When we first brought Giro into the shop, this simply designed shirt caught my eye.  This is a straight-forward, understated garment, but what exactly makes it conducive for cycling? "This shirt could possibly make me look good" is what went through my head...

The tight lines and fit of this shirt are truly amazing. The 3% of Lycra really allows the shirt to move with you while the "ride position stretch pleats" are helpful when reaching for the bars. This shirt lives in fall and early winter. Paired with a thin base or mid layer and a shell, you're solid gold on those colder days/nights.

This is a smooooth lookin' shirt and fits in flawlessly in any situation. The addition of the the placket hiding the buttons and hidden snap front pocket, give this shirt a sleek, modern look.  The site describes the shirt as chambray-like, I disagree. The fabric is much more rigid almost like a tight denim. This is advantageous on those windier days, the tight knit keep the wind minimal while still allowing it to cool you off or keeping that body heat in. The fabric itself is durable, allowing reckless folks like ourselves to eat shit (i.e. ass over bars, face bounces, slide outs and the so ons and so forths) and walk away with very minimal damage to the shirt. The Mobility shirt is pretty easy to maintain as well. Simple messes are just a swipe with a wet cloth away from being clean again. Luckily, it dries on the quickness.

Although this shirt is stylish and perfect for the metropolitan commute, we do wish it had a few more features. The chest pocket is the only available storage and will not snap shut with an iPhone sized mobile phone. No other pockets. The buttons are unfortunately not as tough as the fabric, wishing now that there were a couple of backups sewn into the shirts. A simple zipper pocket in the back or side would be great, but no cycling specific cues come out of this shirt. For the price tag, a little storage would go a long way.

photos by Jarrel Williams

@nothingbutfixed

There are days set aside for mashing through the city streets, blazing along side traffic with no destination in mind. There are other days, where there is a destination in mind. Not just any destination, but a fancy one with people that also dress fancy. But its nice outside, perfect weather for a ride and thats what’s calling. The solution: Parker Dusseau’s Classic Work Shirt. This modern cut shirt always gets the compliments. Working behind bars of great restaurants, attending art shows and busniess dinners require a an understated but classic look. When going through the details of this shirt with customers and friends, it is always astonishing to folks to see how far commuter specific clothing has gone. The sleeves are now longer and accommodate our long ape-like arms. Complimented by the Power mesh behind each shoulder blade for more stretch, movement and ventilation.

The Schoeller Nanosphere coated Japanese cotton allows added breathability and helps the fabric dry much faster.This helps tremendously when arriving after a hot ride. Riding through an 8+ mile commute to work, I can be confident even in Atlanta’s ridiculously hot and humid summers, my shirt will be dry within the the first 15-20 mins of my arrival.  Flip the cuffs and collar and reflective stripes alongside a begonia trim add a smooth touch of safety, very very sneaky! I’m not one to flip my collar but its nice to have that extra safety feature when riding late on a weekend evening ride and all the drunkees are out behind the wheel calling their bestie for the next round location.

But just in case we want to call for our next destination, we can really appreciate the 2 convenient, double-chest pockets. Thats 4 pockets total!! The smaller, bottom pocket is great for cash and cards while the larger one fits an iPhone 5 just right. This shirt, paired with their commuter chinos or Outliers slim Dungarees and DZR’s or Quoc Pham Clipless commuter shoesand you’re dressed for any and all occasions. If you’re looking to exude confidence on your ride, professional and social life this shirt will definitely put you in the right direction.

We’ve been chompin at the bit ever since Vaughn Brown, of Parker Dusseau, let us in on a collaboration with The Radavist on a limited edition button up urban cycling shirt. Needless to say, we put an order in right away.  We received our shirts a few days before official release and were able to give it some tests in the early Georgia spring.

The shirt is made with the lightest Schoeller material we’ve ever had run through the shop.  For those unfamiliar with Schoeller, it’s a Swiss textiles company specializing in weather resistant, breathable materials that are great for outdoor and travel apparel.  Schoeller’s Coldblack Technology provides 30 SPF protection and reduces heat build up in darker fabrics. When grabbing this button up off the hanger, the shirt is cool to the touch! Pretty mind blowing!

The 1st three days after getting the shirts were going to be between 75-80 degrees and sunny, so it was worn three days in a row. For being such a dark black shirt I was surprised at how cool I was and how the air circulated throughout the shirt, cooling me with the sun beating down. The fabric even maintains temperature even as the the temperature slowly drops as the sunsets. 

This colab still delivers the standard, yet way above average,  nuances that Parker Dusseau button ups feature and moves incredibly well with no restrictions. The hidden mesh vents set behind the shoulder blades allows for very little resistance when stretching into the drops and help with cooling you down while ramping up your cadence.  We even found that the shirt did very well once the weather peaked at 82 during the week.

In addition, a light sprinkle while riding is fine and the shirt was dry in less than five minutes, but will be waiting for a downpour to see how this lighter Schoeller performs. We're curious to see how this shirt holds up once we hit the truly humid Georgia months, but we will update you on that too.

In the three years we've been doing this blog, it's always a treat to get one of our many amazing multi-talented customers to get behind the keyboard and tell us about their gear. Whether purchased in our shop or elsewhere, we, at The Spindle, love talking gear that we can test or potentially bring to our customers. With so many positive endorsements from several friends, we've decided to bring Search and State on as a new brand. Our rad ass friend, Damon a.k.a Crocodile Brown, indulges us with his forethought on their tops. His story and causes are admirable and we hope you also dive into seeing the positive things he does for the community around him, as well.

MY SEARCH AND STATE CYCLING APPAREL

A LOVE STORY

My cycling style and profile are different and varied to say the least. I ride a lot,
but not often (or maybe it's the other way around). On top of that, my routine is as
multifarious as my iTunes catalog. You see, I may beat around town after work or
shift between my office in downtown, to a lunch in the AUC, to a meeting in
midtown, and, then, to an event at the State Bar. Or, I may ride the open road or
get left behind in a crit race.

Most of my riding, of course, is as part of my personal cycling initiative
(@bikeGAcounties) to bike in every Georgia county (again), benefitting
FB4Katl.org. It is on those rides that I tackle the rolling terrain north of the metro
area, the coastal views south and east of it, the agri-rural areas to the south and
west, and then the small and historic towns between here and South Carolina. I
have come to realize that in the midst of all of those rides, the truest constant has
been use of one of my four (4) Search and State cycling jerseys (I also own a
long sleeve merino base layer that is like butter in the winter week we experience!)
The S1-A green, the Aloha, the S1-A black, and the Patriot, sound like interstate
highways or wrestling moves. But, for me, they have been much more than that.
Those layers of intricately woven fabric serve as a barrier for me from drag and
from the sun. They serve as a trusted valet, allowing me to store personal
belongings and other essentials for the haul - long or short.

Swrve, Based in LA, has been an incredible brand for us. Test after test their materials and stitching hold up to the most brutal tests. We've tested these shorts on our daily commutes, MTB shreds and adventure tours with little to no issues. Here's GM of the Spindle, Andy Lovell, withis his take on this new addition to the Swrve arsenal.

Swerve is quickly becoming one of my favorite cycling brands. Founded in 2005 these guys have churning out durable and functional clothes. I’ve owned a few pair of their shorts and have fallen in love with the Lightweight Trouser Shorts. I was looking for a pair of shorts to wear for a 3 day bike tour from Atlanta to Asheville and a 2 day bike packing trip through the mountains of Virginia. I wanted one pair of shorts to wear both on and off the bike for the full duration of the trip and the lightweights fit the bill perfectly.

Coming in at a scant 179 grams these shorts kept the legs feeling light and airy on tour. The no stretch waistband and the low cut waist in the front kept the shorts in place and super comfortable for long miles in the seat. A sudden rainstorm was also of little concern with the DWR coating adding a nice touch of water resistance.

While a great city short, in the woods is where these shorts really shined. They transitioned seamlessly from the bike, to hiking trails, to the camp site. Triple stitched in all the right spots and a 4 way stretch fabric landed itself perfectly to pretty much any outdoor activity you could think of. Mesh pockets where a nice touch for drying out quickly after quick dips in the river. After hundreds of miles on tour with these shorts they are showing no signs of any wear and tear! The one thing that surprised me most about these shorts is that they didn't smell after days on the bike. Even coming out of the woods after 2 days the shorts had little odor and I felt that I could of easily kept wearing them for days to come.