, thanks.
Rab Cinder Kinetic Waterproof jacket
Rab’s new Cinder range is designed for cyclists. It’s loose-fit and more robust compared to road gear but not as relaxed or hardcore as mountain bike kit. This makes it perfect for gravel riding, bikepacking and adventuring, essentially kind of riding where you want to cover distance and/or ride at speed off-road.
This Cinder Kinetic Waterproof jacket is billed by Rab as having ‘the comfort of a softshell with the waterproof protection of a hardshell’. Its proprietary Proflex fabric is indeed stretchy, giving the Cinder an easy feel and fit – no stiff fabric crumpling up when you lean forward, nothing to impede movement of arms or back when down in the drops. Initial deluges indicate waterproofness, although I’ve not (yet) been out in the rain in the Cinder Kinetic for hours, and given Rab’s rating, I’d wager the jacket isn’t designed for the lengthy biblical.
Rab says Proflex has a hydrostatic head rating of 10,000mm, which means a column of water resting on the fabric would need to be 10,000mm tall (aka one metre) before the water penetrated. By contrast, hardshells that promise waterproofness tend to come in at 20,000mm plus.
The payback, though, is breathability, and Proflex certainly seems breathable, leaving me feeling dry enough on the inside on cold or damp rides.
Construction is functionally minimalist: storm zips; taped seams; hood drawstring to pull hood up and away from eyes; waist drawstring; dropped tail; one zipped chest pocket and one zipped rear pocket. That’s it. But that’s all it needs to be, and it helps the Cinder Kinetic just about sit in the packable bracket. Which is a laudable achievement for a jacket that feels so robust, and indeed, pretty warm for its construction.
Finally fit: this is on the relaxed side, but fit is true to size and the tailoring sits in a sweetspot between fitted and relaxed, just what I’d hope for in an gravel riding-type garment.
- Get kitted up at Rab (£240)
Oakley Encoder Ellipse glasses
There are many Encoders but these ones are mine, sort of. They’re on test. But still, there are many Encoders and these ones are the Ellipse, because the hole in the frame and the bottom of the lenses is rounded, not a squared (Encoder Squared) or vented and wavy (Encoder Strike).
The standout feature here is the lens, which extends across the nose bridge in a way I can’t recall seeing on any other cycling sunnies. That said, eagle-eyed viewers will see the lens shape as reminiscent of Kato’s eyewear from The Green Hornet, and indeed the precursor to the Encoders was the Oakley Kato, whose nose bridge section flared out to point like Kato’s mask.
By comparison, the Encoder’s bridge is chopped off, and in that the aesthetic is much less shouty than the Kato (although you’re never going to be talking at anything lower than party-buffet volume in these things). Is it necessary though?
Well, field of vision-wise, yes. The Encoders offer a ski google-like field of vision, complete coverage with no interruptions unless you cross your eyesAnd that’s only because an actual nose bridge piece is moulded onto the backside on the lens, onto which clips a changeable silicone gripper.
The arms also feature silicone grippers – sorry, Unobtanium grippers – both for head and, very cleverly, to grip helmet vents for when you stash them.
The Encoders are Prizm coated, which if you haven’t heard makes everything look like an UltraHD TV with all the settings on max. And so they should be for £219. Serious money. But then these are serious sunnies. All I need now is some sun.
- Go mad on a pair at Oakley (£219)
Trek Velocis Mips helmet
Sometimes I wonder if manufacturers make cheaper helmets less stylish in order to make their more expensive helmets seem worth it. Not that I’m going to offer up a cheaper Trek lid to this Velocis as a comparison here, but more because the biggest selling point (to me anyway) for pretty much any helmet is how it looks, and the Velocis excels: simple and low-profile, but it’s gonna cost ya – £229.99 to be precise. But hey, that’s a veritable steal compared to Kask’s Elemento, a mind-boggling but head-saving £335. Plus in the world of top end helmets, north of £200 is the going rate from the likes of Giro, Lazer, Specialized et al.
But let’s park the price stuff and just concentrate on the fact your head is really worth looking after. In that respect, the Velocis features Mips Air, a lighter version of the original Mips insert, and has been awarded 5-stars in Virginia Tech’s independent testing (VT seems to have become something of a helmet testing tsar in recent months).
In performance terms, the Velocis is a claimed 38% cooler and 18 seconds faster in a 45kmh headwind than the outgoing Velocis and previous Ballista, Trek’s aero-road lid. Retention comes with the usual straps plus adjustable headband, the latter being operated by a Boa dial, which is nice premium touch. Weight, meanwhile, is 242g for a medium.
That’s pretty light for a Mips-equipped helmet, with Mips Air helping out by saving some 10g over the original version, and Trek’s ‘OCLV carbon inlay’ (carbon sheets that span the gaps between the vents) saving a claimed 6g over the previous non-OCLV Velocis. It all counts.
Given the price, it’s nice to see Trek offering a free crash replacement policy for the first year of ownership. And were you wondering, OCLV stands for ‘optimum compaction, low void’, which is Trek’s brand of carbon fibre, as used on its bikes. Basically in means the stuff is squeezed really hard when curing to remove bubbles, aka ‘voids’, betwixt resin and carbon fibres.
- Buy now from Trek (£229.99)
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Froome, Contador, Evenepoel, Landa and Alaphilippe also shine in virtual cycling
They’ve all led the BKOOL virtual peloton in recent days, sharing training sessions with hundreds of amateurs from around the world. Virtual cycling platforms have become the main link between professionals and amateurs, allowing any cycling fan to train, ride & even interact with their idols. In recent weeks, BKOOL users have ridden with Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Mikel Landa, Remco Evenepoel, Julian Alaphilippe & Kasper Asgreen – something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
BKOOL’s Marketing Director, Ángel Luis Fernández, tells us: ‘One of the most attractive aspects of indoor cycling simulators like BKOOL is the ability to get in touch with cycling stars without leaving home.’
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What we’re into this week:The Rider (Tim Krabbé)
This is an oldie but a goodie – Dutch journalist, novelist and champion chess player (I’ve been at the Wikipedia), Tim Krabbé’s magnum opus: The Rider. It’s a novel, it’s a meditation on cycling, it’s the only piece of writing I’ve ever read that truly, absolutely captures what it’s like to ride a bike. It was written in 1978 but it doesn’t matter how many team radios, power meters and aero helmets come out, it is absolutely timeless.
It takes the form of the fictional Rider’s first-person account of a one-day race, and everything that follows – the characters, the scenery, the hardship, the politics. It’s just a brilliant book, and at 150 pages it is the perfect size for your jersey pocket. I’ve read it several times and I’ve just started reading it again. It’s brilliant.
- Buy now from Bloomsbury (£8.99)
And that’s all folks, I’m off to watch Milan San-Remo. But hang on, where do I watch Milan San-Remo? Wait a second, try our handy ‘How to watch Milan-San Remo’ guide.
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