Eurobike is often full of spectacular claims, mind boggling figures, the odd odd prototype, and extremely shiny new technologies. While showing new clothes and a new helmet, POC eschewed all of those things to focus on simplicity, incremental improvement and good execution.
POC were also one of only five companies to spare my shoulder this year by having their press kit on a USB key instead of dead tree format (my sincere thanks to any company that does this. Most days at Eurobike began with a bag full of Singletrack magazines to hand out to people, but ended with a bag even heavier due to print catalogues).
Everything POC are doing for mountain bike is now simplified into three categories: Downhill, Enduro, and XC. Each also has “Resistance” and “Resistance Pro” categories, but overall things are simplified.Here’s a diagram of how they’re designing the 2017 clothes. Tear resistance and ventilation in the most appropriate places, and well as UV resistance and low friction inner faces.For 2017, POC’s range gets some lovely harmonising and contrasting colours, which stuck out as unusual compared to most things on the showfloor.
(As a side note on this, we’re not sure just how many bike/bike clothing companies subscribe to trend forecasting agencies, but evidently some: nearly every bike manufacturer was showing a bike in digger yellow this year. The podcast 99% Invisible just put out a fascinating episode on agency WGSN).
Of course, everything can have matching gloves too.This is a clever bit of design on their XC jersey. The outer has the pocket zips and hangs with a close but not skintight MTB cut…… but around the waist, a tighter fitting inner has the actual pockets and keeps the contents close to your body, instead of letting the jersey hang or bounce with the weight of whatever you put in them.There’s that ventilation fabric in the back.Stretchier, tougher, more breathable has to be the “longer, lower, slacker” of bike clothing, but it’s absolutely what POC are doing with their range this year.All categories get cordura patches in the places most subject to abrasion or crashing.This XC tee also has silicone grippers inside the sleeves.Some manufacturers indicate features by using a set of difficult to decipher and/or remember heiroglyphs on their labels. Helpfully, POC just print them on the garments using text.They had swatches of the different material types for people to prod and stroke. Until we have a much more advanced internet, you’ll have to make do with this image (or going to your nearest POC retailer!).As well as new clothes, POC have a new helmet. This is the Octal X, developed for XC riding. The original Octal was for road riding, and this has some mountain bike specific adaptations.The most obvious is increased coverage around the back of the head. As XC riding becomes more extreme (Cannondale have dubbed modern XC courses “XXC“), so too the bikes are becoming more capable and the kit is getting a bit more protective.As well as that, the Octal X is available with a Recco reflector inside, which they’d started to integrate into equipment last year.Modulo side view unintentional, I was just attempting an interesting composition!Large vents, and nothing expended on light/camera mounts.Exactly what it says on the lid.Look, science!Look, er, osteology!These coats were on the outside of the POC stand. Right to left: Fishing chic to Grammaton Cleric.
David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly.
Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.
why would you need a recco?