X-Bionic is, quite simply, brilliant. If you want to speak to someone that will effuse over how great it is, give us a call and ask for Dave!
With years of technical fabric development that began with ski and motorbike socks, and with countless design awards and hundreds of patents across many sports; X-Bionic are at the forefront of technical cycling apparel. You may or may not have heard of them, though if you have it is probably through their famous X-Socks.
The Swiss company were founded by German scientist, Dr Lambert and are focused on producing apparel that gives a real and quantifiable performance advantage. This is evident from the moment you pick up a product. For starters the box of each item has more technical information on it than most websites and once liberated from the packaging the distinctive feel and look of each piece screams R&D, from the humble sock through to jackets designed in conjunction with Lamborghini.
Much of X-Bionic's focus is to do with minimising the body's wasted energy and this is most evident in products such as The Trick jersey and bib shorts. The focus of these products - in contrast to almost every other analagous offering on the market - is not so much on the immediate removal of sweat from the body and jersey but to the use of that sweat in the natural thermoregulation of our body. In other words, the best way to mimic the body's own cooling and temperature stabilisation methods in a way that leads to performance advantage.
During exercise, as much as 97% of our energy expenditure is directly involved in Thermo-regulation (the regulation and maintenance of our biologically optimal operating temperature) and as such, any help we can give ourselves in avoiding excess heat loss or gain will quite obviously lead to big advantages when it comes to exercise: even a 1% energy saving will increase our potential by 25%.
It is to this end that X-Bionic have gone about developing complex, knitted fabrics that assist the body in rapidly reaching and maintaining the optimal temperature and they combine this with differing levels of compression to help stabilise muscles to avoid oscillations that lead to early fatigue and increased recovery times.
X-Bionic is different, of that there is no doubt. Aesthetically it is quite striking and this is mainly due to it's unique knitted construction. X-Bionic clothing is knitted from Polyamide rather than the Polyester used - to all intents and purposes - by everyone else. It is woven on impressive machines in tube form - your jersey or shorts start life as individual fibres that are spun in a specific schedule to create a tube within which are the 3-dimensional structures that lend the garments their technical properties. The sleeves of the jerseys and the legs of the shorts are made in the same way and are then sewn into the bodies of their respective 'tubes'. This results in clothing that has minimal seams and that is consequently more comfortable than anything else. In addition, the polyamide material is more like a brushed-cotton in texture and feels far less like traditional Lycra.
The key part of the construction process is the creation of the aforementioned 3D Structures, for it is these that give the jerseys and shorts their functionality.
Special insulating structures on the spine trick the body's heat receptors and start to cool the body through perspiration much earlier. Your brain generally decides when your body switches to cooling mode based on signals from the nervous system. The Trick simulates warming of the whole body through the spinal column and the body's sensors signal this warmth to the brain, starting sweat production much earlier - long before overheating starts to affect your performance by causing your body to expend energy through cooling. A 3D Bionic Sphere structure on the chest and back counteracts this induced warming resulting in a constant, optimal 37o body temperature.
The Trick doesn't just cool the body however, but maintains the optimal operating temperature key to maximising performance. The body produces varying amounts of heat over different areas and this is particularly extreme on the chest and back because of the need to protect internal organs. The 3D Bionic Sphere System leaves a thin film of moisture on the skin without the body sensing wetness. SweatTraps under the arms draw in excess perspiration, wick them out for evaporation and dispose of them through thermodynamics. What remains is a comfortable, thin, cooling layer of moisture. However, in cooler situations where you may not be sweating, the entire system of channels functions as insulation during both rest and recovery phases. This means you avoid the risk of over-chilling during and after your activity; headwinds don't drive through the material as they would normal lycra therefore protecting your muscles from a chill that would otherwise require additional energy to counter.
These features are particularly relevant in the UK or areas where the temperature can vary considerably over the course of a ride (elevation gain for example) : you will find that the use of the Trick clothing often eliminates the need for a Gilet and if things really are cold, you may find that you only need to add an X-Bionic base-layer to your wardrobe to dramatically expand the operating temperature range of the jersey - in normal circumstances the Trick jersey is worn directly against the skin without the use of a base-layer.
In addition to the direct thermoregulatory properties of the Trick clothing, X-Bionic also employ Partial-Compression to offer the benefits of compression but without neglecting the need for cooling. Compression clothing has been around for some time and has definite advantages for performance and recovery. However, it is usual to experience mild overheating as the blood coming to the skin is quickly returned to the heart, reducing the amount of time heat has to dissipate at the skins surface. Heavily compressed muscles suffer greater temperature irregularities which leads to a greater energy expenditure from the body - the antithesis of X-bionic's guiding design principle. Partial compression allows for optimal support, blood-flow and nutrient delivery without having an effect on the thermal output of the body, thus helping to maintain optimal performance.
It is our experience that the Trick jersey can be worn without baselayer or gilet down to temperatures of around 7oC (though a slight nip initially this quickly disappears as the jersey begins it's work) and they have been comfortably worn up to 40oC. Obviously this will depend on the individual's own response to environmental conditions and can be tailored with the use of an X-bionic gilet and/or baselayer. As a result of it's exceptional function , you can ride 90% of the year with the following items in your arsenal:
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Trick Jersey
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Trick Shorts
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Energizer Short Sleeve Summer Light Base Layer (used in Winter - it just doesn't get cold enough in the UK!)
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SphereWind Gilet
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Arm / Leg Warmers
If the temperature hits the zero mark or below then your may want to invest in a Spherewind Jacket.
The aesthetic, as mentioned earlier, is striking and won't be for everyone. With that said, as more people discover the brand it will become it's defining, stand-out feature and will become 'cool' - we guarantee it! In the future, all cycling clothing will be made this way.