This week, Castelli launched its new Perfetto 3 cycling jacket, which is designed to upend how we think about dressing for sport – and the great outdoors in general.
The integral part of the new cycling jacket is the Polartec Aircore fabric. Developed by Castelli and Polartec, the “revolutionary” fabric ups breathability to the max and is effectively waterproof. This is thanks to a membrane made of nano–fibres that enables moisture to escape while blocking out wind and rain.
Castelli’s Steve Smith told BikeRadar that this is because how we ride bikes has changed. This is due to technology that shows us precisely when and where it’s raining, the boom in indoor cycling and climate change. As a result, Smith said we’re no longer cycling in the rain as much as even a few years ago.
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This means that the kind of ‘foul weather’ kit Castelli is famous for, such as the Gabba, no longer has to be as waterproof as it once was, and can offer the high breathability of Aircore instead.
The new fabric is also completely free from PFAs chemicals. These chemicals were once integral to making your outdoor clothes waterproof. But they are now banned in parts of the world because they don’t break down naturally, and brands are trying to find alternatives.
Smith said the process of removing PFAs from waterproof clothing has been challenging, with fabrics coming out that compromise on breathability or waterproofing – but Aircore is different.
“In so few areas of our lives is the move towards sustainability actually bringing us better performance,” Smith said. “But here, we're improving breathability, we're improving water protection, we're improving stretch and comfort, and we're PFAs free.”
Smith doesn’t see Aircore’s potential as being limited to cycling. In fact, it could have a big impact on the outdoors industry as a whole. This is because it is said to be extremely breathable, but it still has a high level of waterproofing; the new Castelli Perfetto jacket has a water column equivalent to 5,000mm.
The water column measurement describes how high a water pressure a fabric can withstand before it becomes wet on the inside.
The definition of 'waterproof' is often considered to be a water column rating of 10,000mm. Smith says this figure has “really been a disservice to the industry” because it is far higher than the water column equivalent of even heavy rain, which is around 2,000mm.
This means your rain jacket is likely far more waterproof than it needs to be – and it could be way more breathable.
As a result, Smith described Aircore as a “huge deal” and highlighted its potential for activities such as running, downhill skiing and mountaineering.
“I can easily see this becoming kind of our generation's reference product for outdoor uses,” he said.
But Castelli and Polartec are taking a “long-term view” on convincing people they should move away from thinking so much about waterproofing. “We're coming out of 40 years where the entire outdoors industry, including companies like ourselves, have been telling people how important waterproofing is,” Smith added.
Whether or not that changes remains to be seen, but Smith is counting on people trying the new technology and seeing how much more comfortable they are in almost all conditions.
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