There are a number of pet peeves that bug the road.cc team when out for a long ride in the summer sun: GPS dying, punctures, having to stop to buy more cake… and then of course there’s our number one dilemma that eats away at our very souls… of course, we’re talking about tan lines.
Five cool products coming soon to road.cc
Review: Chapeau! Etape jersey
Luckily for us, and you, Ekoi have come up with a mighty fine solution to this problem with their new Solair jersey, that has a ‘trans-bronzing’ effect in order to block out the sun’s harmful UV-B rays, but let in the UV-A rays that allow the skin to tan. Ekoi say it works like a medium-level sunscreen, protecting the skin to some degree with their patented fabric technology dubbed SunSelect Textiles.
It’s of little use to those of us who simply burn at the slightest hint of sunshine (Ekoi say that “people prone to sunburn need to apply an additional sun screen before putting on the shirt in order to be completely protected”) but for those who have trouble convincing non-cycling folk that epic tan lines are a badge of honour, the Solair could be just the ticket.
Ekoi show us the perils of not wearing their Solair jersey
The Solair has a full zip on the front and three back pockets, and is available in red, blue or green colours. It’s only available through Ekoi’s website direct, with the price set at €99/roughly £83. There’s also a €50 discount if you buy two.
We can’t wait to test the Solair out on the bike, and perhaps the sunbed, so check out our reviews section in the coming months for a road.cc verdict…
22 thoughts on “Ekoi promising “no more tan marks” with new Solair jersey”
I don’t believe they didn’t
I don’t believe they didn’t photoshop that.
Here’s what skincancer.org
Here’s what skincancer.org says about these “good” UVA rays;
UVA contributes to and may even initiate the development of skin cancers.
MandaiMetric wrote:
yea, but it’s better than tan lines.
Since when did tan lines
Since when did tan lines become bad?
They haven’t thought this
They haven’t thought this through because unless you’re putting protection on all over your body, front, back or do they think that skin changes colour when exposed to sun for a different reason to what science does?
So if you’re solo that’s next to impossible and getting a pal to rub sun cream in all over your back for you is very likely to be met with a “get stuffed”, even if they are starting out with you as you really want it applied 15-20 minutes before you go out and re-apply it after a couple of hours because the sweat will effect the protection so getting said riding partner to re-apply all over your sweaty body so that you don’t get tan lines is again going to be met with more negatives/looks of ‘what the fuck’. That’s on top of the obvious stupidness of the idea.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
What? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone stop to re apply sun cream midride in the UK. So as the jerseu will clearly not let all UVA rays through i dont see why it woukd be needed under the jersey.
wycombewheeler wrote:
They haven’t thought this through because unless you’re putting protection on all over your body, front, back or do they think that skin changes colour when exposed to sun for a different reason to what science does?
So if you’re solo that’s next to impossible and getting a pal to rub sun cream in all over your back for you is very likely to be met with a “get stuffed”, even if they are starting out with you as you really want it applied 15-20 minutes before you go out and re-apply it after a couple of hours because the sweat will effect the protection so getting said riding partner to re-apply all over your sweaty body so that you don’t get tan lines is again going to be met with more negatives/looks of ‘what the fuck’. That’s on top of the obvious stupidness of the idea.
— wycombewheeler What? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone stop to re apply sun cream midride in the UK. So as the jerseu will clearly not let all UVA rays through i dont see why it woukd be needed under the jersey.— BehindTheBikesheds
So you think a jersey that lets the skin go brown underneath it as per the pic above then you shouldn’t need to add suncream underneath? what do you think is happening as to why the skin goes darker when exposed to sunlight, why do you think that the darkened skin shown in the pic underneath the jersey needs less protection than the skin exposed?
My point about re-application is that doing so when cycling so that even when wearing the jersey would be nonsense, jesus, please bother to understand plain English!
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
I don’t see why more would be needed under the jersey than on arms and legs pre ride only should be fine in the UK. All day ride in hotter climates would be different I guess.
I wasn’t arguing about the need for sun cream under the jersey only the suggestion of asking riding buddies to ‘re apply mid ride.
However I would point out that sun cream is not a total block it just increases the amount of time it takes for tanning/burning/damage to occur. Do you think the jersey is effectively SPF4 SPF16 SPF24 or more or less?
Jersey tan lanes are one thing and arguably almost a badge of honour for a cyclist but with this jersey I can loom forward to a heart rate monitor strap tan line which is probably quite hard to explain.
So they are also selling tan
So they are also selling tan thru bibshorts?
Leviathan wrote:
ride commando, big boy
ConcordeCX wrote:
Always. I don’t think you know what Going Commando means.
Leviathan wrote:
i do, but I got it wrong!
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/011/786/homer-simpson-doh.jpg
The very fact of tanning is
The very fact of tanning is the body’s reaction to damage caused by UV rays.
Without doing some google searching of reputable dermatology and oncology resources, this smells like psuedo science crap of the first order which may lead to actual harm.
Rule 7, surely?
Rule 7, surely?
(1) *Any* suntan is skin
(1) *Any* suntan is skin damage; and (2) how many people will actually see any tan lines you might have developed as a consequence of shorts and short-sleeved jersey?
brooksby wrote:
The important ones, however many of those you may cultivate :p
The chap in the Photoshop “example” doesn’t appear to have strap lines… hmm. I guess if they do a skinsuit (tenuous pun?) you’ll only have the chamois to think about :p
So they manufactured a load
So they manufactured a load of these before realising they’d forgotten to spec the UV protection. All seemed lost until the marketing department came up with a cunning plan, my lord.
Nonsense idea. how are we to
Nonsense idea. how are we to distinguish fellow cyclists from the sunbed brigade? Deep and well-defined tan lines are like rings in oaks trees….they denote kms travelled.
Dangerous nonsense- I hope
Dangerous nonsense- I hope road.cc won’t be reviewing this, I think it would be frankly negligent to do so (exposing the tester to harm)
From the same company that
From the same company that produces the “one size fits all” bibshorts.
Not convinced by either, no doubt both will be available heavily reduced on Sportpursuit some time soon…
It’s a bit exasperating that
It’s a bit exasperating that there’s such a narrow line between ‘skin damage’ and ‘vitamin D deficiency’. Almost as if evolution has screwed up there.
Why haven’t we evolved to cope, in both respects, with the level of sunlight we actually get (assuming one lives at the same latitude as one’s ancestors) without all this nonsense about smearing greasy goop all over yourself?
Actually I once spent most of a summer cycling outside all day and every day, and at the end of it not only did I have ‘tan lines’ but my Vitamin D level was still way below ‘insufficient’
PS – seems like a stupid product.
http://www.skincancer.org
http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/uva-and-uvb
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/skin-cancer
Please make yourself aware of the risks of skin cancer.
I look forward to the 1 star rating of this product in due course.