New cycling apparel brand Go Faster has launched a campaign on Kickstarter for its new model for buying cycling kit, where cyclists have to improve their average speed to be able to buy its higher level aero-optimised gear. The British start-up claims the cycling kit psychologically makes riders faster, as well as reduces their impact on the planet. £651 has been pledged so far towards the £10,000 goal with 29 days to go.
Go Faster aims to rethink not only how cycling kit is designed, but how consumers buy it.
“A lot of cycling kit is replaced every season when new colours and trends are released. This behaviour contributes to the unsustainable problems of fast fashion, including the environmental impact of manufacturing processes and premature disposal of unwanted kit,” says Go Faster.
The approach is based on the idea that if you have earned your kit, then you will be proud to wear it for more than one season.
So, how does it work? Connect up your Strava account and this allows you to buy Go Faster’s Draft Training Jersey, which is for any rider attempting to ‘unlock’ its Level 1 or Level 2 Jerseys.
The Level 1 jersey is unlocked by recording a ride with a 26km/h (16mph) average speed, while you’ll need to go 39km/h (24mph) for the aero optimised Level 2 jersey. To ensure riders don’t just cruise down a hill for a few seconds to prove their speed, Go Faster ask for the ride uploads to be a distance of 10km or more.
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With sleeves constructed from 3D textured tightly woven fabric developed in the wind tunnel, Go Faster claims the Level 2 jersey is optimised for speeds above 39km/h – the average ride speed you’ll need to unlock it.
Across all the jerseys the Bodywrap construction removes side panels, and by eliminating the seams down the side of the body, Go Faster says this enables the same smooth airflow as its seamless sleeves.
Heat-bonded low profile seams are used on all jerseys for smooth and efficient airflow around the arms and waist, says Go Faster, while the bib shorts use low profile Bodywrap straps that are said to minimise raised areas of fabric that can catch the wind.
Go Faster claims its not just this aero technology that’ll help you go faster with its kit: “Sports psychology research indicates that wearing a jersey earned through personal achievement can lead to an increase in performance over kit you’ve just bought. It’s down to the boost in pride, self–confidence and social status that wearing the kit generates.”
Added to this, Go Faster says its purchasing model also has sustainable benefits: “Purchased as a reward for personal achievement, your Go Faster kit has meaning; we believe that if you enjoy earning it, you’ll enjoy riding in it, season after season.”
As well as increasing the used lifespan of its kit, Go Faster uses recycled performance fabrics including 100% post-consumer polyester yarns, 100% pre-consumer sustainable nylon recycled from industrial wastage and up to 65% pre-consumer sustainable premium elastane recycled from industrial wastage. These fabrics are said to be certified Bluesign, Oekotex and GRS Global Recycled Standard.
To buy the Draft Jersey, you can pledge £98 on Kickstarter to save 15% off the RRP of £115. For the Level 1 or Level 2 jerseys, you’ll need to pledge £115 (15% off the eventual RRP) and share your past ride data to prove your average speed, or request a voucher code to redeem through Go Faster’s Draft program.
Expected delivery is for September 2021.
More details on other discounted rates can be found at the Kickstarter page over here.
All the usual Kickstarter rules and regulations apply which can be found here.
So often with aero-optimised kit, we’re not actually riding at the speed for any meaningful benefit – so perhaps this sort of business model could also help us reflect a little more on what our genuine needs from our kit are? Well-fitting, comfortable clothing doesn’t need to be aero as well just for the sake of it. Thoughts?
64 thoughts on “New aero cycling kit that can only be bought if you prove your average speed is fast enough launches on Kickstarter”
What an unpleasant idea. I
What an unpleasant idea. I hope they fail. Not to mention marketing bullshit and horrendous designs.
visionset wrote:
On the contrary, I think it’s a splendid idea – it will be very useful for identifying absolute cockwombles and therefore avoiding them. See also Rolex watches, Porsche Carreras, striped shirts with plain collars, red corduroy trousers, et cetera.
You do have a point, it would
You do have a point, it would brighten up my ride
Rendel Harris wrote:
Indeed, it’ll be awesome to see someone riding about in one of these jerseys and identify them from a crowd.
Please please please can someone turn up at my local club run wearing one of these !! .. oh their level of ‘stardom’ if my wish comes true..
Suspect they’re based in the
Suspect they’re based in the south east then…
If they want to actually be a viable business and sell to people in the heartlands of cycling in this country (e.g. places with hills), they’ll be reconsidering this model sharpish
Er, have you actually tried
Er, have you actually tried cycling in the south east? They may not be very high, but the North and South Downs (and I’m pretty sure the Chilterns too, though I’ve never ridden there) are definitely quite hilly.
But I take your point. Maybe they’re based in Cambridgeshire?
Whilst not Northern or Upper
Whilst not Northern or Upper Midlands quality/volume I can vouch for the Chilterns ability to supply a hill or 2. Whiteleaf and Streatley to name two. That said I can normally hit a 16mph average on a ride that includes a Chiltern lump or 2.
I dont think I’ve ever sustained anything like a 24 mph average though. That’s TT territory for me. Not that I have ever even attempted a TT, so could be talking out of my orifice.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
24mph average solo is really hard to hit outdoors, they probably accept rubbishy Zwift “group rides” or something where you can hit 24mph pushing 100 watts
No idea where they’re getting
No idea where they’re getting their info from, but I haven’t bought any new cycling kit in years, as my current stuff has yet to wear out – admittedly, I’ve got a couple of tops that only get worn for commuting with a rucksack, as the waist elastic is knackered.
Anyway, I won’t be touching them with a barge pole when I do need new kit.
I am a bit of a magpie when
I am a bit of a magpie when it comes to shiny new season cycling kit, but I dont chuck out stuff unless its worn out, broken or no longer fits me.
Regardless I wouldnt sign up to this because I just dont like the jersey designs,and i cant average 16mph over 10km anyway so wouldnt even make level 1 🙂
I used to be able to do level
I used to be able to do level one quite easily although the closest I ever got to level 2 with over 8miles (12km) and 400ft of climbing was 20mph dead. I also managed a similar speed on the London Pru 46 in 2019. Pandemic weight gain has put paid to gettng close to those nowadays.
Yes for sure if it was just a
Yes for sure if it was just a 10km ride,I picked a route that suited me and the wind wasnt a hindrance, then I’m sure I could treat it like a TT and hit their 16mph average reasonably easily still.
But I tend to go for much longer not faster rides, theres always a bunch of awkward hills even in East Anglia, and the wind is nothing but a constant hindrance most days and I’ll average 14mph or 15mph at my best, but that little extra oomph to hit 16mph consistently has always proved elusively just out of reach to me.
It doesnt bother me that much, I just wonder sometimes how people gauge this stuff as lots of cycling clubs also treat 16mph as their “slow” group and I dont know anyone who could average 24mph on a bike.
Yep, averaging 25mph on rides
Yep, averaging 25mph on rides would be top amateur / semi pro racers.
Awavey wrote:
Our A group will average from about 33kph over a 100km mixed terrain ride.
Our B Group will average from about 28kph over the same distance
Our C Group will average from about 25kph over a 70-80km distance.
You’d only see high 30s and low 40s (kph) on a short TT course (16km-25km) consistently with a handful of members. And mid 30s for club/league races. Most members are decent, strong riders, but there is not a large racing contingent in a club of about 60 members.
Why’s the beardy dude in
Why’s the beardy dude in their promo photos wearing their Level 2 kit? He’s doing 0mph in front of a green screen surely he’s not even qualified for level 1!
I would obviously not buy this kit as they are using kph which is the nobber’s way of pretending they are a) French and b) can ride faster than they really can, so stick that in your chapeau and smoke it
Nigel Garrage wrote:
quite honestly, the funniest thing i’ve heard today!!!
The only thing worse than the
The only thing worse than the US that has kept their ridiculously stupid system is the UK (and Canada?) which has sort of changed to the superior Metric system, but still insists on keeping some of the earlier stupidity.
News flash, the rest of the world uses the metric system. But I guess the only time you’ve left your inbred, developing country island was to go to France so you think that’s the only country that does.
Or you were just joking, what do I know
pontius wrote:
pontius wrote:
OOOOOOOooooooooh
Imperial had its flaws mainly
Imperial had its flaws mainly by virute of the haphazard course of its development. But to move to a system not divisible by 3 (from one that was often exaclty that), now that’s stupid. Base 10 is stupid.
visionset wrote:
We count in base 10. If we counted in base 12 Imp would be great. But we don’t.
Personally I think imp to be great for DIY – division by halves , quarters, 8ths allows for greater accuracy than trying to use mils, is much easier visually, and more inutitive (I find).
I did physics at uni, and my job is designer on large logistics infrastructure projects – on those 2 levels give me metric any time. Base 10 for me please!
Captain Badger wrote:
Wow, you sure hide your light under a, er, bushel!
Nigel Garrage wrote:
Perch yourself over there and fathom it out – I don’t want you to make a rod for your own back. Now you might think I can’t keep this up furlong, but thou whilst find, once joing the links, that I won’t scruple to pound the point home – I have not a grain of shame. Now we can slug this out all day but why the ell would we want that? We’d be inching towards a footnote in history.
Yeah sure we also need to
Yeah sure we also need to count in base 12, might be easier to get that than decent cycling infra though
Captain Badger wrote:
Would it? 8 pints in a gallon, 16 ounces in a pound, 14 pounds in a stone … etc.
As a Computer Scientist, I vote base 2 or 16 any time.
Weirdest conversation I had on this recently was with a teenager of all things (I am a teacher before anyone thinks it weird I am talking to teenagers). He expressed his annoyance that 1 kilogram was 2.2 pounds, and thought it was stupid for the next measurement up not to be a whole number of pounds.
I told him he was comparing two different systems, and that 1kg was 1000 grams and he replied “What’s a gram?”.
Jetmans Dad wrote:
I blame the teachers
of course the kilo, mega, giga, terra system falls down when you start talking about computing with each unit being 1024x the previous instead of a thousand, but still using the same names as proper units
Jetmans Dad wrote:
Cool by me! I’ve always said that there are 10 types of people in this world – those that dig binary and those that don’t.
Jetmans Dad wrote:
About £100 (2019 prices), apparently…
division by halfs, quarters,
division by halfs, quarters, eigths gives greater accuracy then 10ths, 100ths, 1000ths?
1mm is less than 1/16th of an inch
and I find it less intuitive when I quickly want to know whether 5/8 is less or more than 11/16
wycombewheeler wrote:
Yes it does – note the distinction between precision and accuracy. I don’t tend to work in anything finer than 8ths (perhaps 16ths) when woodworking. The pencil mark width reduces accuracy when measured against mm, the gradings being hard to resolve, making anything less than 5mm intervals something of a lucky dip (exaggerating the point, but only a little).
I could of course work in thous (of an inch) and for metal work with machines this is perfectly reasonable, but this is really going back to decimal. May as well use metric for that. In any case for carpentry, the above is pretty redundant.
The nice thing about imp (ad I’m really speaking very a specific aspect of imperial; measurements in fractions of inches) is that every smaller grade is exactly halfway between the 2 superior grades, which are usually distinguished by the length of the grading marks themselves . It’s really easy to use when marking off.
pontius wrote:
And having a weird superiority complex about it.
It sounds to me like someone
It sounds to me like someone didn’t think this idea through very well.
This will really appeal to
This will really appeal to the Zwift crowd where levels and kit are seen as signs of success and superiority. It will of course lead to some kind of data doping IRL to achieve the required speeds.
It will also add a new visual riding group. Now we could have “Castelli/Rapha wearer”, “Team kit wearer”, “Whatever I can buy cheaply” wearer and “I am fastest” wearer amongst other sub groups.
If its anything like Zwift,
If its anything like Zwift, the only thing I ever seem to unlock is yet another pair of gloves!
Yes I think I’ll do it with
Yes I think I’ll do it with my car keep the bike ride for fun rides and fresh air
I don’t think I’ve ever seen
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone strava a zwift ride less than 39kmh average. Not sure aero jerseys sill make much difference for those people however
Nick T wrote:
Really? There are very, very few of those I follow on either Zwift or Strava (or both) who hit that high an average speed on anything other than an occasional one-off … usually a group ride, and often with double draft enabled.
I’ve never used it but I
I’ve never used it but I assume you just knock several kg off your weight and activate these double draft cheat modes before everesting ventoux at 40kmh
So if I don’t spend £115 on a
So if I don’t spend £115 on a new jersey I don’t need, I might not value the jerseys I’ve got, and so end up buying a new jersey I don’t need?
Right – makes a lot of sense to me…
It’s not for me, I agree with
It’s not for me, I agree with all the comments about zwift types, speed doping etc. I like how they have “Draft” and “Level1” or 2 on them, just so us simple types can work out how ace they are.
Good luck to them, there are certainly enough gullible follk out there for them to make a go of it. Can I have a plain one with “Not missed the point” on?
Not a fan of the actual kit
Not a fan of the actual kit but I don’t think the basic idea of kit linked to achievements is that bad.
If an established brand teamed up with Strava to do it it might work quite well.
Rich_cb wrote:
Or you could just wear a medal with ‘my mum tells me I’m the best’ on it.
It would have to match the
It would have to match the kit, obviously.
Le Col are doing that this
Le Col are doing that this month with a challenge for doing 8500 metres in one month getting a top for £25 rather then £125. Or free if you an proper Everest in one go. I’m fine with aiming for the former.
I like that idea.
I like that idea.
Always see people out riding in jerseys from various events, don’t really see what the difference is between that and jerseys for completing specific challenges.
That being said I haven’t bought a new jersey since 2016 so not sure I’m target market!
Tempted to have a go at 10km @ 39kph this Sunday though, just to see if I can!
Strava used to do this a few
Strava used to do this a few years ago, if you logged a ride of a certain distance or something you were able to buy that month’s jersey
I don’t think I ever did a
I don’t think I ever did a race where the average was 39kph let alone just a usual ride.
39kph, hahahaha. People
39kph, hahahaha. People averaging that sort of speed will probably be buying more aero kit than this… or already have.
I averaged over 33kph for the first hour last night but after 1:56 that was down to 32.2kph, partially down to stopping a few times to figure out which turns to take. I was rather happy with that though with 450m of climbing on my cheap self-built Planet X Pro Carbon with Cycliq cameras, top tube bag, saddle bag and flat pedals.
That said, I’m all about the aero kit (free speed!).
Their model (probably also a
Their model (probably also a co-founder) looks exactly the same as the chap from Velesse:
https://velesseperformance.com/
Which popped up on Sport Pursuit recently.
Erm… 1st April was a while
Erm… 1st April was a while back, now…
Think I may have posted this
Think I may have posted this in the wrong thread . . .
Go Faster aero jerseys – what’s all the hate about? We’re entitled to buy and wear whatever we like, aren’t we? I quite like the two designs and while a 26km/h average ride is not too much trouble, 39km/h would be tough and potentially (type 2) fun trying!
The only problem is the cost as, while 100 for a jersey isn’t at all uncommon, it’s also more than I feel like a jersey should cost!
Ha ha ha, you funny
Ha ha ha, you funny
I’m more confused by your
I’m more confused by your comment than funny!
(edited typo)
‘Social Status’…….what
‘Social Status’…….what type of snowflake ahole succumbs to this tripe. It’s becoming quite easy to fall out of love with cycling due to the number of social media fuelled nobbers on the road who think they are some kind of neo-pro.
The execution might be flawed
The execution might be flawed, but the aim is noble – to stop people buying more clothes all the time (and plastic clothes at that) by changing perceptions around older gear.
I’m thinking of those “world tour” t-shirts, or Glastonbury type things, where the older the t-shirt the greater the kudos. Some kind of “I’ve been cycling since …” vibe which only increases in value with every passing year.
The aim is to capitalise on
The aim is to capitalise on and hence proliferate the ‘social media fueled knobbers’ MrManners eloquently describes. Nowt noble in that!
Doesn’t matter, so long as it
Doesn’t matter, so long as it reduces the annual turnover by encouraging people to keep the same kit longer.
Sriracha wrote:
I’m not sure how marketing more new clothes achieves this aim, the marketing claim may be what they say, but this will soon becom another old jersey in the drawer
particularly the level 1 jersey if/when someone achieves level 2 (which I have only managed on about 5 zwift rides, (all group rides and mostly in tour de zwift)
I can’t help thinking that,
I can’t help thinking that, unless you’re particularly warty or hairy, a set of the Emperor’s new clothes would be just as ‘aero’.
It isnt even aero! short
It isnt even aero! short sleeves, baggy pocket openings, a collar, poor fitting tors0, it is actually UNAERO.
Fail.
My Zwift garage is already
My Zwift garage is already chockful of ugly jerseys I have earned but would never wear, why would I want to spend actual money to do the same thing in real life?
Funding Canceled
Funding Canceled
Funding for this project was canceled by the project creator on Jun 10 2021
Makes me pine for ye olde
Makes me pine for ye olde days pre 2012 when Road cycling was about as cool as trainspotting and Rapha was the only brand out there taking the piss. Goping jerseys BTW. Top prize goes to the Lvl1 Jersey which was clearly built for comfort and not speed with its ribbed condom inspired design.
wow that’s a big jump from
wow that’s a big jump from level 1 to level 2