GiroGiro has been moving from strength to strength the last few years with their helmet, shoe and apparel lines really setting a strong and popular image for the brand. We've seen great mountain bike helmets, shoes and gloves hit the stores over the last few seasons and now finally for 2017 a mountain bike-specific apparel range is hitting the showroom floor. Keeping things simple, Giro is releasing two new jerseys, a tech tee and a new style of baggy short, especially for mountain biking women.
The Arc short is made from a very light polyester that Giro claims is very quiet on the bike. The Arc's have an 11.25" inseam and should hit close to the top / middle of the kneecap. They are a femininely fitted baggy short that include a secure zip pocket, exterior waist adjustment straps, belt loops and hand pockets. And they're quiet. The Arc's will be available in two colours, Black and Berry and will retail for $80 USD.
The Roust Jersey is meant to be a bit of a statement jersey and comes in three colorways that have bold graphic prints set upon bright colors. The jersey only comes in a short sleeve option but the length of the sleeve should be long enough that you can still get away with wearing elbow pads. The Roust is made from a moisture wicking polyester, and although there are no stash pockets, you'll find a goggle wipe tucked away on the inside.
The Xar jersey is made from extremely light polyester which feels incredibly light and soft. The Xar comes available in two very saturated and striking colours, Ultraviolet and Blue Teal. This is the jersey you want for days when you need your jersey to dry really, really fast. The Polartec Power dry fabric will soak that sweaty stuff right up and keep you dry on those hot days.
ScottScott has broken their Spark range into three different families this year. The RC - 100mm racing family, the 700 and 900 family of 120mm trail ready bikes, and Plus family of bikes that have more travel, slacked out geo and are super trail ready.
The Contessa 700 from the RC family - this is the bike you want if you are an XC racer at heart. All the Spark models have revised carbon layup and framing along with revised shaping which has made the frames stiffer and stronger. The kinematics of the suspension have been revised this year as well, including the shock position moving to a horizontal trunnion mount. Scott says the suspension is now intended to be more supple earlier in the travel more supportive in the mid stroke and more progressive at the end of the stroke. Overall, we're told the suspension behaves much better than the previous model. Specifically for this women's edition, the RC 700 comes with a revised shock tune on the Fox Nude shock for lighter riders which offers a smoother progression through the stroke.
The RC 700 is definitely for racing - it has a steeper race oriented geo and does not come with a dropper post. Also new this year is a SRAM X01 / Eagle 12 speed, single ring drivetrain. It also comes with smaller diameter grips, a women's saddle, and 700mm handlebars. Also, differing from the regular version of the Spark RC is that as opposed to being a 29er, the women's bikes are 27.5.
AlpinestarsAlpinestars have veered away from the pink and more feminine tones of last year, which left some Pinkbike readers unhappy about, yet which got a great review from Nikki in our
Summer Clothing Guide. Either way, you won't find 'Raspberry' listed on any of the items Alpinestars have released for their Stella line this year. They've headed back toward a bit more of a badass look that looks more in line with their moto and racing background.
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www.giro.com/us_en/techlace
I'll go ahead and put this here for no reason at all.. the Interbike Awards for company of the year are funny as hell considering none of them were at Interbike. LOL!