Albion, nice and a reasonable amount of pocket locations

Don't know if Im meant to be doing this, or what the etiquette is.
Been enjoying Albion bibs, & hats. and a few bits from @Chopsicle.
New stuff coming soon I hear... ?

Love my burner .
Top bloke and as its thursday their new stock is launched today

Ordered the rain jacket, size small. Materials seemed nice but the fit was really strange compared to e.g. rapha. Ok across the shoulders, super baggy on the chest and torso, sleeves really long and couldn't get my hands through the cuffs (nor could my wife who's hands are pretty small). With regret, I had to send it back.

What's the sizing like on the Zoa jacket

Are they reasonably priced? I'd put DHB / Decathalon in that category, Albion seems up there with Rapha.

thank you @Bossman - and @andyp for setting this thread up,

Figured it would be useful to have one point to discuss, ask questions, let you know about events, put out for roles etc. There was chat in other threads which ended up disrupting the thread content,

As a v brief intro, I work on design (clothing and accessories) at Albion, so will be able to help with any technical q's, details, fit and any other general info/insights. I'm less up on some other areas (ie shipping), but will be able to put you in touch with the right person or find out for you. I love making things 'hands-on', especially in technical/performance, with the ability to rapidly prototype/weartest/perfect core to what we do. I've been lucky enough to visit places like Arc'teryx, Patagonia, The Farm etc to see how they work, and am now putting all this experience into work here in London. I Love it.

Aim to have some more workshops/open studio soon, hopefully November. Some of you came to the ones we held at Raeburn studio, for the repairs and upgrades sessions. I personally really enjoy these, getting redundant/crashed kit back working, or enhancing a feature for more specialist use case.

@pacef8 Tomorrow now I'm afraid (Brex*t)

Owl (Owlz?), v sorry about this issue - did you try on-bike, arms swung forward? the older seasons were quite aggressively cut. I was going to say if you still had it, I can do an upgrade mod on the cuffs for you; we have a race-tuned-garage for details like this. New version launching tomorrow (MkIII) with cuffs good-to-go.

@MicroDosed™ It's comparable with Rapha sizing, ie I'm medium jacket in both. Depending where you are, you're more than welcome to drop into studio in Deptford to try on . Not sure where Pinarello Regent St or Condor will receive stock, but I can check if convenient for you.

@Squaredisk - all up for discussion, value, durability, extended life service etc around products and cost. Lifespan and durability are a critial approach to product, and inline with reducing product impact. Andy P's (now deleted) duplicate thread title was something like 'Albion; Nice but not as pricey now that Rapha have set the benchmark', which might be another way to look at it. Can't promise, but am figuring out if we could do a forum link through for LFGSS member disc. I see now affiliate links aren't active any more, but am seeing if there's a way to loop something back for the community/forum benefit.

Is 'Albion' in this context more in the sense of Scotland (great bunch of lads) or Britain (imperial, dubious) ? What's the logo?

Are you saying it’s perfidious? looks like nice well thought out cycling clothing to me.

Definitely the original/etymological context; this isle, or collection of islands, through the ages. A nod to the varied terrain, weather, seasons, you can encounter on these shores outdoors, nothing to do with imperialism :/ Down with that sort of thing.

The logo/line; someone, somewhere knows, but I've not been enlightened yet. Bit of a Rorschach I guess. Road, contour, coastline? ....Garmin route where mapping has failed?

Not sure where you fit with the rough stuff fellowship and the tweed . You have to break on through wearing gore and polartec now.
The zoa looks great in the quest for the ultimate ride jacket but i don't think their is one that suits all weathers.
My karrimore paclite has got the closest.

Definitely contemporary, not melancholic retro-trad!

Zoa range is for adverse conditions. Hesitate to say adventure racing, but easy shorthand for on/off bike & a variety of riding styles. And yes you’re right, current insulated jacket is only suited to low single digit temps to ride in ….branded performance fabrics coming; premium line Pertex, in both insulation and rain products, recycled.

Warm but wet, dry but boiling , shakedry is a great invention but its all black for now . It’s like re-inventing the wheel.

not melancholic retro-trad!

Oof.

Totally agree, benchmark material and an amazing tool for the job - Just don’t wear with any bag or expect usuable pockets. I don’t say this in a snipey way, but would love to see these amazing products be out of this world.

Workshops would be great, unfortunately missed the Raeburn one a couple of years ago so would love another opportunity

Sorry, bit clumsy? Wasn't directed at anyone or anything in particular, but you get the idea - there's acknowledging origins and heritage, and then there's tied up in nostalgia.

Have to say I really like the new colours, @Chopsicle.

aye I'm feeling them too.

are goretex stingy with licensing use of their shakedry technology? would love to see more offerings in the market (e.g. from albion) using that tech

There's some really stunning colours - landscapes and fabrics - in the lookbook. Great work by the riders and team behind this;

https://www.albioncycling.com/2021/10/a-w21-lookbook/

Not so much stingy as they just stopped taking on any new customers a little while back. Plus to utilise their tech, you have to use an authorised factory, and then fabric ranges come with technical design guidelines which might limit the number of pockets, seam tape etc to optimise breathable performance. Product designs are inspected/tested/approved before production. ie You can't just buy the fabric off the roll, but you have to enter into a whole ecosystem. ....one reason there can be a homogenised look, esp on the top tier, bit like guidelines for safety clothing which don't leave much movement for creative directions.

I'm on a Cent Cols and Pan Celtic next year, and have managed to scrimp, salvage, borrow enough to make one jacket for these, an ultimate unrestricted version. .....Just need the time!

Really liking the look of the earth red insulated gilet and jacket. Can't make up my mind one which would be more practical for my generally low intensity winter riders, especially as I'll pair with one of your burners for those really cold and/or slow days on the bike. Of greater concern is my pandemic weight gain meaning I aught to be an XL but for my gut sending me into the XXL (and thus make every other part fit baggy on me).

Cheers for sharing, I've just spent the past 5 mins scrolling through, wistfully imagining headwinds and vicious climbs whilst eating my lunch.... I've even blocked out some chunks of spring diary for long rides out to Wales
It's great when photo make you want to ride your bike more!

(the clothes look pretty good too)

The models are very serious, I guess that is the tone they are after, or maybe they didn't get paid well. The colours are nice. Rapha seem busy doing super high iso filter over everything.

More aero? There are some smiles in there :)

Any thoughts on mountain biking kit? I would imagine some cross-over with adventure type cycling.