GORE Wear have announced their all new C7 Shorts, featuring a central torso architecture! What on earth does this mean I hear you ask?...
The beloved bib-short is the foundation that comfort in the saddle is built from. It’s the single most important item of clothing you can own for any extended period in the saddle. From inside the industry, we get to see the time, investment and refinement that goes into the development of a pair of bib shorts, however for a customer, much of this is overlooked - but this is okay, as leading brands ensure you’ll find comfort across their range depending on the type of rider you are, and the riding you will be doing.
So when GORE Wear previewed their new C7 bib shorts earlier in the summer we were expecting more refinement to their Windstopper TM seat pad (a little bit of magic that stops your delicate region from feeling the elements on mountain descents, or cold windy days – but also breathes incredibly well on hot sunny days), and they did this, but they also introduced a whole new concept in ensuring fit is refined and focused on the connection with the body first and foremost.
As introduced in the opening comment, GORE Wear call this their ‘central torso architecture’ – what this means is that everything is built around the pad. The pad is designed to fit in an unrestricted way, working independently to the rest of the shorts. The GORE Wear engineers worked extensively in the Lab, but also pulled on the experience and advice of their brand ambassador and all round cycle hero Fabian Cancellara who knows a thing or two about long days in the saddle, riding over rough Belgian roads and planted in the same position for time trial efforts. The Gore wear team explained the initial phase of testing, and how they had the Olympic gold medal winner riding in what was basically a mankini with a bib pad. This is the point here, and it becomes simple to visualise, perhaps a little too graphically!
The short is designed around this fit, the pad and the bib straps moving in harmony with the rider with each pedal stroke. Once this fit was perfected, the rest of the shorts were added, offering a simple, uncluttered short that is all about performance and technology with as few seams as possible, where the short construction works independently to the pad, so there is complete freedom in movement.
While some brands innovate their pad, GORE Wear have come up with a whole new short construction, and the result looks incredible!
The C7 bib shorts are available in 3 versions from early February, be sure to keep an eye out for them:
- C7 Race that feature high-density foam on the sit-bones for more aggressive riding positions
- C7 Long distance using a softer, less compressive fabric and a more generously padded insert
- C7 Vento which is a unique lightweight high summer short, with a focus on ventilation and a fast drying chamois pad.
