Hairpins Not Hairshorts

The first time I interviewed Luigi Bergamo was in 2015 for Canadian Cycling, not long after he left a design role at Assos to start what’s become one of the most unique brands in road cycling kit. The next was last month for a piece in Cyclist, this time to review the company’s Salopette Dottore L1 Bibs, short sleeve L1 Pinstripe and L1 essential vest in camo for a Spring feature (click on the Cyclist link for more product details + review).

Bergamo has a unique vision of cycling, operating outside the confines of traditional design to envisage something completely different. His passion for design is immediately obvious when we start exchanging emails; five years after the launch of Q36.5, the individuality of the product is forever evident.

The Salopette Dottore L1 Bibs are unlike many we’ve seen in testing over a dozen so far this spring - their fit and comfort is almost without equal, while the L1 essential vest is so functional, well cut and versatile, we’ve been reaching for it on repeat since ours arrived. Over conversation from his office in Bolzano, northern Italy, he talks about the influence aerodynamics continues to have on his clothing and Q’s focus looking ahead.

How have rider concerns for speed and aerodynamics factored into your designs?

Aerodynamic is always the main inspiration for us. When we presented the first essentials collection, it was really born from aerodynamic concepts or better from part of the lesson that we learnt from our experiments and passion for aerodynamics in general.

For us this is not just something to make you faster but a method of development, a philosophy. To eliminate everything that makes you slower, you need to eliminate the superfluous, the unnecessary, it is the cleanest form, the purest form.

This is our inspiration we called our road collection - the essential collection. Essential is the driver of our development where we eliminate all the unnecessary in order to design functional apparel. An expression of our obsession for aerodynamics is the Jersey short sleeve L1 Pinstripe and the Salopette Dottore L1, where the aerodynamics concepts and the ergogenic performance are fused together.

To eliminate everything that makes you slower, you need to eliminate the superfluous, the unnecessary, it is the cleanest form, the purest form.

How do you know the kit is aerodynamically sound?

We have done wind tunnel tests on different conditions, by testing the fabric’s performance (cylinder test) and testing the whole ‘system’: rider, bicycle and the equipment. We are really interested in the research side and we are looking also on the CFD modelling that can make some predictions about the drag or through new units that measure and analyse drag in real time.

Good kit is a componentry system made of several variables: not only the fabric properties but also competition speed, the typology of air flow (several times completely different from the static condition of the wind tunnel) and the placement of the pattern construction - all fundamental aspects.

What's been updated this year in the essentials collection?

This year we haven’t just added more colors but truly innovated with smart fabric development. After introducing wool into the UF Active (see the Cruise Collection), we have gone on to explore more natural fibers like the UF Seta, a new, ultra-lightweight fabric with a high silk content and added silver thread to give maximum results in the area of thermoregulation.

The outcome of this research is an ultra-lightweight jersey: Jersey Short Sleeve Seta that works extremely well in hot, humid conditions but can adapt, thanks to it’s woven structure, to the cool mornings of summer.

What is the focus for the company in the next five years?

With this year we are coming to an end of the 4 year collection life cycle and with the 2020 we will completely renovate the Essential Collection, not only an update, but we are developing new materials, new pattern construction, in order to offer an extreme vision of what the future of cycling might be.

For the next ‘Olympic cycle’ we have three main focus in mind that work together: first we’re obsessed with thermoregulation and, in collaboration with EURAC research centre, have developed a method to detect the exact comfort zone areas for different types of cycling clothing. The method is based on the continuous measurement of temperature and relative humidity, environmental and physiological, as well as how textiles respond to these various factors. Our method relies on monitoring the performance of an athlete under different conditions. We collect temperature and relative humidity readings through sensors distributed on both the body and on the clothing. We also use thermal imagery to detect the hot spots and see the distribution of water/sweat saturation.

At the same time, we’re tracking power output of the test rider. These methods allow us to explore the relationship between temperature and comfort as well as the relationship between moisture and comfort.

Another concept that we are focused on is sustainability. Our products are made from start to finish in Italy - from the design to the packaging and including the complete production of both the materials and the finished pieces. Our footprint is within a 350 square kilometer radius of Bolzano. Short transport routes during the production cycle result in reducing the production’s impact on pollution. When choosing our raw materials we collaborate with companies that have a social responsibility, for example they restrict their use of water in the production cycle such as the dying of fibers and materials. When possible, we use recycled fibers as long as we are sure they will not compromise our end product. Q36.5 also uses eco-sustainable raw materials such as post-consumer recycled yarns, biodegradable fibers and natural fibers.

The third element, that is also our raison d’etre, is to create a more functional product. A product that interacts between the human body and the environment and helps the body to maximize the performance and adapt to the different environmental conditions: our dream is to create the most versatile product as possible, an utopian 4-season product that becomes your necessary equipment.