The cycling industry has broached a new frontier of material science. Active clothing pioneers Santini and Polartec have combined forces to… let you physically wear greenhouse gases while you ride your bike. No idea how. We didn’t read that far in the email they sent. Sounds mental though doesn’t it?
The two brands have announced the launch of the Aero Race Jersey, a high-performance garment constructed from Polartec® Power Dry™ with Recycled Carbon. Yes, you read that correctly. They are making bicycle clothing out of captured CO₂. Again, not a clue how.
Can we make our own Cyclry jerseys out of farts? We don’t understand enough about any of this to know whether this is a stupid question. But we predict that the next three paragraphs will help provide an answer.
How Do You Turn a Gas into a Jersey?
Polartec is utilizing a “carbon capture process that intercepts industrial CO₂ emissions before their release into the atmosphere.” They then convert those captured emissions into recycled polyester fibers, which are knit into the 128 g/m² fabric that makes up the jersey.
The result is a highly technical, aerodynamic race jersey featuring yarns made with 91% recycled carbon content. Santini claims this process reduces the carbon footprint of the garment by 66% compared to using virgin polyester.
You’re wearing smog. Smog is wicking away your sweat. Probably some microplastics in there too, just waiting to sneak inside your testicles.
It’s Also Aerodynamic
It’s the Aero Race Jersey, which means, yes, it’s aero. Or claims to be. They could tell us anything since we’re not taking it into a wind tunnel to confirm.
Anyway, they say they HAVE taken it into a wind tunnel, and that it features strategically placed rear panels for a “second-skin fit.” Something about that made our brains think ‘flesh pockets.’ Not a nice thing to picture. Don’t think about it at work. Second skins and flesh pockets are things murderers think about, probably.
Anyway forget whatever insanity is going on in the paragraph above. The real focus is on the sleeves. Santini implemented a “specialized striped structure” designed to optimize airflow through “Vortex Generation.”
Honestly, they made a shirt out of captured industrial pollution, and then designed the sleeves to create micro-tornados. It’s a little bit cool. They’re not even paying us to say that, in fact they actively declined to hire us.
Get Your Aero Race Smog-Tornado Jersey Now
The Santini Aero Race jersey will be available in three colorways with a unisex fit.
They didn’t send us a direct link, so just go to https://www.santinicycling.com/en/ and click around until you find it.
