After a year of real-world testing by Tom Pidcock and other riders on the pro team it sponsors, Q36.5 has officially released its new foul-weather system to the public — the headline act the minimalist, waterproof aero jersey it’s calling ‘The Condom’.

You’ll have to forgive us the cheap joke in the headline, you can’t expect to tell us you’ve had Pidcock testing The Condom all year and not expect a bit of ribbing. 

Tom Pidcock Q36.5 Rain Shell Aero Jersey, 'The Condom'
Tom Pidcock Q36 (Image Credit: Q36.5)

If we park our immaturity for just a moment, the Italian clothing brand which sponsors the professional team has designed three wet-weather jerseys and jackets which can be used in conjunction to form one “foul-weather racing system”, developed and tested by Vuelta a España podium finisher Pidcock and his Q36.5 teammates throughout 2025.

These are unapologetically ‘racing’ products, designed for pro riders’ needs, but as we all know all too well, it’s not just professional cyclists who get rained on while riding their bikes and Q36.5 reckons its new system (The Capsule Collection) can bring pro-level performance to the masses.

There’s only one place to start, Q36.5 founder Luigi Bergamo explaining the Rain Shell Aero Jersey, to give it its proper name, was quickly dubbed ‘The Condom’ during the design process and the title has stuck around internally at Q36.5 HQ. 

Q36.5 Rain Shell Aero Jersey, 'The Condom'
Q36 (Image Credit: Q36.5)

As a jersey it is designed to be worn on its own or under another layer, in temperatures above 12°C, Q36.5 suggesting its riders found it useful in the final kilometres of wet stages or in breakaways where they would want some waterproof protection, but were riding hard enough to stay warm. So yes, the message is wear a condom when riding hard.

Tom Pidcock Q36.5 Rain Shell Aero Jersey, 'The Condom'
Tom Pidcock Q36 (Image Credit: Q36.5)

At £250 it’s the most expensive condom you’d ever buy, but maybe it’s better to be safe than sorry. As if you needed an explanation, the contraception-related nickname comes from its “perfectly snug and aero fit”, the jersey also featuring a “quick dry frame coating” on the inner to “improve moisture management and [the] wicking process” to prevent riders “becoming wet from the inside”.

Q36.5 Rain Shell Aero Jersey, 'The Condom'
Q36 (Image Credit: Q36.5)

Unsurprisingly Q36.5 advises sizing up due to the “wrinkle-free aero fit” being on the snug size and designed with skinny pro riders in mind. You’ll probably need a bigger condom than you thought.

The brand’s founder Bergamo explained: “‘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 Vampire, or Vampire + 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 two 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.”

I’m afraid the rest of the release is a bit more conventional and less suited to immaturity and back-of-the-classroom giggling. Q36.5 also has its new Vampire Shell Jacket, a £350 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”.

Tom Pidcock Q36.5 Vampire Shell Jacket
Tom Pidcock Q36 (Image Credit: Q36.5)

Q36.5 tells us it was inspired by a conversation with Pidcock who told the clothing brand he spends hours at colder races tapping along in the bunch and needing a bit of warmth.

Tom Pidcock Q36.5 Vampire Shell Jacket
Tom Pidcock Q36 (Image Credit: Q36.5)

“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,” Bergamo recalled.

Tom Pidcock Q36.5 Vampire Shell Jacket
Tom Pidcock Q36 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

At the extreme end of the scale is the Rain Shell Plus Jacket, the “most waterproof jacket Q36.5 has ever made”, featuring a 20,000mm membrane and strategically placed fleece lining on the chest and arms for warmth. It’s designed for the 0°/8°C range, so think Milan-San Remo 2013 or the Giro’s third week in the high mountains.

At £500 it’s about as pricey as cycling kit comes, and in total Q36.5’s entire three-piece wet-weather system would set you back £1,100.

Q36.5 Rain Shell Plus Jacket
Q36 (Image Credit: Q36.5)

However, Bergamo is confident the Rain Shell Plus Jacket delivers as “the ultimate” in wet-weather clothing. As much as is possible when dealing with less stretchy materials, Q36.5 has still gone for an aero fit, the jacket also featuring an external pocket and air insulation in the chest and arms.

“These pieces were made for professionals, but they work just as well for any rider who refuses to stay indoors,” Bergamo concluded, all the new kit available now on Q36.5’s website.

It has been a busy few weeks for the Italian cycling clothing brand, Q36.5 and SRM last week announcing they would be releasing a new pedal and shoe combo which they claim will “offer the most direct and efficient power transfer on the market”.

2025 Q36.5 x SRM pedals spy shot - 1
2025 Q36 (Image Credit: Q36.5)