Louis Garneau have just introduced a new wind vest for teams, called Speedzone. The vest, which will be available to all through Louis Garneau’s custom program is open across a racer’s trio of rear jersey pockets, thus allows easy viewing of race numbers.
“It respects the rules of the UCI,” a Louis Garneau rep explained to BikeRadar, versus being recommended or specifically approved by the UCI. Nonetheless, it’s a solution for racers, and with the UCI now sanctioning Gran Fondos, it may be relevant to those entering mass-start rides as well.
The open pocket area and unique elastic waist strap is currently a patent pending design and already part of Team Europcar’s official 2012 team kit.
A secondary feature of the rear pocket opening is easier access to the contents of the jersey pockets. The decreased protection, however, makes it more of a race specific garment for protection on chilly days, rather, than that meant for an emergency storm in the high country.
Louis Garneau makes the vest from their Super LightDry fabric, and use their Powermesh material for its side panels. The vest is finished with a two-way zipper that neatly tucks into a protective garage to eliminate neck chafing.
Garneau says that the Speedzone vest will be available in April or May, but initially only as a custom order item for teams and clubs, and because of that it’s exact price will be subject to the quantity ordered; the minimum order is 12.