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Base: A New Definition

Mitochondria: Aerobic Engines

Stripped Down

Project: Rolling Resistance

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Power Meters

Wheels

9/25/2004

words and images by Kraig Willett

I like vests, and not just the cycling flavor. You know those fleece ones that were so popular in the LL. Bean catalog a few years back??? Errr, or maybe they were in the REI catalog. Anyway, - I've got one of those fleece ones too - Patagonia I think. I like it, by the way...

I think the cycling vests are particularly useful - they're versatile and effective. If you start out a ride in the crisp morning air of fall/spring you can slap that vest on and easily strip it off after you warm up. Yeah, just crumple it up and stuff it in your jersey pocket - that's what I do anyway.

Well, over the years I have accumulated a few wind vests from different manufacturers. My first vest was a Pearl Izumi cobalt blue wind vest. That one got lost by me relatively quickly, but I dug it - no logos, just a cool, plain ol' wind vest. I didn't have it for long, and I really don't remember having any problems with it - so I reckon that it just plain ol' worked (and that's a good thing!)

Then, in 1993 or so, I saw the light. Fluorescent orange and yellow were the colors of the new team I was on, and the clothing we used was from a local Pacific Northwest clothing supplier called Blik. If I remember right, that company was the aftermath of Jerry Baker's Baleno clothing line - Ian Connor, I believe, was the guy that made the Blik line of custom clothing happen...

But I digress - this heinous looking vest is the best vest I've had to date. It's made out of Gore-tex that has lost all it's redeeming qualities over the past decade, but the damn thing still works and it hasn't broken or worn through. It's a quality garment.

The best thing about this vest is the double zipper. You can zip it all the way up, then zip it up "again" to air things out a bit -> if it gets too chilly you can zip it down and close things up without having to fumble to engage a tiny-ass zipper. Did I mention that I think this is a quality garment?

The next vest I purchased was the only one I've ever had a problem with. It was another Pearl Izumi vest which had custom graphics for a team I rode for during an east coast stint of mine in the mid 90's. We were known as the "choppers"... Please, don't ask.

As you might be able to see in the image above, the zipper crapped out on me in what seemed like no time. The zipper was so small, you had to be like a sure-handed surgeon to engage it. It was inevitable that in the heat of the moment trying to zip that thing up was going to be an impossibility - eventually, the teeth broke, the zipper track (geeze, can you tell I'm not a zipper lingo guy?) ripped out of the vest, and I haven't used it since 1998. But hey, it had a wind flap under the zipper, and the collar seemed more substantial than the Blik. Why do I still keep it hanging in my closet? I have no idea...

The last vest I've sparingly used is one I got from an unnamed source a couple of years ago. It's a Giordana Prime Alliance team issue jobber. I wear it occasionally when I am feeling a bit delusional and re-living my wanna-be pro days. When I wear it, I feel like I am riding in the Tour de France... Nah, not really - I was just making sure y'all were still awake.

This vest is very similar to the Pearl vests I have experience with. Nice wind flap under the zipper, extended collar, breathable mesh in the back. There is one huge difference that I can see though, and that is the zipper itself. The Giordana zipper is as beefy or beefier than the Blik one - it makes the scrawny pearl one look like a joke. We'll see how it holds up with time, though...

So, here comes the "versus" table we'll see more of in the future.

Hopefully, Pearl has beefed up their zippers these days. Other than the zipper thing, all vests out there right now seem pretty similar. Choose the one that fits your fashion style and your budget. As for me, I'm still waiting for someone to incorporate the double zipper in their design - as soon as that happens, I'll be back in the vest market. 'Cause, did I mention that I like vests?