Albion, nice and a reasonable amount of pocket locations

Ha I took almost the same picture I think!

Amey, amazing spot (as a lunch spot too), I’m starting to think you have an omnipotent presence online and IRL. The Matrix but with cargo bikes. Have started following Hullabaloo, thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for this, will watch later. I’m quite envious of him spending the spring/summer riding around the UK coastline over many months. Sorry, I mean inspired!

haha! Its a great place isnt it? like a 'dive bar' equivalent for curry.

That’s a racy old pad in the bibs. It’s about two inches narrower than I’m used to with Rapha classics.

Albion daytripping t-shirt in the Shakespeare N16. Who is that?

could be half of the forum tbf

😂

Watching fa cup final

.

1 Attachment

who took this pic?

My wife under some duress it must be said

Parking National Treasure Timmy Mallet for a second; I just got one of those insulated at the front jackets. Obviously for cooler seasons, but it seems pretty decent and conceals the gut

New kit looks great... love the new bibs with extra pockets but would love to see some technical gear that's not skin tight... for me you don't need aero gains on a gravel bike.

How do you feel it compares in terms of comfort?

I think the problem is I've been wearing Classic V1 and now V2 pretty much exclusively since they first came out so I'm always comparing to them specifically and they have always been perfect for me anything up to 8-10 hours on the bike.

It's clearly a high quality pad but it's not the Rapha one and I am always conscious that its not after about two hours.

I'm the opposite - went from rapha bibs to albion and it's night and day - the rapha padding feels like a nappy now, albion is slimmer but much more comfortable on long efforts for me..

I think that's 100% fair, I like being able to plonk my arse approximately on the saddle but these feel like I have to be sat 'just so' to get the pad and saddle lined up. I am an XXL so likely the effect is worse for my fat arse

Ah well that makes sense, I am bordering neurotic on the 'just so'-ness of arse placement

I think it might feel different because the profile tapers off, and there isn't the square shoulder on the Rapha pad. The Albion compression/support reduces toward the edge, whereas the Rapha pad is more consistent across the pad layers?

Both made by the same source, Cytech ...although this company also told me there's no need to allow for different sizing/weight in pads? I guess they don't want to get into the business of die-cutting multiple sizes in different compression foams, but they could have told me that, rather than straight up trying to convince me an XXS 45kg rider needs the same pad as a XXL 110kg rider....

@dancing james if the weather is bad on Tour Devide, keep your eyes peeled - potential testing of Zoa trousers. Mentioned in the IG post (but not the web post)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CejB5osrw8A/
https://www.albioncycling.com/2022/06/the-tour-divide/

I just bought what seem to be V3 Rapha classic bibs about a month after some V2 on clearance and the pad in those is very different (much denser base with a soft cover) to V1 or V2, but yes I seem to get on with the consistent rather than a variable profile.

ahhh interesting - I was out the door around the MII, and see they got a major overhaul since (recycled content), so I guess includes the pad too. I'll be doing a pad swap in the next week (someone with team-issue kit), will let you know how easy/difficult it turns out.

any pics of the test trousers?

I like the look of the Zoa burner scarf. A simple idea but seems that it could be more convenient than a usual neckwarmer to take off and put on if you're wearing a helment.

The V3 massive 2 inch wide grippers are terrible; I don't know what problem they solve and they are just sweat traps.