With the onset of British Summer Time, premium cycling brand Le Col has unveiled its clothing range to take our riding through the summer months. It says that the range introduces a new design theme along with class-leading comfort and technical performance.
Le Col now has all its kit available for women as well as men and has introduced a new colour palette, which includes navy, burgundy, purple and sky blue, as well as a hexagon motif with fade.
Founded in 2011 by pro cyclist Yanto Barker, all Le Col’s kit is made in its factory in Treviso, Italy. “Le Col’s SS18 collection is the starting point of the most exciting period in our history. It’s bringing together everything we’ve built from the past eight years in terms of technology, research and design,” says Barker.
Le Col's entire range is now available for women as well as men
Le Col’s flagship item is its new Pro jersey. It says that it uses new materials, including Meryl NILO fabrics, for a 28% reduction in weight, whilst still offering an SPF 50+ sun protection rating, to avoid sunburn on your hot, high altitude rides. Le Col says that the new fabric provides high sweat dissipation for optimum cooling, whilst still being insulating enough to be comfortable at cooler temperatures.
Pro Air lightweight jersey has been further enhanced for 2018
Another lightweight summer jersey is the Pro Air. Released in 2017, Le Col has made modifications this year, with a reinforcing panel above the pockets to increase durability and eliminate pocket sag. It’s available this year for women as well as men and now has flatlocked seams and lined collar edges.
Le Col’s premium range is its Hors Categorie collection and it comes in new designs and colours for summer 2018, whilst keeping the same specs as last year. A key feature is the internal gummy strip in the sleeves, to keep them in place without a restrictive end gripper.
Le Col has also invested in its bib shorts, adding the new Blackout model, which uses Le Col’s Dolomiti Gel long distance seat pad. Blackout features a longer 70mm band leg gripper with a discrete printed logo and a rear embroidered Le Col logo.
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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.
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