Q36.5 has unveiled a new foul-weather racing system created with Tom Pidcock and the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, which comprises the Rain Shell Plus Jacket, Vampire Shell Jacket, and Rain Shell Aero Jersey.
From the first wet training camps in Andorra to the biting cold of the early spring classics, the project set out to build racing gear that kept pros warm and dry, but most importantly, fast when the conditions were anything but ideal. “We wanted a complete racing system for cold and wet days,” explains Luigi Bergamo, Q36.5 founder. “We went through dozens of prototypes before the riders were happy. Each one was tested, cut, and reshaped until it felt right in a race.” Q36.5 actually created 15 new unique prototypes for this system featuring different weights and positioning of fleece, different shapes and fits, different kinds of membranes and ventilation systems, all within the first two months of the season.
BUILT FOR REAL RACE CONDITIONS
The new collection was designed as a system, but after extensive testing by not only the professional team but also the Q36.5 staff in different conditions, the conclusion was drawn that each piece, when used singularly, can also offer riders of all kinds specific advantages in foul weather.
Rain Shell Aero Jersey – aka “The Condom”- (For the final KM’s, or breakaway)
The first piece in the system and designed for use in 12°C +. Compact, fully waterproof, and cut for aerodynamics. It uses a double membrane fabric with a special inner coating that spreads moisture to speed up wicking. Designed to be worn on its own or under another layer, it’s the jersey riders reach for when the weather looks uncertain but the pace will be high.
The jacket took the nickname “the condom” during the design process and its stuck around internally at Q36.5. The founder of Q36.5, Luigi Bergamo, explains: “The “Condom” is engineered to be the last layer in the rider’s rain system (to be worn even without a jersey underneath), worn underneath either the Vampir, or Vampir + Rain Shell/Rain Shell Plus which will be removed in the last kilometres where the rider needs to be as aero as possible. This shell took the longest and most amount of prototypes to develop because we wanted for the jersey to be not just waterproof but also to offer the best possible wicking from the inside so that the rider can continue to feel dry. To that end we used not just 2 membranes on the outer surface but also a special coating on the inner side that ensures that moisture is distributed across the entire inner surface of the jersey, accelerating the wicking process.”
Vampire Shell Jacket – (Mid Race)
A light winter racing jacket designed for cold, wet days when intensity drops and the chill creeps in, ideally in the temperature range of 5°C/10°C. It was inspired by a conversation with Tom Pidcock, who described how protected riders can spend hours in the bunch barely raising their heart rate. The result is a close-fitting, thermal shell that holds warmth without slowing the rider down.
Luigi Bergamo explains: “The idea for this jacket came to me in the airplane flying back from the first fitting with Tom Pidcock in November 2024. He was telling me how, as a protected rider, he would often spend hours racing very protected in the bunch, with a heart rate as low as 80BPM and how this meant, if the weather was bad, he would suffer the cold tremendously and needed truly thermal racing gear…The starting point for the design was two things: the new 3L fabric I had just developed for our upcoming Termica Mediterranea (a lightweight Termica jacket for “Mediterranean” winters) which had the right amount of stretch to create a truly aero-fit that Pros requires these days and the second was an idea for a new special collar. I put these two elements together to create something as minimal and essential as possible, for riding long hours in cold, variable, conditions but where aerodynamics are still important.”
Rain Shell Plus Jacket – (Early race or extreme conditions)
The most waterproof jacket Q36.5 has ever made. It uses a 20,000mm membrane and strategically placed fleece lining on the chest and arms for warmth where it’s most needed, perfect in the 0°/8°C range. The aerodynamic fit was refined with feedback from the team during wet stages of the Giro d’Italia, where long days in the rain called for protection without bulk.
Luigi Bergamo explains: “In the context of professional racing we consider this jacket to be the ultimate outer layer for racing in poor conditions, especially at the beginning of the race. The Rain Shell Plus is the most waterproof jacket in our range, with the most advanced membrane, and will keep the rider dry for longest. The use of air insulation in the strategic, most- exposed parts of the rider’s upper body, comes from specific requests from our team for more thermal protection, necessary when riding for 3+ hours in unrelenting poor conditions and where, also, intensity can also be lower if you are not riding on the front. Catering to Pro needs the jacket also features a more essential and Aero fit (within the limits of this less stretchy membrane) and an external pocket for easier access to race essentials.”
Every item in the Capsule Collection is identical to the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team equipment with zero alterations aside from the removal of the professional team sponsors. Each piece is part of a limited production run made in Italy and built for riders who train and race through winter weather, instead of waiting for spring.
“These pieces were made for professionals, but they work just as well for any rider who refuses to stay indoors,” adds Bergamo.
Q36.5
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