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TECH NEWS
2021 Go FasterNew aero cycling kit that can only be bought if you prove your average speed is fast enough launches on Kickstarter
New cycling apparel brand Go Faster has launched a campaign on Kickstarter for its new model for buying cycling kit, where cyclists have to improve their average speed to be able to buy its higher level aero-optimised gear. The British start-up claims the cycling kit psychologically makes riders faster, as well as reduces their impact on the planet. £651 has been pledged so far towards the £10,000 goal with 29 days to go.
Go Faster aims to rethink not only how cycling kit is designed, but how consumers buy it.
“A lot of cycling kit is replaced every season when new colours and trends are released. This behaviour contributes to the unsustainable problems of fast fashion, including the environmental impact of manufacturing processes and premature disposal of unwanted kit,” says Go Faster.
The approach is based on the idea that if you have earned your kit, then you will be proud to wear it for more than one season.
So, how does it work? Connect up your Strava account and this allows you to buy Go Faster’s Draft Training Jersey, which is for any rider attempting to 'unlock' its Level 1 or Level 2 Jerseys.
The Level 1 jersey is unlocked by recording a ride with a 26km/h (16mph) average speed, while you’ll need to go 39km/h (24mph) for the aero optimised Level 2 jersey. To ensure riders don't just cruise down a hill for a few seconds to prove their speed, Go Faster ask for the ride uploads to be a distance of 10km or more.
> 25 of the best and fastest 2021 aero road bikes: wind-cheating bikes with an extra turn of speed
With sleeves constructed from 3D textured tightly woven fabric developed in the wind tunnel, Go Faster claims the Level 2 jersey is optimised for speeds above 39km/h - the average ride speed you’ll need to unlock it.
Across all the jerseys the Bodywrap construction removes side panels, and by eliminating the seams down the side of the body, Go Faster says this enables the same smooth airflow as its seamless sleeves.
Heat-bonded low profile seams are used on all jerseys for smooth and efficient airflow around the arms and waist, says Go Faster, while the bib shorts use low profile Bodywrap straps that are said to minimise raised areas of fabric that can catch the wind.
Go Faster claims its not just this aero technology that’ll help you go faster with its kit: “Sports psychology research indicates that wearing a jersey earned through personal achievement can lead to an increase in performance over kit you've just bought. It’s down to the boost in pride, self–confidence and social status that wearing the kit generates.”
Added to this, Go Faster says its purchasing model also has sustainable benefits: “Purchased as a reward for personal achievement, your Go Faster kit has meaning; we believe that if you enjoy earning it, you’ll enjoy riding in it, season after season.”
As well as increasing the used lifespan of its kit, Go Faster uses recycled performance fabrics including 100% post-consumer polyester yarns, 100% pre-consumer sustainable nylon recycled from industrial wastage and up to 65% pre-consumer sustainable premium elastane recycled from industrial wastage. These fabrics are said to be certified Bluesign, Oekotex and GRS Global Recycled Standard.
To buy the Draft Jersey, you can pledge £98 on Kickstarter to save 15% off the RRP of £115. For the Level 1 or Level 2 jerseys, you'll need to pledge £115 (15% off the eventual RRP) and share your past ride data to prove your average speed, or request a voucher code to redeem through Go Faster’s Draft program.
Expected delivery is for September 2021.
More details on other discounted rates can be found at the Kickstarter page over here.
All the usual Kickstarter rules and regulations apply which can be found here.
So often with aero-optimised kit, we’re not actually riding at the speed for any meaningful benefit – so perhaps this sort of business model could also help us reflect a little more on what our genuine needs from our kit are? Well-fitting, comfortable clothing doesn’t need to be aero as well just for the sake of it. Thoughts?
Anna has been hooked on bikes ever since her youthful beginnings at Hillingdon Cycle Circuit. As an avid road and track racer, she reached the heady heights of a ProCyclingStats profile before leaving for university. Having now completed an MA in Multimedia Journalism, she’s hoping to add some (more successful) results. Although her greatest wish is for the broader acceptance of wearing funky cycling socks over the top of leg warmers.
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[Sorry - wrote mine before saw yours! You make the point much better than I.] .
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Where does it state in the article that Ashley purchased the stock? it does state that Ashley bought the brand and intellectual property, not the...
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Jump off the bike and run across. I cycle in trainers though.
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Isn't it a rights issue?
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60 comments
I've never used it but I assume you just knock several kg off your weight and activate these double draft cheat modes before everesting ventoux at 40kmh
It sounds to me like someone didn't think this idea through very well.
quite honestly, the funniest thing i've heard today!!!
The only thing worse than the US that has kept their ridiculously stupid system is the UK (and Canada?) which has sort of changed to the superior Metric system, but still insists on keeping some of the earlier stupidity.
News flash, the rest of the world uses the metric system. But I guess the only time you've left your inbred, developing country island was to go to France so you think that's the only country that does.
Or you were just joking, what do I know
OOOOOOOooooooooh
Imperial had its flaws mainly by virute of the haphazard course of its development. But to move to a system not divisible by 3 (from one that was often exaclty that), now that's stupid. Base 10 is stupid.
We count in base 10. If we counted in base 12 Imp would be great. But we don't.
Personally I think imp to be great for DIY - division by halves , quarters, 8ths allows for greater accuracy than trying to use mils, is much easier visually, and more inutitive (I find).
I did physics at uni, and my job is designer on large logistics infrastructure projects - on those 2 levels give me metric any time. Base 10 for me please!
Perch yourself over there and fathom it out - I don't want you to make a rod for your own back. Now you might think I can't keep this up furlong, but thou whilst find, once joing the links, that I won't scruple to pound the point home - I have not a grain of shame. Now we can slug this out all day but why the ell would we want that? We'd be inching towards a footnote in history.
Yeah sure we also need to count in base 12, might be easier to get that than decent cycling infra though
Would it? 8 pints in a gallon, 16 ounces in a pound, 14 pounds in a stone ... etc.
As a Computer Scientist, I vote base 2 or 16 any time.
Weirdest conversation I had on this recently was with a teenager of all things (I am a teacher before anyone thinks it weird I am talking to teenagers). He expressed his annoyance that 1 kilogram was 2.2 pounds, and thought it was stupid for the next measurement up not to be a whole number of pounds.
I told him he was comparing two different systems, and that 1kg was 1000 grams and he replied "What's a gram?".
I blame the teachers
of course the kilo, mega, giga, terra system falls down when you start talking about computing with each unit being 1024x the previous instead of a thousand, but still using the same names as proper units
Cool by me! I've always said that there are 10 types of people in this world - those that dig binary and those that don't.
About £100 (2019 prices), apparently...
division by halfs, quarters, eigths gives greater accuracy then 10ths, 100ths, 1000ths?
1mm is less than 1/16th of an inch
and I find it less intuitive when I quickly want to know whether 5/8 is less or more than 11/16
Yes it does - note the distinction between precision and accuracy. I don't tend to work in anything finer than 8ths (perhaps 16ths) when woodworking. The pencil mark width reduces accuracy when measured against mm, the gradings being hard to resolve, making anything less than 5mm intervals something of a lucky dip (exaggerating the point, but only a little).
I could of course work in thous (of an inch) and for metal work with machines this is perfectly reasonable, but this is really going back to decimal. May as well use metric for that. In any case for carpentry, the above is pretty redundant.
The nice thing about imp (ad I'm really speaking very a specific aspect of imperial; measurements in fractions of inches) is that every smaller grade is exactly halfway between the 2 superior grades, which are usually distinguished by the length of the grading marks themselves . It's really easy to use when marking off.
And having a weird superiority complex about it.
No idea where they're getting their info from, but I haven't bought any new cycling kit in years, as my current stuff has yet to wear out - admittedly, I've got a couple of tops that only get worn for commuting with a rucksack, as the waist elastic is knackered.
Anyway, I won't be touching them with a barge pole when I do need new kit.
I am a bit of a magpie when it comes to shiny new season cycling kit, but I dont chuck out stuff unless its worn out, broken or no longer fits me.
Regardless I wouldnt sign up to this because I just dont like the jersey designs,and i cant average 16mph over 10km anyway so wouldnt even make level 1
I used to be able to do level one quite easily although the closest I ever got to level 2 with over 8miles (12km) and 400ft of climbing was 20mph dead. I also managed a similar speed on the London Pru 46 in 2019. Pandemic weight gain has put paid to gettng close to those nowadays.
Yes for sure if it was just a 10km ride,I picked a route that suited me and the wind wasnt a hindrance, then I'm sure I could treat it like a TT and hit their 16mph average reasonably easily still.
But I tend to go for much longer not faster rides, theres always a bunch of awkward hills even in East Anglia, and the wind is nothing but a constant hindrance most days and I'll average 14mph or 15mph at my best, but that little extra oomph to hit 16mph consistently has always proved elusively just out of reach to me.
It doesnt bother me that much, I just wonder sometimes how people gauge this stuff as lots of cycling clubs also treat 16mph as their "slow" group and I dont know anyone who could average 24mph on a bike.
Yep, averaging 25mph on rides would be top amateur / semi pro racers.
Our A group will average from about 33kph over a 100km mixed terrain ride.
Our B Group will average from about 28kph over the same distance
Our C Group will average from about 25kph over a 70-80km distance.
You'd only see high 30s and low 40s (kph) on a short TT course (16km-25km) consistently with a handful of members. And mid 30s for club/league races. Most members are decent, strong riders, but there is not a large racing contingent in a club of about 60 members.
Suspect they're based in the south east then...
If they want to actually be a viable business and sell to people in the heartlands of cycling in this country (e.g. places with hills), they'll be reconsidering this model sharpish
Er, have you actually tried cycling in the south east? They may not be very high, but the North and South Downs (and I'm pretty sure the Chilterns too, though I've never ridden there) are definitely quite hilly.
But I take your point. Maybe they're based in Cambridgeshire?
Whilst not Northern or Upper Midlands quality/volume I can vouch for the Chilterns ability to supply a hill or 2. Whiteleaf and Streatley to name two. That said I can normally hit a 16mph average on a ride that includes a Chiltern lump or 2.
I dont think I've ever sustained anything like a 24 mph average though. That's TT territory for me. Not that I have ever even attempted a TT, so could be talking out of my orifice.
What an unpleasant idea. I hope they fail. Not to mention marketing bullshit and horrendous designs.
On the contrary, I think it's a splendid idea – it will be very useful for identifying absolute cockwombles and therefore avoiding them. See also Rolex watches, Porsche Carreras, striped shirts with plain collars, red corduroy trousers, et cetera.
You do have a point, it would brighten up my ride
Indeed, it'll be awesome to see someone riding about in one of these jerseys and identify them from a crowd.
Please please please can someone turn up at my local club run wearing one of these !! .. oh their level of 'stardom' if my wish comes true..
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