The new Castelli Perfetto 3 RoS jacket has undergone a major overhaul, dropping the Gore-Tex Infinium fabric that was synonymous with the Italian brand’s wet-weather cycling kit and moving to Polartec’s new Aircore fabric.
Castelli worked closely with Polartec to develop the new “revolutionary” Aircore fabric. It says the fabric “ticks every box when it comes to being lightweight, highly breathable, windproof, and water repellent” and helps the Perfetto 3 redefine “what ‘breathable’ means”.
The fabric is also completely free from PFAs-based chemicals. These toxic ‘forever chemicals’ don’t break down in the natural environment and are now banned in some parts of the world.
Steve Smith, head of cycling at the MVC Group, which owns Castelli and Sportful, says this fabric is a “huge deal”.
“The drive to remove PFAs from wet weather clothing has been challenging to say the least. A number of products coming out dramatically compromise breathability for the sake of waterproofing,” says Smith.
“In so few areas of our lives is the move towards sustainability actually bringing us better performance. But here, we're improving breathability, we're improving water protection, we're improving stretch and comfort, and we're PFAs free,” he explains.
“A big change”
Entering an era free of PFAs, Castelli began designing the new Perfetto with a blank canvas and “a hard look” at what cyclists need.
“We’re seeing a big change in the way cyclists are riding in cool and wet conditions. That's partly driven by technology, but also driven by climate change,” Smith says.
When it comes to technology, cyclists are spending more time riding indoors, which means they’re not braving the elements so often. And with more accurate weather forecasts, cyclists are adapting their rides to avoid downpours.
On climate change, Smith says: “There’s data out there that says we're actually getting fewer days of rain, although the total amount of rainfall is maintaining the levels it always has. It's just increasing in intensity.”
So when we do cycle in the rain, Smith says we’re reaching for rain jackets more than the kind of mixed-conditions, wet-weather kit for which Castelli is renowned, such as the Gabba.
These factors led Castelli to ask a question. “If we didn't have to worry so much about water, how far could we push the breathability so that we can keep the cyclists drier on the inside across the widest range of temperatures and intensity levels?” says Smith.
Enter Polartec Aircore
After speaking to a range of fabric suppliers, engineers and scientists, Castelli found Polartec best understood its quest not to compromise on breathability or water protection.
Ramesh Kesh, business manager at Polartec, says you can basically make any rain jacket shell waterproof by putting a plastic film in it. But this means the material can’t breathe, which leads to moisture build-up.
With Polartec’s new Aircore fabric, Kesh says: “The idea is to prevent wind and moisture getting in, but at the same time, it has to get out so that you don't feel clammy and start becoming uncomfortable.”
This is particularly tricky with sports such as cycling due to the Clausius–Clapeyron law. Kesh explains: “For every degree increase in your body temperature, you're going to accumulate about 7 per cent more water, which means that as you do your high aerobic activity, condensation is going to build up.”
Aircore gets around this issue thanks to a nano-fibre membrane that’s sandwiched between two layers of textile.
The membrane is produced by a process called electrospinning, where a hydrophobic polymer is pushed through a needle that’s charged at 20,000 volts. The needle emits filaments, which are approximately 100 times smaller than a human hair and “fall like snow” to create a membrane that’s incredibly tight but still allows air to move through it.
Smith says this airflow through the Perfetto is imperceivable: “Your perception of wearing this garment is that it is completely windproof, you don't feel that there's a wind chill, but yet there's a small amount of air coming in that's grabbing the moisture and taking it out.”
The end result is a fabric, and therefore a cycling jacket, which ventilates sweat away from your body to keep you dry and blocks out the wind and rain.
“A disservice to the industry”
When it comes to waterproofing, the new Perfetto has a water column equivalent to 5,000mm.
This is half of the 10,000mm figure that is often the legal definition of waterproofness, and Smith thinks has “really been a disservice to the industry”.
“It got set at that because of the lobbyists for the industry, who were the earlier players that figured out how to make a product that gave that level of waterproofness,” he claims.
“In reality, lighter rain falls with the water column equivalent of around 800mm while heavy rain falls at around 2,000mm. So when you go to 10,000mm, you have way more waterproofness than you actually need,” Smith adds.
This means that although the new Perfetto has a high water column value, “we can’t call it waterproof in a legal sense”. Instead, Smith says Castelli promises you “effective waterproofing” with its latest jacket.
What else is new with the Castelli Perfetto 3?
Apart from the new fabric, the Perfetto 3 (£280 / $320 / €249.95) is similar to its predecessor, with a few small tweaks.
The jacket still has taped shoulder seams to keep any water out, but these are now reflective. There is also a new reflective strip underneath the three rear pockets, which still feature drainage holes. A drop-tail design protects you from any road spray, while the high collar keeps your neck warm.
Suitable for temperatures ranging from 4–14˚C, the jacket now has a two-way zip and retains its two body zips, which may not be of great use. Smith says the jacket was in development over the last winter and by the time it had gone into production in spring, Castelli realised the body zips weren’t necessary thanks to the breathability of the fabric. “You may never open them,” he says.
What’s next for Aircore?
Castelli has exclusive rights to use Aircore for cycling kit, and it will soon release a range of products that use the new fabric.
But there are currently brands outside of cycling looking at Aircore, so we can probably expect to see it crop up across the outdoor industry – and possibly elsewhere – in due course.
Kesh says the next stage of development will be to make the Aircore membrane from recycled material, which would make the fabric 100 per cent recycled.
“The idea is to leave the world in a better place, but not to compromise on performance,” says Kesh.
