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Paul Smith launches 531 cycle clothing range with a £550 jacket

Designer launches performance cycling clothing with jackets, tops and shorts

Designer Paul Smith is a relatively well-known name in cycling, having collaborated with Rapha in previous years and designed the Maglia Rosa jersey for the Giro d’Italia last year, but now Paul Smith has launched his own range of cycling clothing and called it the 531 Cycling Collection.

That’s 531 as named after the Reynolds tubeset of the same name by the way. Each of the garments are adorned with smart looking details shaped by the demands of cycling and with the 531 logo a regular appearance, but there is an overall understated appearance across the range. The new collection is said to bring together "Paul Smith's passion for cycling and the latest developments in technical fabrications" with 11 garments that meet "cyclists’ demands for breathable, water-resistant and insulating garments that have a versatility to see them right both on and off the pedals.”

There’s extensive use of highly technical fabrics from Swiss company Schoeller and a focus on clothing that performs well both on and off the bike. There’s also, and it's nice to see this, a good investment in visibility with bright colours and abundant reflective details.

The 531 Cycling Collection range includes lightweight waterproof jackets, sweaters made from merino wool, tights, shorts and hoodies. Paul Smith has roped in David Millar, who now has plenty of spare time on his hands, to put the clothing through its paces in this launch film. 

There are quite a few products in the 531 range so let’s whittle through some of the highlights. First up is the Men’s 531 Weatherproof Cycling Jacket with Temperature Control, the real standout item of the range. It costs £550.

It’s intended to be a four-season jacket and is made with Swiss-made Schoeller C-Change fabric with a panelled construction on the sleeves and body, with the 4-way stretch providing a good fit. There’s a drop-down tail, reflective details including the chest panel, and underarm vents to help with breathability.

As much as it’s designed to excel on the bike, it’s also intended to work well off it too, as is a popular trend with clothing from the likes of Ted Baker jacket we reviewed recently and similar jackets and clothing from Rapha and Vulpine.It’s available in orange or black

 

The 531 Wind and Shower Resistant Packable cycle jacket costs £450 and is made from Schoeller 3xDRY fabric which is claimed to be water resistant and breathable, making it an ideal jacket to use when you get caught out by the rain, as it’s small enough (probably) to pack into a jersey pocket or rucksack to be there when you need it. be a good commuting jacket this one we reckon.

Again, there’s a panelled construction on the body and arms, strategically placed vents including two that double as hand-warmer pockets when not riding. There’s also drop-down rear flap and reflective details. It’s available in orange and teal colours.

The 531 Merino Cycling Hoodie with Windproof Panels costs £250 and is made from 100% New Zealand merino wool with Schoeller 3xDRY front-facing panels providing wind resistance. This top is one of our picks of the range, and looks the sort that can be worn off the bike as much as on it, and with the combination of insulating merino and windproof Schoeller fabric, should provide good on bike performance.

The hood is designed to be worn under a bike helmet if needed when the weather is really bad, there’s a raised ‘kangaroo’ pocket, reflective chest panel and scooped rear hem.

Costing £199 is the 531 Merino Wool Cycling Sweatshirt with Reflective Panels. It’s made from 100% merino wool and intended to be a versatile top for on and off the bike use, with a tailored fit, flat lock seams throughout and reflective panels.

This is the 531 Windproof Paneled Cycling Gilet. It costs £350 and is made from Schoeller 3xDRY fabric with windproof front panels and high-density mesh panels to ensure good breathability when it’s worn over a jacket or jersey. 

There are plenty of reflective details and the high-cut pockets provide good stowage capacity.

Finally, the collection also includes these 531 4-Way Stretch Cycling Over-Shorts, priced £175. They use the same Schoeller 3xDRY fabric as used in the tops, with a water resistant treatment making them ideal for winter cycling, and a Coldback UV treatment for cycling in the sunshine. They’re designed to be worn over padded cycling shorts or tights, with a zip fly with top button fastening, front and rear pockets, a keychain ‘D’ ring for keys, and a high waistband made from neoprene.

Like what you see? You can see the rest of the collection at the Paul Smith website right here www.paulsmith.co.uk/uk-en/shop/mens/paul-smith-531

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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59 comments

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Some Fella | 9 years ago
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London and Cheshire and not much anywhere else.

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Shugg McGraw | 9 years ago
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This isn't really working for me. I'm going to hang on for Karl Lagerfeld's spring tandem collection.

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CliveDS | 9 years ago
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Awesome stuff. If you can afford it great. Wear it with appreciation for your privilege. If you can't or just don't want to pay that no need to poopoo it, you probably spent money elsewhere.

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Northernbike | 9 years ago
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I think what you're paying for with this kind of thing is in fact neither fashion not function but the ability to drive the Aldi Army into red faced paroxysms of indignation when you ride past them and if this thread is anything to go by you get quite a lot for your money from this collection in that respect

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jtothec | 9 years ago
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Paul Smith seems to be an extremely nice chap, I used to like a lot of his clothes in my youth, as I've grown older (as opposed to maturing obvs!) I'm not that enamoured with the range.

His cycling apparel looks appealing, but I have to say when confronted with the pricing strategy it leads me to ask ;- "Is he f@ck!ng p!$$ed?"

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therevokid | 9 years ago
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£350 for a $&*£^/# gilet !!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm in the wrong job ......

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monty dog | 9 years ago
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I've trashed enough bike kit to know that wearing a £550 jacket for winter riding does make it less likely that you're going to hit wet leaves or black ice.....I once totalled about £300 of Assos kit on a single ride, an experience I'm not keen to repeat.

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Beefy | 9 years ago
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Looking at the range I don't think it is what I would refer to as real cycling kit as there is no padded bib kit at all and I'm not sure it really for riding far, the kit would look great for riding to a local cafe and drinking your posh coffee while you watch cyclists ride by and there is nothing wrong with that.

The price is irelavant, if you like it and can afford it then great but don't expect those shorts to be comfortable for a centurary ride, you might be better off in Aldi kit if you want to do more that look nice.

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LinusLarrabee | 9 years ago
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I get the impression these items are priced the way they are purely for branding / marketing purposes. They appear to be priced way ahead of the development and material costs and way ahead of the functional value (cheaper items functioning just as well). Same thing with that single speed Mercian bike Paul Smith designed.

As far as I can tell, the high prices only exist to artificially elevate the brands to a premium position in the market place. It is an expensive brand, therefore the items are supposedly premium quality etc. It is interesting that this article (or should that be full page advert?) contains a price in the title. Whilst factually correct, it's also part of the marketing to present this range as a premium range.

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jamtartman | 9 years ago
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Nice that the champagne socialists have something to buy that will reflect their working class status down the wine bar

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Ripper | 9 years ago
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Over the top in every sense. Price, name and everything else. Very unbalanced article, which is obviously just another "paid for" infomercial.

I wouldn't be caught dead dressed in Paul Smith.

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bezz333 | 9 years ago
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Take another look at the video. In the section where there are 3 guys riding along, the guy in the front wearing the orange jacket, the sleeves are far too short and there is a couple of inch gap between the sleeve and his gloves.
I really would want a jacket that actually fitted or use a model with shorter arms for the promotion film

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
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I have lots of Paul Smith gear, classic, none of it has went out of fashion, resale price is high.

I tell thee that there is as much time and material in that jacket as there is in your plastic frame.

This stuff will be small runs and sell out fast, it's not made by kids in Bangladesh.

I won't be buying it though, as I would be shit scared of damaging it.

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Quince | 9 years ago
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Agreed! Let's sort it out, guys! I'm sure if we put our heads together and summon our collective mights, we can make everything alright again!

☆*・゜゚・*(^O^)/*・゜゚・*☆

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joemmo | 9 years ago
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I'd just like to say I feel very strongly about this issue and that someone should definitely do something about it.

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utility_cyclist | 9 years ago
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Two words. Veblen Goods. These appear to defy the general principles of economics, because they become more desirable as their price rises. The whole point about them is that they are prohibitively expensive for most people, and purchasing them is an act of conspicuous consumption. In terms of material, construction and performance they are probably pretty good at what they are made to do, but that isn't the point of buying them.

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Nick T replied to utility_cyclist | 9 years ago
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utility_cyclist wrote:

Two words. Veblen Goods.

Not quite. Paul Smith isn't really high end luxury like Cartier, Dom Perignon or Hermes. He knocks out clothes at a variety of price points - suits between £300 and £1000 - available at a variety of not particularly exclusive retailers; a brand aimed very much at the upper mid range of the consumer market. These are just expensive goods, they'll sell a decent amount at the price they're marketed at, but crucially they'd sell an awful lot more if the price was 50% lower - opposing the distinguishing feature of Veblen.

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Nevis the cat | 9 years ago
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Different items for different purposes...
Comparing apples with pears

No shit.  26

Point is, people when they talk about designer kit talk about it being "handmade" and "finest materials" , "knitted from the dreams of kittens"" Well quite. £200 stops me from my feet dropping off and thus dying (which would annoy my mum) so it's pretty fundamental.

That tabard is up there with a Victoria Beckham £5k handbag, very nice I am sure but you can get one from Screwfix and that does the same job. I doubt we will see many on the V341/10
at 7am of a wet Sunday.

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khisanth | 9 years ago
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I am a big Paul Smith fan, have a few items of Paul Smith clothing , but this is out of my price range. Rapha is as expensive as I will go!

The collection is stylish and very Paul Smith, but very dull and boring in my opinion so nothing interests me even if I had the cash.

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mattsccm | 9 years ago
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Spend it how you like.
Maybe however some one would like to tell me how a 500 quid jacket is 5 times better than a 100 quid one. Not being funny so much s wondering if t is good value.
The only thing that I will not accept is a name.
It could cost a million quid and be designed by God but if it doesn't fit it's no good. The word designer is wrongly applied to expensive stuff. Everything is designed so we can ignore the name.
So please tell me what I am missing. I Need a good jacket.

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Nixster | 9 years ago
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What I'm struggling with is why £550 on a jacket is 'ridiculous' and 'pretentious' but £550 on e.g. a pair of wheels isn't?

The jacket looks good and when I win the lottery I may get one, in black, and some Zipps to go with it. Until then, I'll struggle on in Sportful.

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bartsie | 9 years ago
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I have some Rapha items and don't find they 'perform' any better than Castelli or Craft (which cost much less though neither is given away for free). Looks good though.

Rapha's brilliant marketing, including photos of helmet-less riders on steel bikes, has created this impression of pedigree and desirability (even though they've only been around for 10 years), and good for them. Good for you too. But no one claims that a £10,000 watch keeps time any better than a £10 one - that would be ridiculous!

Now that Rapha's clearly shown to be second-best in terms of price I wonder what happens next. A price war? Who will reach the £1,000 point first?

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surly_by_name | 9 years ago
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You can buy a Chanel Vintage small double flap bag for £12,863.02 to carry your stuff in. Or M&S will charge you 5p for a plastic carrier bag. Somewhere in between there's probably something to suit all tastes/budgets.

I wear quite a bit of PS and I own some Rapha stuff, which works pretty well. I think its unlikely I'll be buying any of the PS 531 range because I don't like the way it looks even before I get to the price. However, I am certainly not going to explode with rage that PS have begun selling this stuff. If they can find people to buy it at these prices then I wish them well.

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The _Kaner | 9 years ago
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 35  35  35  35  35
I'd want a chauffeur for that price....  24  24  24
too much of a poseury city look for any serious riding IMO.
Not my thing...if it's anyone else's then fair play to them...
and as for some replies on here...don't make judgements on whether anyone else could afford them or not based on their comments
...I'm pretty sure a lot of people 'could' afford them (disposable income or not)...but wouldn't purchase because they are sane and sensible beings....and don't see them as an appropriate purchase based on the high cost and lack of suitability for their own desires, needs or wants.

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massspike | 9 years ago
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Ironically the Reynolds 53x line is their low-end steel tubing so these rather nice pieces of kit would cost more than the bike (e.g. my $600 commuter)

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shay cycles replied to massspike | 9 years ago
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massspike wrote:

Ironically the Reynolds 53x line is their low-end steel tubing so these rather nice pieces of kit would cost more than the bike (e.g. my $600 commuter)

I think you missed the point of the 531 reference.

When Sir Paul Smith was starting out in cycle racing Reynolds 531 was the very top level tubing and the only comparable alternative was Italian Columbus tubing.

531 is the classic tube set of the British bikes.

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southseabythesea | 9 years ago
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Aimed at the corporates who handed in their golf clubs and took up cycling after 2012. Hmmm.

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Quince | 9 years ago
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I just cover myself in glue and roll around in feathers and crisp packets for a while. Then I'm insulated and waterproof, and smell of salt and vinegar. It's great.

But it's nice that there are alternatives.

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aslongasicycle replied to Quince | 9 years ago
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Quince wrote:

I just cover myself in glue and roll around in feathers and crisp packets for a while. Then I'm insulated and waterproof, and smell of salt and vinegar. It's great.

But it's nice that there are alternatives.

COMMENT OF THE MONTH.

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Garry_66 | 9 years ago
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Well Sir Smith, you've certainly caused a stir on here. A lot of good points made - especially regarding the snobs that look down their noses at fellow cyclists in the "expensive gear".

Will be interesting to see how sales figures are post Xmas.

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