Spin Cycle Clothing Gear Review

by the Rocky Trail Racing Team
Crocodile Trophy 2015 – 9-day Mountain Bike Stage Race, Queensland

Outfit: Custom Pro Race 1 Bib knicks and Pro Race 2 Jersey

• “As if you’d have nothing on!”
• “The most comfortable knicks I’ve raced over such long multi-day event!”
• “Loved the design – so many fellow racers commented on how well it stood out in the peloton!”
• “Such quick order turn-around, a supplier you really can rely on!”
• “Great advice and support during the ordering process – the Spin Cycle team customised our kit exactly to our needs!”

 

The Crocodile Trophy is the oldest and most legendary MTB stage race in the world – it’s held in Queensland’s tropical north and the event takes racers from all over the world from Cairns via the Atherton Tablelands into the Outback and further north via Skybury Coffee Plantation to Port Douglas, where it finishes on Four Mile Beach. With an average of 100km race each day, the Crocodile Trophy has become renowned for it’s versatile stage plan – participants say that it has everything that you’d expect from mountain biking: rainforest trails, single trails with berms, rock drops, roots, tight and fast corners in some of the best MTB parks Australia has to offer, steep climbs adding up to more than 15,000vm, technical and fast descents, dry and rocky terrain in the Outback heat, countless muddy river crossings and a beach finish. It is a rough race – rough on bodies and gear.

One of the most important aspects of such a long multi-day stage race, is to keep your body in good shape. To eat enough, hydrate constantly and to be in a comfortable – and durable – outfit on the bike. And let’s be honest – you’ve got to stand out in the peloton as well. The Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing team this year raced in a custom-made Spin Cycle Clothing outfit – each of the five team members rotated three kits with Pro Race 1 Bib knicks and Pro Race 2 Jerseys.

All team riders agreed that the kits felt extremely light-weight and breathable – “As if you’d have nothing on” – as one of them put it. Being a race-cut design, size-wise the kit was on the tight side, but in the rough racing and even rougher maintenance conditions the structure, seams and colours held up perfectly. Riders had to wash the gear by hand every night and found that it dried quickly and mud and sweat stains were easily removed. The chamois cushioning was ideal for the long days in the saddle – some team riders opted to additionally use chamois butter.

All up a great kit that proved itself event in the roughest racing conditions possible.

Check out Spin Cycle Clothing for more information!

 

Photos: Regina Stanger / Crocodile Trophy