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Plus will have some (v limited!) Micro-musettes for sale;

And posting to say Herne Hill Convene ESG Track League starts tomorrow, racing every Wednesday from 18.00 throughout the summer. We'll be doing regular monthly workshops/repair sessions, keep an eye on the Herne Hill IG and the Albion Burner IG for details as they come up

Starting tomorrow with (free) custom toptube/helmet name stickers. Drop in upstairs at the clubroom from 17.30. Got black, white, orange, green film for names/nicknames/words, come get stuck in;

Do they normally size up so small?

hmmm weird - I find everything consistent, aside from cut being more on-bike for something like this. Arms/shoulders swept forward for drop bars, so although standing up straight isn't uncomfortable, it is tighter across the chest. Give us a shout on info@albioncycling.com just incase something cranky is going on ie. small chance warehouse has dispatched womens version by mistake (making a blind assumption of cookiemonster's gender here).

I don't want something heavy/bulky like leather. I wonder what the lightest but most abrassion resistant material is?

tricky question; there's some super-light cuben fibre/Dyneema/aramid-fibre stuff which is technically highly abrasion resistant, but prone to punctures. Plus it's so light, anything dense jiggles about, and needs securing. I'd say you need a mix of a fabric with a bit of body to it, the durability, plus stability.

Skinny has a good point too about something big enough (and light coloured!) to lay parts/equipment on while fixing, so you don't leave anything behind.

Insane idea would be a dynema wallet thing with inflatable section; lash the roll onto the bike, few pumps and it makes it super secure and stops tools rattling....

What is the best way to repair a breathable fabric? It appears my knee pads have abraded a hole in my poc dungarees. Is there a good patch material and adhesive for this?

Good question! Do you think the pads will keep wearing away the waterproof fabric, and in the other knee? If so, you'll probably want to use a contact adhesive (like a shoe glue) to put a big patch of cordura in the area it's abrading. Not like your knees need to breathe.

If It's just a spot, send me your address, and I'll get some repair patches over.

Lightweight Rucksack discussion reminds me; we have new version in stock in a few weeks in a new Pertex fabric, Endurance DWR, with tweaked design.
But I've turned up a few original black ones a in studio move (long story). Someone was asking for one a while back - shout if you are still after one!

Hello! ....flip, I can't believe that was nearly 5 years ago. Wow.

If the patches are looking tired, running an iron over them, should remelt the adhesive. Just follow these instructions, make sure you have the tea-towel in between!
https://www.albioncycling.com/pages/repairs

will the Albion repair kit work on some Rapha classic bibs? Thanks!

heya, yes, definitely, I've found them super durable - as other people have said - I've had some for years on cotton t-shirts.

Where about is it? If it's in high stretch/return area, like back of the glutes, it might struggle over time. Both from an adhesive perspective, and then stress concentrating around the non-stretch patch can wear the fabric quicker ...if you're in London and able to wait, we'll be doing regular monthly sessions at Herne Hill, Wed night track league.

Thanks for posting, lots of interesting points in there - despite the strangely unnecessarily laddish moments.

Great opportunity for someone, please pass on to anyone you think might be interested. Details through the link but contact me if you have any q's :)

https://www.albioncycling.com/landing/product-and-development-manager

Thought this was a good, honest discussion;
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0sUNjtg6WwRgzlxjxcnZJN
'3 Experts Explain Why Your Waterproof Jacket Isn't Waterproof' podcast on BikeRadar

Getting someway to acknowledging that waterproof membranes need exceptional conditions in which to magically perform like the diagrams on swingtickets.

...realise this thread is largely waterproof/PFA etc. I'll setup another thread to discuss waterproof/post-PFAs tech, plus cleaning, reproofing etc.

Wish a journo would ask questions about his past. It's not like he was hiding anything, the Mamnickistan/Kekistan collection was in plain sight, he was posting support for the far right from his socials, as well as grim misogynistic/racist memes.

edit; just seen 'Mamnickistan' jersey has been renamed/reframed as 'Marginal Stains' on his current site.

Anyone got an new-ish iPad for sale? My mum mentioned hers isn’t working (I reckon is best part of 10 years old) so nothing fancy, would be browser + photo's on WiFi. Not much on Apple refurb, so cheers for any pointers!

And yes agree with the reproofing advice; Go with Grangers or Nikwax, and follow the instructions.

If doing in a machine, it's recommended to run a service wash first. This thoroughly cleans out detergent residue, which contain water softners & surfactants, designed to improve water/soap ingress into the fabric/fibres, and optimise cleaning effect. If your garment ends up with detergent residue in the fibres, this could help water soak in quicker/deeper, so hopefully the service wash will reduce this.

Second, follow the finishing/curing instructions closely. Years back a colleague evaluated different treatments, and said the final heat stage (radiator, cool iron, tumbledry etc) was the critical point to 'activate' the DWR.

Realise it's a bit of a faff, cleaning the machine, reproofing, heating/finishing etc so do a joblot if possible - or your friends kit too.

Let us know how you get on!

Great article, really positive to see this stuff being discussed honestly and pragmatically. Not sure what you are replying to, apologies, but just incase, this article is really good too;

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the-future-of-waterproof-clothing-one-year-closer-to-the-pfas-ban/

Polyproplyene membranes have been on my radar for a while, and although I've not actually trialled any yet, I do have some stuff in work. On paper it makes a lot of sense; it's the least absorbent fibre by a long way, so creating a micro-porous/nanofibre mesh/membrane seems perfect. I've seen it described as 'hydrophobic' which I think is a bit of a misnomer, because it relies on being impervious to H2O absorption, rather than actively repelling like previous tech - in the same way glass won't 'absorb' rain (and does allow it to settle on the surface) but if you treat the glass with a silicone/PFOA DWR the water droplets are repelled and bead off.

Polypro has a very low melt-point (~171ºC) so is tricky to laminate, bond, heat-seal etc. so it comes with additional problems in manufacture ....and polyprop has a reputation for odour retention. As I say, I haven't trialled one yet, but this could add another layer of complexity to the product ....the most effective anti-bac/anti-odour treatments (silver ion) are biocides, and perceived as toxic in Scandinavia...

Bringing things back up, from an environmental perspective, it opens the way for mono-material technical garments, which theoretically could be recycled in the same way drinks bottles or tin cans are. It's a long way off, but is an option for circular systems, but could be another interesting dimension to the way you experience a piece of apparel/brand etc.

Ahhh cool, thanks for that - I couldn’t find anything in the controls/menus earlier, but I’ll take another look. Definitely easier to evaluate a space if it could be on one setting.

Posted a while back about thermal/FLIR cameras. Loaned one out for the weekend from Library of Things., picked up from Crystal Palace library. Worked out at £22.50 for best part of four days (planning to use for some work stuff too).

Interest to actually see stuff I'd suspected, and the main culprits to prioritise/balance with cost. In my case windows are double-glazed, but there's no thermal bridge on the frames, so the metal frames are essentially radiators for the world. It's got me thinking about specific insulated curtains to baffle the frames, magnet into position, and stop the heat exchange. It also highlighted a few spots I didn't know about, like missing caulk on skirting board/insulated wall which was leaking cold into the living room, and a draught under front door.

Would recommend, but note that the screen shows a constantly shifting temperature gradient across the colours, so you can't compare two pictures like-for-like. Use the temperature gauge as your baseline. It's very easy to get distracted by contrast in the visuals, rather than where you can make the most difference.

I agree £315 (with forum code) is a solid wedge of money, and not to be spent lightly. I mentioned up thread it's tough times with costs escalating across the board. Energy, raw materials, transport, etc everything has jumped. As riders and part of the cycle community, it's frustrating to be in this situation (and fuck Brexit in particular) but we're doing our best to keep an honest price on a pinnacle product/fabric.

@Juliancc Just gone live this morning, and @HousecatHST (but no rain jackets)
https://www.albioncycling.com/landing/sale

@cookiemonster I've been keeping my eyes open for one - including looking in Condor when I was in - but can't turn anything up I'm afraid :(

@will101 I'll get back to you/pm as soon as I can.

Did it have a rear pocket with concealed zipper? If so, I think it was, the rear pocket got taken off I think after one season.

Review here mentions on-bike fit and short front hem;

https://road.cc/content/review/216345-rapha-brevet-insulated-jacket

The very first round was definitely more 'on-bike, swept forward sleeves, shorter front zip/higher front hem. This was amended to be more inline with a Classic fit. ...any chance you have a MkI @scraplab?

Apologies for double-posting from another thread, but think this is relevant;

This article needed to be written years ago. Great to see issues (and opportunities) being laid out in a pragmatic and honest way. It goes someway to begin the reset we need to do around expectation of waterproof-breathable technology;

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the­-future-of-waterproof-clothing-one-year-­closer-to-the-pfas-ban/

@Bossman ahhhh should have said hello - Always good to put a face to a forum name - and thanks for coming along!

@Rusty_Nail I'm afraid not :( The UK company that made them folded a few years back, but they sent the die-stamps that cut them out, so never-say-never!

@timmbo I'm afraid not just yet. At our scale it's a delicate balancing act to order in high-value stock married to demand/cash-flow. Bear with us while we grow slowly and sustainably!

Posting here because there was some interest in post-PFAS world and future of waterproof technology,

This article needed to be written years ago. Great to see issues (and opportunities) being laid out in a pragmatic and honest way. It goes someway to begin the reset we need to do around expectation of waterproof-breathable technology;

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the-future-of-waterproof-clothing-one-year-closer-to-the-pfas-ban/

Hope I don’t ruin your Christmas, but maybe of interest;

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/mince-pies