Q. If skinsuits are so fast, why don’t racers wear them for every stage?
A. You can’t pee off the bike in them and they don’t have usable pockets.
Castelli determined if they could overcome those two obstacles, they could save the Garmin-Cervelo team 10-15 watts at 40km (24.85mph). The result is the San Remo Speedsuit, what they call “Quite possibly the fastest piece of clothing ever created for road racing.”
The San Remo started with a new aero jersey with special fabrics at the shoulders and a new cut to be more aerodynamic. It’s then stitched to their Body Paint bibshorts lowers, which are constructed from a single piece of multi-texture fabric. The jersey part has a full zip that opens slightly at the bottom to allow nature breaks. Parts of the fabric have dimples knit directly into the fabric to create turbulence and induce better “laminar air flow” around your body rather than have it just get all chopped up.
Three rear pockets are stitched tight to remain secure when fully loaded and flat when not. The side panels are pulled taut and held in tension when in the riding position to keep them smooth and aero.
For now, it’s only available if you’re a member of the Garmin-Cervelo team, but it’ll be available for their team/custom orders and in a few select stock colorways for Spring 2012. Get a glimpse of that after the break…
