Are aerodynamic fabrics worth it?

Simon Smythe and Paul Norman evaluate the real-world benefits of cutting-edge skinsuits that promise to cut drag to a minimum

Geraint Thomas and Mikel Landa of Team Sky debuted a brand new, secret skinsuit on stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia, which was noticeably different from the Castelli Bodypaint 3.3 suits worn by the rest of the team for the time trial.

Sky had been working with researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology since 2016 and claimed to have taken a “completely new approach” to what has been done before; rethinking the fabric and way the suit is put together.

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Paul Norman

Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.

He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.