Shimano Previews 2018 Footwear, Clothing and Accessories
Wed 30th Aug, 2017 @ 12:30 pm
We take a first look at Shimano’s minimalist Rucksacks, race and casual eyewear and footwear for road, cross country, city and mountain touring.
It’s not only Shimano’s bike components that use a System Engineered approach. Its soft goods engineers also follow the same philosophy. Known as the Fusion Concept, it applies to Shimano’s apparel, eyewear, bags and footwear, blending form, fit and function in each piece to create technologically advanced and seamlessly integrated head-to-toe solutions for cycling.
From colour schemes and matching panels to specific cuts and loops, Shimano’s new 2018 soft goods line-up offers more uniquely tailored apparel and accessories across Road Competition, Performance, Commuting, Touring, and All Mountain/Gravity, Enduro and Cross-country racing segments.
Apparel Designed to Perform From Head to Toe
Starting with the performance apparel segment, Shimano’s new Evolve line takes many of the head turning characteristics of its premium S-PHYRE line and adapts them for the demands of performance and sportive riders.
The Evolve line delivers long distance efficiency and comfortable performance with elegant designs, integrated technologies and some neat hidden features:
– Elegant finish details: Ribbon-style shoulder straps and gripper-free hems provide lightweight comfort whilst Discreet Reflectivity elements are positioned to be visible in low-light conditions.
– Dry touch construction: A unique dual-layer Dry Touch jersey with an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) of 50+ has a luxurious feel on the outside and an inner mesh surface to keep moisture away and act like a built in baselayer, keeping you cool and comfortable without the added bulk.
– Integrated cooling vents: MicroVents at the chest, armpits and shoulders are an aerodynamic way to increase airflow
– Hidden shorts pocket: A discrete integrated pocket is designed to hold food wrappers and other small bits and pieces.
The Evolve line up offers four jersey colour options (Navy, Black, Blue and Beech) with matching gloves, two bib short options (Navy and Black).
Meanwhile new Climbers, Breakaway and Team jerseys offer unique colour choices for road riders including two cameo options and new women’s specific options including the Team Jersey, shorts and ¾ bib tights.
Chilly conditions are countered with a Hybrid Windbreak Jacket that easily converts to a vest for changing conditions. A drawcord inside the chest pockets means the fit can be adjusted to prevent flapping material.
In Shimano’s Explorer lineup new casual apparel includes Trail jerseys and shorts for off-road exploring and Transit t-shirts for urban style.
The Right Shoe for Every Ride and Every Rider
From its footwear line, Shimano updates its RP9, RP7W and RP5 shoes with a micro-adjustable Boa IP1 dial with hidden wire routing and a Velcro strap.
The RP9, at the top of Shimano’s Performance footwear range, is made from supple, microfiber synthetic leather with perforated vents for breathability. A light carbon outsole brings optimized all-day comfort and stiffness. RP9 weight: 224g
Elsewhere in the road range the RP1 also gets an update with an affordable new neon yellow colour.
Meanwhile for off-road riders the cross-country designed XC5 now comes in a lace-up version, a new mountain touring MT7 shoe offers a breathable rip-stop mesh with Boa L6 dial for quick and precise fitting adjustments, and the rugged and affordable all-mountain ME3 and ME2 receive colour updates.
For the city comes a new versatile and casual City Touring CT5 sneaker cleverly designed with inner shank plate and SPD or Shimano Click’R pedal system sole for adding power to your pedaling. (Weight 326g)
Accessories Designed by Riders for Riders
Shimano also introduces eight new eyewear models, including the Spark and Aerolite designs, co-developed with LottoNL-Jumbo riders for race performance, and the modern, street-savvy Pulsar, Meteor, Square and Tokyo designs for casual style that performs on and off the bike.
Lastly, from its Bag collection, Shimano expands its highly praised Tokyo urban daypack range with a new 23l cameo version. Plus the new Rokko (8l, 12l and 16l sizes) for road and mountain touring delivers a micro daypack with a helmet holder, sculpted air mesh back panels and a zippered waist belt pocket.
Availability
Shimano’s spring/summer 2018 collection will be available in stores in late 2017 (footwear) and early 2018.
