The lower temperatures in many of us mean a nervous review of the bicycle cabinet. We tested the affordable Force clothing set, which was created to provide us with thermal comfort while cycling in severe weather conditions.
When the morning temperatures begin to approach zero, and what we meet outside the window is primarily interested in smog experts, most of the cycling brothers are divided into two groups. The first one says goodbye to the activity in the "fresh" air until spring, apologizing to the trainers, rollers, and Zwift. The second group is driving fans at all costs, for which snow, frost, and mud are not a problem.
Why do we mention these two groups? Because in theory neither one nor the other is the target group for the clothing we are testing. The former is in the heat of their own flat and hell smelting on trainers, while others are reconciled with millions of investments in specialist clothing for driving in difficult conditions.
However, there is also a third group. It's all those who may not be fans of running outdoors at all costs, but they still want to shake off the four walls from time to time. However, they do not want to associate this with investments in clothing going into "millions" of zlotys. This is the right for such a group, which we would call "normcore", an interesting alternative seems to be Force clothing, which hit our hands.
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
A set of clothing in the form of an X100 Softshell jacket and F58 trousers is designed so that the above products calmly enable us to train at temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius. Above 5 degrees in plus will be too warm in it (unless someone belongs to the cold), and below 0 the training challenge is to be realized, but it needs to be supplemented with warmer underwear.
We will not find space technologies in a jacket or trousers. We simply have tried-and-tested solutions that keep you cool and ensure comfort when driving in the cold wind. The jacket is made of softshell, it is nice to the touch, it protects against wind and cold, however, it is not fully waterproof (although it will manage easily with passing rain or water flying out from under the wheels). The pants are made of artificial material with a warm soffit. In the case of a jacket, the mesh pads under the arms and on the sleeves provide ventilation. In the pants, we have mesh panels on the back of the legs.
Clothing provides a tailored fit, but in the case of a jacket it is not a radical "race fit". People with less cycling shapes will be able to easily sit here. The tester, while growing 178 cm tall and slim figure, rode in M-sized clothing - he was still here and there for a bit more winter kilograms.
An interesting patent for the jacket is a special, elongated panel at the back. It allows you to cover not only the kidneys, but also the buttocks, thanks to which it is difficult to move on the one hand, and on the other hand, we are better protected against water running out from under the wheels. The jacket features three standard cycling pockets at the back, as well as a smaller pocket with a zipper.
The Force brand definitely went in the direction of recently fashionable color trends that increase visibility and safety related to it while driving on the road in difficult weather conditions. Both on the jacket and trousers we find reflective fabrics, and the same color (yellow fluo) jacket is not accidental here either.
F58 pants are equipped with an interesting insert. Despite the cosmic appearance, it is based on a simple sponge filling, which, however, fulfills its role. It is soft and comfortable, and additionally, it is resistant to sweat, so even with intense effort, we are not threatened with getting wet and getting cold from this element. In addition, the comfort of dressing pants raises unbuttoned legs.
As we mentioned the whole set was very fairly priced. The X100 jacket costs PLN 379, and the F58 pants are available for PLN 249.