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TECH NEWS

dhb summer preview

Plus highlights of the winter range if you’re still after off-season clothing

We've been on our travels again, this time visiting clothing brand dhb who have some bright, distinctive clothing coming for the summer in their Blok range plus high-end Goldline kit that's about as understated as it gets.

The new Blok designs feature neon graphics and are inspired by jockey racing silks. You're probably going to either love them or hate them, we're guessing.

The main picture (above), for example, is the dhb Blok Jack Jockey Short Sleeve Jersey and, as you can see, it’s based on a Union Jack design. It’s a polyester top with an anti-bacterial finish and a full-length YKK zip. The list price is £49.99 although you can pre-order for £44.99 on the Wiggle website at the moment. The range will ship next month.

This one is the women’s version of the Blok Southern Criss Cross – DHB sell a lot Down Under too. A men’s version is available too. The prices are the same across the range for both men’s and women’s jerseys: £49.99, currently reduced to £44.99.

Arm warmers are available to match all four jerseys in the range. This is the dhb Blok Big Punkt design. The arm warmers are priced at £18.99, currently reduced to £17.09 a pair.

The Blok range also includes legwear with neon accents designed to go with all of the jerseys, in both men’s and women’s versions. The bib shorts, which feature CyTech Elastic Interface seatpads, are priced at £59.99 (currently reduced to £53.99) while the bib tights use the same pads and are £69.99 (currently reduced to £62.99). The tights are made from the same Action 205 Lycra as the shorts, so they’re not a winter weight.

dhb now organise most of their clothing into their Active, Performance and Professional lineups. The Active clothing is the most accessible in terms of price while the Professional clothing is for those who make higher demands: slimmer cuts, more technical fabrics, and so on. On top of that, dhb are offering a Goldline jersey and shorts in both men’s and women’s versions. Goldline is their highest spec, the women’s versions being used by the Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling team.

The slim-fitting jersey (£69.99) is made from five different Italian fabrics and has a whole load of different features. It comes with bonded (rather than sewn) seams at the back, for example, the idea being to reduce bulk and friction, and you get mesh panels at the centre rear and underneath the arms for extra ventilation. The cuffs are seamless mesh and the rear pockets are laser cut. dhb claim a weight of just 133g for the medium sized version, so this is very much a lightweight summer option.

The Goldline bib shorts (£89.99) come with a CyTech Elastic Interface Comp HP chamois that’s designed to keep you comfortable for more than six hours in the saddle. Again, these are made from Italian performance fabrics and they have flatlock seams, bonded bib straps and a mesh stretch back panel.

If you are still after winter kit, the 2.5 layer Cosmo Waterproof jacket (£59.99, currently reduced to £53.99) looks like a good option (we have one in for review here at road.cc at the moment but we're nowhere near publishing our findings yet). It has a waterproof rating of 20,000mm (that's high, if you don't speak the lingo) and a breathability rating of 30,000g/m2/24hr (so's that). It’s slim fitting, has 3M Scotchlite reflective details, and is available in men’s and women’s versions, both in various colours.

The dhb Vaeon Roubaix Pro Padded Bib Tights are currently £71.99 (list price £79.99, men’s and women’s versions are available). They’re made from a fleecy, elastic Lombardia fabric and the seatpad, usually the most crucial feature, is the Tour model from Cytech – and Cytech really do know how to make a good seatpad. If you’re not into the red panels shown, you can get white or grey instead. Some size/colour combos aren’t available at the moment although you can order them.

dhb also have a whole new hi-viz road range called Flashlight on the way. It’s aimed specifically at commuters and winter trainers, and it’ll be launched in the spring. We’ve seen a few of the items but we don't have any photos to show you yet.

The Flashlight clothing and features 3M reflective trims to provide 360° visibility. You won't be surprised to learn that it’ll be priced to compete with Altura’s Night Vision range with jackets from £59.99, jerseys from £34.99 and shorts from £34.99 too. Tights will start at £44.99. We’ll give you pics as soon as we get them.

For details on the whole range head over to www.wiggle.co.uk.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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10 comments

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bendertherobot | 10 years ago
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The black jersey looks brilliant. Very Etxeondo. But is it priced to high?

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thatkidduffy | 10 years ago
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Not sure about the jerseys, but the arm warmers could be a winner.

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EvansYelhsa | 10 years ago
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Bibs and tights look a lot like my Le Col kit

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jayonabike | 10 years ago
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 31  31 &  31

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pants | 10 years ago
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I am glad dhb are trying to do something with their designs, everyone knows they are practical and good value for money, it'd be nice if they look good too. I may not be the biggest fan of some of the designs above, but at least they are trying something different.

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James Warrener | 10 years ago
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Wow... I think

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mooleur | 10 years ago
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As a firm advocate of ridiculous colours - I love the fact that DHB is doing this. Nice to see affordable eye-obscenities available for the open market.

 4 HAPPY! #furioslyfluoro

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bici1977 | 10 years ago
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Looks like a drunk replica of the UK Youth / British Cycling jersey...  31

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fatbastard | 10 years ago
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I do like the look of the first jersey based on the Union Jack.
Question: can you have too many cycling tops and any really good reasons for buying more to explain to the wife?

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noblematt | 10 years ago
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Those bright coloured ones are awful, bright colours can be great, but not those one.  31

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