Cyclist
In The Drops: Castelli Gabba R, Universal Colours jacket, crap weather gear from Maap and Assos + my new bike
Well, looky what we have here. Hey, nice jersey, James. Because this week’s In The Drops I bring you one of the weirdest looking cycling garments I’ve ever seen. But we’ll come to that in a minute, because first, what a week!
The road race calendar may have drawn to a close with October’s Gree-Tour of Guangxi (Chinese company Gree is the world’s largest manufacturer of home aircon units, although it also makes some well-regarded air fryers), but we’re far from finished.
This week, Robyn takes a look hard look at the year that was in our Pro Cycling Wrapped 2024 list. It’s like Spotify Wrapped, only bikey and I likey.
Then, since it’s that time of year, we also have Cyclist‘s 2024 Pro Cycling Awards, as voted for by… you! Yes you guys, thank you muchly!
But my favourite thing we’ve done online this week, and not just because I wrote it, is our Tadej Pogačar profile.
But for now, get in that aero tuck and get in those drops. The weekend is coming and it takes no prisoners.
Castelli Gabba R
Is it a jacket, is it a jersey, is it a sure-fire way to dress to get let into Berghain? The new Gabba R might just be all three. The brief here was aero fit for wet weather gear for grimy days, and of the first point, Castelli has succeeded. This is tight. It’s very stretchy too, but there’s nowhere to hide in the Gabba, making it great for solo breakaways in the spring Classics, which is precisely what this thing was made for.
Unlike previous Gabbas (did you know the Gabba has been around since 2011, makes you feel old), the main body material, aka the shiny sexy bits, are made from a proprietary fabric with a polyurethane membrane that’s waterproof, stretches at least double its dimensions in any direction, and is breathable. This in contrast to what is best described as the softshell, neoprene-esque fabric of Gabbas old, which had a DWR coating but which ultimately was just designed to wet out and trap heat as opposed to actually deflecting the rain.
Seamlessly joined to the sci-fi fabric is more a recognisable Lycra-style material that’s water resistant and equally stretchy and figure hugging. The cuffs come equally aero-tight and long over the wrists, making them good at interfacing with gloves. At the rear are three pockets with mesh drain holes and a long drop tail to cover your modesty when you’re in that aero tuck.
Overall fit is the raciest thing I’ve worn in a long while, with a chest cut that pulls your arms forwards. That is, the Gabba only really feels comfortable in a riding position; stood normally the shoulders are baggy and the chest too tight.
I’m partway through testing the Gabba R properly for the mag, so look out for a full review in Cyclist issue 160, out early next year. But for now I can say that it’s a very promising piece of kit. Now where are my pills and my dog lead?
- Buy it at Sigma Sports (from £269.10) – there’s even an extra sexy short sleeve version
Universal Colours Mono Rain jacket
The second jacket of the day, Universal Colours’ Mono looks positively pedestrian next to the Gabba R. It’s a lovely, very pleasing and unoffensive blue, isn’t shiny in the least and has a cut that leans towards the relaxed. Great for going over extra layers and being accommodating for a wide range of body shapes.
In some senses this is a very simple rain jacket, but that simplicity belies the tech of the fabric, which Universal Colours claims is ‘the best performing PU waterproof material from Japan’. It has a waterproof rating of 20,000mm (the industry standard for proper waterproof clothing) and breathability of 10,000mm, which is pretty standard too.
Furthermore it’s ‘coated with an environmentally friendly C0 PFC-free DWR layer’. This basically means the Mono is part of a new wave of jackets that adhere to new criteria around the banning of perfluorinated compounds, aka PFCs aka Earth-killing waterproofing chemicals.
The Mono’s material is a classic three-ply laminate, made up of a face fabric, waterproof membrane and backing fabric a la a Gore-Tex hiking jacket, only here the construction is super light and packable: the Mono easily scrunches down into a jersey pocket. Like most similar rain jackets it doesn’t have pockets, but it does have a two-way zip that is easily used in gloves so the Mono can be unzipped from the hem so you can fish around in jersey pockets below.
The Mono’s elemental protection is superb – it does what it says on the compostable bag it comes in, being waterproof and decently breathable. All packing tags and labels are compostable too, which is a nice touch.
This is a size large, which I chose via the online size chart, but I was on the medium/large cusp and I dare say a medium may have suited me better. I’d advise anyone in the market to try one on if possible. Sigma Sports, with stores in London and the Midlands, is a well-regarded bricks and mortar stockist, among others.
- Buy now from Universal Colours (£170)
Maap Flow Insulated jacket
Completing the ‘how many ways are there to skin a cat?’ jacket scenario for this week’s In The Drops is an insulated, windproof number from Maap.
This is very much a cold-weather but not rain jacket – there’s water repellency enough for some drizzle, but little more. But that’s not the point of the Maap Flow Insulated. For starters, there’s a waterproof version of the Flow for the downpours, and then the USP here is how lightweight this jacket is for one so warm.
The secret is a fabric from Japanese company Teijin, which has a high-surface area, high-heat trapping, honeycomb-esque mesh knit. Which is a very long description, hence Teijin just calls it ‘Octa’. So far it has provided ample warmth for chilly single digit days, albeit the Flow favours you working hard, so that you build up a layer of warm air it can then trap in its honeycomb to insulate you.
The panelling is designed to be wind-blocking around the torso and arms but more breathable in areas that don’t face the wind, such us up the sides and down the back, areas made from parachute, ripstop-style fabric.
Nice details include reflective trim and logo around the small of the back, a zippered side pocket for a phone, which also serves as a scrunch-it-up storage pocket for the jacket itself, and a two-way zip for easy access to jersey pockets beneath.
The Flow Insulated jacket weighed just over the 170g quoted, which is very light given it’s thermal properties. For context, when the now defunct Shakedry jackets came out they were some of the lightest in class at around 100g, and they were just waterproof shells.
The fit is what I expected from the size guide – this is a medium, I’m around 78kg, 5’11” and have a 40” chest. Go me.
- Buy now from Maap (£195)
Assos Winter Evo Gloves and GT Winter Booties
Why was they millipede late for the football match? Because he couldn’t put his boots on. What, too dad for you? That was one of Spike Milligan’s favourite jokes, so there.
And why was the millipede even later for Paris-Roubaix? Because putting overshoes on is an even worse ordeal.
In that regard alone, these GT Winter Booties from Assos are something of a pleasure – highly stretchable in a way that means they slide on easily over Boa dials and straps but made in such a way that I don’t feel I’m about to rip them apart in the struggle. Over the years, several overshoes have succumbed this way as I’ve eventually pulled the zip apart at the bottom of the ankle as I stretch it over the heel of my shoe. And I think of myself as a careful person.
The Winter Booties are waterproof in a neoprene kind of way, the water beading off but ultimately getting in somehow, whether it’s through cleat holes, down the cuffs, condensing sweat or because of material permeability. But like neoprene, the trick here is that any moisture then warms and provides insulation – provided you’re working hard enough.
It’s a similar story for the Assos Winter Gloves Evo, which feel very well-made, are easy to put on even when wet, and offer great dexterity thank to the fabric’s flexibility.
Considering these are badged up as winter gloves, they are thin, but again this is Assos doing ‘racing meets winter’, with both gloves and overshoes aimed at hard effort winter training or racing. Assos offers warmer, similar versions for longer, slower miles.
What we’re into this week: My new bike
OK, it’s a frame, but I bought this Trek Émonda off Ebay for a mere £650.
It’s the SL version, which is a tier down from the Émonda SLR. That means it’s made from Trek’s OCLV 500 carbon not OCLV 700, and as such it’s theoretically slightly less stiff and practically around 400g heavier. I weighed this 56cm frame at 1,356g. Not super light like the Émonda was when it debuted as a 640g frame back in the 2017, but not bad considering that’s with hardware including the headset and spacers. The fork is 356g, the seatmast topper another 132g.
So why buy this frame? Well, I’m itching for a project build to keep me occupied this winter, plus there’s nothing like browsing Ebay of a cold winter’s night after drinking a bit too much, then buying things you’re unlikely – if you’re honest – to ride much before the spring. But ownership is 9/10ths participation, right?
And I don’t know why but I’ve long fancied a Trek and have ridden earlier Émondas and liked the cut of their jib. This time around, 2022 (and for the last time as the Émonda has been scuttled… although I bet my bottom bracket it will return), the Émonda got a facelift, getting aero tube shapes and 95% integrated cables (they run under the stem and in at the head tube spacer). That made it way faster than the original, close to the Gen 6/7 Madones of the day, but it did add a chunk of weight that many a tester rued. ‘The Émonda is a pure climber’s bike!’ They shouted as they wept into their Thomas the Tank Engine pillows.
Still, I’ll make that trade for a markedly faster bike than the 2017 debut. It also got a very forward thinking for the time T47 BB and room for 30-32mm tyres (wheel and tyre combo dependent).
Eagled-eyed viewers will object to say Trek officially rated the Émonda at 28mm, but I did a lot of digging and plenty of riders out there have fitted 30mm and even 32mm tyres with acceptable clearance.
The explanation being Trek has a +/-2mm manufacturing tolerance (an industry standard) plus determines its max tyre clearances based on a generous 6mm of clearance (at least) either side of the tyre at the fork and stays.
In the fullness of time this will get a groupset, wheels and all the bits that make a bike.
But right now I’ve got a stem.
It’s the Trek/Bontrager Blendr RCS stem though, which further hides cables and I believe is backwards compatible with the right RCS spacers. So we’ll see.
I also might try and source some acceptable touch up paint, because look at that serious chain rub around the BB. The seller said was due to a poorly packed bike during air travel; all I know is despite the exposed carbon there’s a lot of meat around these BBs, so it’s really cosmetic and it’s really why this frame was so cheap.
Only time can my judge.
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