SCOTT PRO TEC BIBS & JERSEYS Review

Every so often during our weekend rides, we see someone crash. Usually lots of torn clothing and severe road rash. Thankfully, we don’t see too many broken bones. Disregarding infections, the best case scenario is a couple of weeks of painful showers followed by a recovery period of several more weeks. In the Pro Tour peloton, crashes happen all of the time. Pros live with pain and torn skin, AND, are paid to continue racing. Only broken bones and sometimes concussions take them out of a race. After a crash, pros are not performing up to peak levels that they are paid for.

When a pro is injured and his/her performance is sub-par, or, worst case, unable to race … which means that neither the team owner nor the sponsors are happy. The team owner is paying the cyclist to sit out races and the sponsors are paying for advertising space on a cycling kit that isn’t being worn. So as you can see, it is paramount that a pro cyclist remains injury free.

And that’s where SCOTT RC PRO TEC Jerseys and Bibs can help. Imagine wearing abrasion resistant clothing, body armor if you will when riding a bicycle. That’s what SCOTT PRO TEC is.

BACKGROUND

We have to start with SCHOELLER® of Switzerland. SCHOELLER® is a textile company (www.schoeller-textiles.com) that makes many different types of fabrics to meet many different requirements. One of their newer products is ceraspace™. ceraspace™ is a new abrasion proofing and heat resistance protection fabric technology.

As you can see in the picture to the right, ceraspace™ is a composition of special ceramic particles anchored in a polymer matrix. The special ceramic particles are nearly as hard as diamonds and are firmly attached as a 3-dimensional coating to the textile.

The advantages of ceraspace™ include the
Highest abrasion resistance of any fabric,
Best resistance against contact heating,
High washing and dry cleaning permanence, and
Good weather and UV resistance

Two of SCHOELLER®s largest customers of this fabric are the Police and Motorcycle clothing manufacturers. Police use ceraspace™ in their jackets and shirts, the motorcycle industry uses ceraspace™ in their fabric jackets, pants and gloves as well as most of the upper end racing garments.

The problem with using ceraspace™ technology for the bicycle industry is cost. Although your bibs and jersey would be completely abrasion resistant, they would cost 2-4 times as much as a high quality kit does now. In fact, I can envision $500-$600 each for jerseys and bib shorts. Now that’s expensive!

So SCOTT developed the next best thing …

WHAT IS PRO TEC & WHAT MAKES IT WORK?

In close cooperation with SCHOELLER®, SCOTT developed the ITD ProTec Technology. PRO-TEC is a one of a kind blend of Carbon Yarns, a Lycra-type material and Ceramic Prints which make up a fabric that has very high resistance to abrasion. This is all produced in white and can be dyed to allow over printing of logos, sponsor names, etc.

Even though the carbon yarns add strength as well as some abrasion resistance, the real breakthrough, both technically and keeping the costs low is the way SCOTT applies the ceramic coating laminate.

The process for affixing the ceramic coating is via an extrusion coating process. It is NOT a printing process. If SCOTT would print it, the ceramic particles would not be included in the matrix. The extrusion coating process uses heat and pressure to inject the particles into a slot die that extrudes a thin membrane onto the base material. Once the extrusion is complete, SCOTT uses masks to define the design of the coating, similar to Flexographic printing used on paper.

The ceramic coating is applied in a hexagonal design to allow for maximum protection and maximum stretch-ability. In the diagram to the right, if the coating was any closer together, stretch-ability would be compromised. Scott specifically designed this fabric so that they would achieve maximum protection and maximum comfort.

HOW ABRASION RESISTANT IS IT?

PRO TEC video – http://bit.ly/ITD_ProTec

Basically, a belt sander was used to simulate the effect of a crash at high speed on an abrasive surface. Two balloons with each fabric were placed on the sander… the result was that a classic nylon fabric resisted about 3 seconds while the ITD Pro Tec fabric had only light damage and that was after 1 minute on the sander.

In addition, the Pro Tec fabric has been tested for 2 years by SCHOLLER®, pro teams, SCOTT and other testers. In testing, SCOTT employed an external laboratory to analyze and evaluate the PRO TEC fabric against all other current bicycle clothing fabrics. The results speak for themselves.

SCOTT RC PRO TEC S/SL SHIRT (JERSEY)

The RC Pro Tec short sleeve shirt (jersey) features ample abrasion resistant material in the arms and shoulders. Rounding out the list of features are reflective strips that can be seen from the rear and sides, flat-lock seams, 2” tall silicone armband grippers, a 1” wide silicone waist gripper, high quality and full length YKK zipper, 3 rear pockets, a zipper pocket and a water repellent inner pocket.

The SCOTT RC Pro Tec short sleeve shirt is just slightly heavier (i.e., thicker) than a standard racing jersey. This is due to the extra layer of ceramic. Even though this black jersey is a little thicker, it still breathes well so the cyclist stays cool. I was no hotter in this jersey than with other top-tier racing jerseys. As for the fit, it is race cut but club cut length. It fits snug and is just about the same size as Castelli race jerseys. The PRO TEC is just slightly longer. The sleeves have 2” of silicone gripper and they really stay put, no flapping in the wind. I also like the 1” silicone gripper inside the waist band. It’s perfect to keep the jersey from riding up the back. The all-plastic zipper is top quality YKK. So far, there has been no snagging of the zipper as I have experienced in other jerseys after several times of washing and wearing.

Bottom line is that the jersey fits extremely well and is very comfortable.

SCOTT RC PRO TEC BIB SHORTS

The RC Pro Tec bib shorts utilize abrasion resistant material on the entire side of the bibs, from above the hips running all the way down to the silicone leg grippers. The fabric is very breathable and includes a high performance pad (see below), a small pocket, UV resistance, comfortable mesh bib-suspenders and 3” tall silicone leg grippers.

Even though the SCOTT RC Pro Tec BIB SHORTS are a little thicker and heavier, they are still very very comfortable and can be easily worn on 3-4 hour rides. The breathable mesh bib-suspenders provide maximum airflow to the skin.

The 3” tall silicone leg grippers are the right length and circumference to fit snug, but not too tight. The bib’s legs stay in place and do not ride up like other bibs I have experienced.

These bibs are among the most comfortable bibs I have ever worn!

SCOTT +++ PERFORMANCE PADDING

SCOTT +++ performance padding is a top quality padding designed with dual density and dual thickness open cell foam. The pad has 3 distinct areas, (1) PERINEAL, (2) WINGS and (3) ISCHIATIC.

The men’s pad includes a channel cut-out for the Perineal area. This channel is created by adding additional foam to both sides of the pad. The channel runs all the way from the front to the back and measures about 1/8” wide at the front widening to 3/4” in the rear. The wings of the pad are thin enough so that they do not bunch up, but thick enough to offer support when cycling. The padding for the Ischiatic (sit bones) is the same thickness as for the Perineal.

The padding is extremely soft and comfortable.

SUMMARY:
All 3 of these products are anatomically correct meaning they are designed and built more for race mode, but are still comfortable on all-day outings.

The bibs and jersey use a SCOTT technology called DUROSHADE which adds a UV inhibitor to shield you from the sun’s UV rays allowing you to cycle for longer periods of time without getting burnt.

The other technology that SCOTT employs within the fabric is DRYOXCELL which is designed to dry faster, protecting against saturation – which equates to added weight. This quick dry technology works by wicking moisture away from the skin and dispersing it in the fabric over a larger area. This accelerates the time it takes to evaporate, keeping you dry and comfortable, longer.

The kit fits well, is very comfortable and is very well made. This is my new ‘go-to’ kit – it should be yours as well. I rate this a 5 out of 5 star!

In the photo above, the GREEN circles signify where the PRO TEC jersey would have protected the PRO TOUR cyclist. He has significant road rash that would not be there if he was wearing the PRO TEC jersey.
The RED arrows show where there would still be road rash even with the PRO TEC jersey/bibs since the material is not long enough to cover any skin below the elbow or below the knee.

My RECOMMENDATIONS to SCOTT are as follows:

1. JERSEY – Make the sleeves longer to cover down to the top of the forearm.
2. BIBs – Same thing for the bibs, make them into knickers.

Rick Schultz

I have always enjoyed bicycling and, through a series of coincidences, became a Bicycle Industry Consultant and Product Tester. I test prototype products for companies and have published only off the shelf production products on biketestreviews.com.