Equipment - Verge Wind Vest (Primo)

Although I have a thing for winter jackets I have to admit that out of the rest of my kit, except for shorts and jerseys, I use a wind vest the most often. I used to wear a full sleeve wind jacket back in the day but I didn't like them because they always managed to catch air, puffing out so you resembled the Michelin Man.

Vests really struck a chord with me because they stayed sleek and trim on me. The fact that the first few generations of wind vests had just a mesh back really helped too. I felt like I was wearing almost nothing extra yet the front of my torso had protection from the wind. Since then I made it a point to own a wind vest for any cool weather riding.

Note: for those of you who don't have a team issue vest you can cheat a bit - wear your normal jersey as a top layer and stick a grocery store plastic bag underneath. It's an update on the "newspaper under the jersey" trick. The plastic bag doesn't bleed ink, it doesn't turn into mush if you sweat a lot, and after the ride you can put your dirty kit in the bag. Try the last bit with a newspaper!

Anywho... as far as vests go I have two modes for them, zipped and unzipped.

Zipped

This is the default way of wearing a vest, zipped up. When I actually feel a bit chilly I'll wear the wind vest like this, the way I think most people envision using a vest. "Zipped" keeps the vest snug to me, keeps me warm, and helps "control" things in my jersey pockets (because I wear the vest over whatever jersey I'm wearing) so they don't move around as much.

Unzipped

When it's marginally warm for a vest, meaning possibly too warm, like about 60 degrees or so, I'll wear the vest but leave it unzipped. Although I've never pulled a jersey over my head while riding I can say that I've put on and taken off a vest without stopping. Unzipped vests are easier to remove and are relatively easy to zip up.

So why wear it unzipped?

Because it flaps.

Eh what?

A long time ago one of the regulars in the shop told me a tip on riding safe. He spoke from a position of experience - he rode bicycles (more than I did), he rode motorcycles, and he was a volunteer fireman. The latter gave him experience with things people did to get into accidents.

His most spectacular story was one where they pulled up in a fire truck to a house fire, lights flashing, and proceeded to do whatever firemen do at the scene of a fire. They pulled hoses off, made sure everyone was safe, and all that kind of stuff.

The whole time the fire truck sat in the road, lights flashing.

Then suddenly CRASH!

Someone drove into the back of the fire truck.

At first everyone thought the driver was drinking or something but it quickly became apparent that the driver was 100% sober. When queried about seeing the fire truck the driver admitted that he never saw it.

"To be honest I was thinking about my tennis game. I never saw the truck."

(It might have been golf but it was one of those two.)

He never braked, he never swerved, nothing, just drove into the truck.

So what's that got to do with an unzipped vest?

Well John (that's his name; it might be Jon) told me that no matter how obvious you make yourself there's a chance that some distracted driver (and this was before cell phones were prevalent) will hit you anyway. The only thing you can do is to be aware and to make yourself more obvious.

He found that drivers noticed motion first, then color, then the object. This is similar to what other folks talk about when dealing with motorists seeing, or not seeing, cyclists. John (or Jon) recommended that I have a flapping thing on me or my bike, preferably some obnoxious color. On his motorcycle he has a piece of pink cloth flapping off the back of his seat.

For me, on the bike, it's a flapping vest. Or jersey, if it's really hot and I have a base layer on.

So that's why I'll wear a wind vest unzipped. It's really so that I have it at hand if I need it, but a secondary purpose is to try and help others see me.

Because, you know, that's what I'm all about. Heh.

So after all that I can show you my new vest. I had a regular vest before but when I saw the new sexy one I had to put my name down on the list.

Shiny. I actually like it. That sort of scares me.

The vest is windproof in the front. I'll get to the back in a moment.

Zippers from the bottom or top.

Bottom zipper has no pull tab so it doesn't chafe your shorts or whatever. There are little silicone gripper dots at the bottom. They work well.

The back. Lots of stuff going on here.

The back of the Expo Wheelmen wind vests is actually a jersey type material. It has pockets, it breathes a bit, and it's solid so it holds a print better (as opposed to a mesh that doesn't lend itself to .

Of course the vest has the requisite reflective piping and some logo stuff on it.

Notice the phone peeking out?

Unfortunately the small pocket is too small for my DroidX. I haven't checked to see if an iPhone fits but I think it should, based on all the different things made for a smartphone that the DroidX doesn't fit. Having a slightly larger form factor phone can be a disadvantage.

On the other hand that small pocket works great for my car key.

 Nitty gritty stuff.

Disclaimer: Although Verge sponsors the Bethel Spring Series I pay for my team clothing, same as any other club member. In fact I bought this vest even though I already owned another one because I really liked the features of this one.

Equipment - Verge Primo Jacket

So I guess I have this thing for cycling jackets. It started with the knit-stuff-with-nylon-wind-panel jackets of the 80s - I thought that having one of those meant that I was a real rider. Then a then-Euro-pro friend showed up at a ride with a ridiculously thin jacket on a ridiculously cold day. He showed me this miracle jacket, thin, windproof, insulating, and almost too warm for regular cold days. Compared to him I felt like the Michelin Man and not just because of my weight.

Eventually I got one of those jackets - it might have been a year or two, maybe a hand-me-down from that Euro pro himself. The jackets got even thinner. About 8 years ago I settled on Verge's Warsaw jacket - I had them for the blue/green Carpe Diem Racing team, the white/blue Connecticut Coast Cycle team, and now with Expo Wheelmen. I had a Warsaw jacket from 2012 but I decided to move up a bit and get the new fancy model for 2013, the Primo.

So far, I have to admit, I've only worn the jacket out on the street. The one day I thought I'd need it the weather ended up nice and I wore a vest and a long sleeve jersey instead of the jacket.

Because it's windproof and insulating I wear the Warsaw/Primo jackets when it hits 40 or 45 degrees at the warmest. I'm good, with 2 long sleeve layers, down to about 25 degrees F. After that it's debatable - it's not my torso that gets cold, it's the (ahem) top of the tights.

The right sleeve of the jacket.

The new jacket has zip off sleeves and a tighter form fitting wrist area with a zipper. There's also a strip of non-insulating fabric running up the back of the arm. It's black so it's hard to see but it's just above the zipper in the picture above. This helps with breathing and ventilation.

One sleeve unzipped.

I worried that the shoulder would look odd because the zipper follows the red panel's contour. This would mean a really cut off shoulder. However Verge doubles up on the shoulder so the vest still has a shoulder on it (the black shoulder area on the left side of the picture).

I don't think it's an "unzip while you ride" thing but I'm also not a fan of removing partial zip jerseys over my head while riding either. Maybe you skilled riders can do the sleeves while you ride, but for me it's a "I gotta stop" thing.

White stuff is insulating.

That's the miracle thin windproof and insulating fabric. The Primo jacket has no large vent (non-windproof) areas, just a portion of the sleeve.

Detail of collar.

The zipper ends in a little zipper well so you don't have the thing flicking you in the chin. The collar is nice and warm around the neck.

Bottom zipper - note no pull on it.

The zipper has two zipper things so you can unzip going up or down. This helps if you need to take a nature break or adjust your baselayer or something. There's no pull on the bottom zipper thing because the edge of the pull can abrade your clothing - your tights, knickers, shorts, etc.

Silicone dots around waist.

The waist area has silicone dots that act as a gripper. This prevents the jacket from riding up.

Pockets in the back.

There are two pockets in the back, a large one and a new smaller one. The large one will carry a lot of stuff but because it's just one pocket it gets all jumbled around. I usually carry multiple pockets of stuff, organized by pocket, so this isn't ideal for me. It works okay though and the nice thing is you can fit a lot of stuff in there.

Full phone pocket.

I can fit my DroidX in the small pocket complete, so that's nice. It does have to go sideways, and the phone is sitting on the jacket in its "pocketed" position. The phone holster illustrates the pocket's depth.

The back in full.

True winter jackets don't have a thin back - it's full protection all the way around. With the Primo jacket you get some of the standard reflective trim and piping.

The nitty gritty of the jacket.

Disclaimer: although Verge sponsors the Bethel Spring Series, I pay for my jacket, the same as any other club member - in fact I sold my Warsaw jacket to a teammate so I could afford this one. I also do not decide who to use for clothing for our club. I admit I was happy when the powers that be decided to order from Verge.