castelli-cycling.com

The story of Castelli stretches back more than 134 years to a small tailoring shop in Milan founded by Vittore Gianni. The Company took a definitive turn toward cycling in 1935, when one Armando Castelli became a part of Gianni’s staff.

Four years later, Castelli purchased the company from Gianni, and the story kicks into gear. Armando supplied the cycling hero’s of Coppy, Bartali, Bobet, Van Looy, and Anquetil, and along the way expanded that effort into supplying a handful of professional teams.

It wouldn’t be until the birth of Armando’s son, Maurizio, that Castelli as we know it today, would soon take shape. The youngster came up in cycling, and it was only logical that he would end up in the business, however, the extent of his passion and desire for innovation would soon cause a parting of ways with his father and the founding of the Castelli brand in 1974. The firsts began to roll out with regularity soon after.

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By Richard Pestes - PezCyclingNews.com

SUPER NANO Glove. This one’s designed for cool-but-not cold temps, but is a really light-weight full fingered glove, and I’ve found them really well suited to 7-10C degree (45-50F) temperature days.

Performance • I like this glove for cool Spring & Fall days where you need full fingers. They do tend to run warm – and kept me toastier than any other glove I have in this weight category. Overall they’re very comfortable. The light and stretchy cuff seals snugly and softly around the wrist, and tucks in neatly under a jacket or jersey sleeve. Read the rest of this entry »

By Richard Pestes - PezCyclingNews.com

PAVE BIBTIGHT
Living in Vancouver I’ve been looking for a bib tight suitable for my wet, rainy winters. So far the search has been fruitless unless I wanted to pull on a pair of waterproof rain pants over my tights. I’ll admit my ego would rather I got wet than be seen riding around in baggy rain pants. Then I caught sight of Castelli’s Pave Bibs and started bugging them for a review pair. Read the rest of this entry »

By Richard Pestes - PezCyclingNews.com. If you live where I do, the last month has been perfect for testing the wet weather gear, so here’s a look some innovative items from Castelli to help stay dry: Nanoflex arms & knee warmers, Pave Bibtight, SuperNano gloves, and the Pioggia 2 shoecovers. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to new state-of-the art seamless knitting technology and a moisture-wicking blend of polypropylene, nylon, and lycra, the IRIDE SEAMLESS LONG-SLEEVE BASE LAYER is our softest and most comfortable base layer to date.

Polypropylene is a popular choice for performance base layers as the fabric’s fibers quickly transport moisture away from your skin. Once the moisture has reached this point, the Iride’s nylon layer takes over, transferring the moisture outward to the surface of the garment to evaporate there, keeping you warm and dry.

An extra little feature, a soft thumbs loop holds the sleeves in place, insulating the skin between your jacket and glove. Cool!

Made from 100% merino wool, the QUINDICI SOFT SOCKS are the ideal choice for long winter rides in cold and windy conditions. With its softness, merino wool keeps your feet warm and comfortable while letting moisture evaporate.

This breathability is especially important for cyclists, as winter months often mean cramming socks into shoes and shoes into booties. Without a means by which moisture can escape, your feet become colder faster, wool socks are an important cold-weather companion. The nice 15cm cuff also offer outstanding angle coverage.

Riding in the winter often requires a mixed bag of gear, shoe-covers, full-finger gloves, wool socks, tights, jacket, skully, it can sometimes make it feel like you’re a gladiator suiting up for battle. With the well-designed Castelli Espresso Due Jacket, you can simplify that battle and ride without a engery-sapping, wind-flapping jacket.

If you’re looking for luxury and performance in a winter jacket, then the Espresso Due Jacket is the perfect choice. In designing the Espresso Due, we paid attention to even the smallest details to create the ideal blend of performance, fit, and style.

MEETING UP WITH ANDREAS KLIER IN FLANDERS.
Andreas Klier (Garmin-Cervélo), born and raised in Germany, moved to Belgium when he became a professional, and spent over a decade riding the region’s intricate web of tiny farm roads that give the biggest home field advantage in sports to riders who know all the secrets of their home turf.

Klier recently moved away from Belgium, but when he returned for a cold, December photoshoot with Castelli in 2010, the hardman was all smiles.

After picking-up Klier at Brussels Airport, we barely found our hotel in Molenwiek due to dumping snow and icy roads. When we finally got there, we sat down in the lobby with some beers while going over the schedule for the next day of photoshooting. Read the rest of this entry »

Most overshoes are much of a muchness but the Nano’s have a few features that set them apart from the rest.

The lightweight, stretchy fabric is a much more supple than normal – you’re hardly aware you’re wearing them – and the polyurethane face is waterproof, unlike standard neoprene. Rain and spray can slowly soak in through the seam that joins the upper and lower sections – it’s not taped – but your feet will stay drier than normal in these. Even if water does get in, they still keep your feet reasonably warm, like most other overshoes.

You don’t get as much insulation as with thick neoprene, but the Nanos keep the wind off and allow your feet to heat up inside. There’s good coverage around the sole too with just small holes for your cleat and heel, and that makes a lot of difference. We’ve found them about right for autumn use and milder winter days, swapping to something more hardcore when the mercury dips below about 7°C. Read the rest of this entry »

One winter tight for all conditions. A technical wonder!
Putting in those base miles over the winter and early spring should be as comfortable as possible.

On a dry day, the FLUIDO NANOFLEX WIND BIBTIGHT is a technical wonder—wind-protection, minimum seams, warm, stretchy and breathable. But when it starts to rain, the real magic kicks in.

DETAILS & FIT
The Fluido tight is curved to perfectly fit your body and won’t bunch and chafe, specially at the back of the knee, when you pedal.

We have increased the cold-weather comfort by adding SG0.6 Wind wind/waterproof fabric to the exposed frontal portions of the legs. Another panel is strategically located at the top of the crotch to shield you from cold winds.

Aside from the stretchy SG0.6 Wind fabric, the use of a combination of our super soft and fleecy Thermoflex fabric coated with millions of tiny silicone nanofilaments will give you the most water-repellent fabric finish ever.

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