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endura fs260 pro thermo bibknickers
if i'm totally honest, we could actually have sat outside at debbie's on sunday to dine with al fresco, the italian sprinter in our team. though, as mentioned, the wind was reaching 55-60kph, its direction meant that the patio would have offered at least a smidgeon of shelter, though i cannot deny that the welcome to great coffee table umbrellas were earning their keep. however, it's autumn, and i feel we're allowed some compensations for the season, electing to sup froth indoors, where conversation could at least be paid heed to, without the need for raising of voices and resorting to scrunched-up wind jackets.
it is rare that the velo club find themselves still clad in bibshorts at this time of year, often more out of tradition than suffering from the late david duffield's easter knees. that said, preparation in nine-tenths of the law, and it would be foolish, not to mention unsavoury, not to have one i made earlier, in the shape of lengthier leg coverings designed to keep a layer of hebridean toothpaste from besmirching one's sculpted calf muscles. and now that the barley has been successfully harvested, ploughing has already commenced to reinvigorate the soil in preparation for next season, while farmers are still moaning about a lack of rainfall.
for the succour soon to be demanded by our lower limbs, we must look to the inimitable, edward van hooydonk, allegedly the inventor of what i might refer to as bib-threequarters, but which scotland's endura clothing have catalogued as bibknickers. either way, lengthened bibshorts reaching to mid-calf seems the most appropriate means of approaching winter in stages, prior to donning full-length bibtights, when arctic gales strafe the hinterlands.
following edward's victory in the 1989 ronde van vlaanderen, the horrendous weather conditions succeeded in aggravating a previous knee injury, leading the belgian wordperfect rider to offer a more dignified alternative to wrapped bandages, in the shape of elongated bibshorts. these appeared the following year, with the seal of approval arriving thirty years ago in 1991, when van hooydonk, once again, took victory in flanders. though necessarily invented for racing in the spring classics, they fare every bit as well in autumn, as may well be seen in next weekend's twice delayed paris-roubaix.
however, while van hooydonk held a ferocious reputation as one of belgium's hardmen, i not only have no match for such bravado, i hold no aspirations in that direction. well, not many. but it would be churlish to deny that donning a pair of fs260 pro bibknickers provides an outward verisimilitude to the archetypal innocent bystander. if only they were aware that the impossibly soft cossetting proffered by endura's garmentage, would leave any flandrian questioning his formerly unimpeachable toughness.
the pfc-free dwr coated thermoroubaix fabric not only offers comfortable insulation, but a modicum of water repellence, a feature doubtless invented solely for scotland's west coast. and the high front panel thoughtfully features a zip to make the 'comfort' in comfort break the epitome of pragmatism. the red-coloured pad (on the size small at least), containing gel inserts for added comfort, along with endura's 'continuously variable profile', all but converted my brooks cambium c13 carbon saddle into a parker-knoll armchair atop the seatpost. and when it comes to gloop at the hem to prevent unwarranted upward movement, i'd contend that endura currently have the gloopiest on the market.
while in the process of reviewing another item, one which i had hoped to upset a great deal more than i managed, i rode along lengthy tracts of chunky gravel, kilometres of grass-covered sand-dune and a farm track or two, considerately re-modelled at the hands of massey and ferguson. my belgian style netherwear displayed a fortitude that i fear i probably lack, emulating daniel craig in being neither shaken nor stirred on return to the croft, following an enervating sixty-something kilometres around the principality. until velocipedinal life demands that every inch of leg flesh be covered against the elements, i figure i'm pretty much autumnally sorted.
endura's fs260 pro bibknickers are available in black, in sizes small, medium and large at a scarily modest price of £89.99. in which case, you'd need a seriously credible excuse not to.
tuesday 28 september 2021
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