Sleeve and short lengths in the peloton

[Veloo]

Watching the Tour last and this year, I'm not understanding the need for these really long sleeves on the jerseys that reach down to the elbows and shorts that touch the knee caps.

Looks like Ineous and Soudal are two of the teams wearing these uber long kits. I'm not seeing sponsor logos on this extra real estate so that argument is off the list. Never seen hairy biceps so that's not it either. Is it a compression thing?

How did we go from the Yates roll up to this?

[joosttx]

Aero is my guess.

[Black Dog]

Full coverage body suits are on the way Long sleeves, shorts and socks, are all working to close the skin gaps. If you thought cycling tans were bad in the past the new tans are....:eek:

[Skenry]

They are performance compression workout wear. Similar to Under Armor before they went urban.

They compression helps with acid buildup, hence the greater coverage and the stupid sock measuring device seen this year.

[David Tollefson]

Advertising space.

[kramnnim]

The fabric is infused with microscopic amounts of drugs that are absorbed through the arm and leg skin.

[Black Dog]

They are performance compression workout wear. Similar to Under Armor before they went urban.

They compression helps with acid buildup, hence the greater coverage and the stupid sock measuring device seen this year.

Except that there is very scant evidence to show that compression wear improves performance. Some good evidence for post workout benefits however.

[cyan]

Mostly for aero reason. There was a Google talk by the founder of Swissside (who works with Ineos) about this. Basically the guy said exposed skin (esp. not shaved ;)) is bad for aerodynamics

[Veloo]

About a decade ago the guys here started wearing the compression socks at the 'cross races. The following season they dwindled significantly so I figured the hype was BS.

As for aerodynamics, that doesn't make sense really to me cuz you rarely see hairy biceps but hairy forearms much more common.
I do recall some skinsuit claims a few years ago with aero texture.

Makes me think of something I saw in a magazine years ago that claimed some kits were made that had a property that created some magnetic field during efforts that minimized lactic acid production. Think it was a Festina kit(?)


Except that there is very scant evidence to show that compression wear improves performance. Some good evidence for post workout benefits however.

[DRietz]

It's not about hair, it's about skin. Skin is slower than the surface created by some of these fabrics.

It's for that reason that a bunch of pros, whose legs are pretty smooth, were wearing obscenely high socks (not for compression...what is this, triathlon?) and, thus, why the ensuing regulation was put forth by the UCI.

Here's some literature for you all. Grab a beer and a notepad. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274036770_A_Review_on_Skin_Suits_and_Sport_Garment _Aerodynamics_Guidelines_and_State_of_the_Art

[berserk87]

I hate it in terms of jersey fit. I end up pulling my sleeves up on all of my newer jerseys.

Conversely, I wish my bibs were about 2 inches longer in the leg cuff area.

[FlashUNC]

Aero, aero, aero.

It's why the full body swimsuits were all the rage before they were banned.