Voler’s new kit – Black Label Bibs and Jersey

SUMMARY

Voler’s new Black Label line uses the highest quality fabrics from mills in Europe. Couple this with their new form, fit, and function, and the Black Label line is now on par with the best the cycling industry has to offer. The new Black Label line  equals the top-end products from the best known cycling clothing companies.

OVERVIEW

I have been on the same Team Simple Green Masters cycling team for quite a few years now. A great group of people.  We have about 250 members but only a handful race. As far back as I can remember, we have exclusively used Voler for our kits. What’s nice about having this many members ordering clothing is that we can get  everything we need to supply us for the entire year. But, with every team kit, there are/were pros and cons.

PROS of TEAM wear clothing

• Lasts forever. The season will be long over and the team kit will look as good as it did when it was new.
• Very inexpensive and reasonably priced for high quality.
• Voler makes specific clothing for both Men and Women.
• Our team can order jerseys (both race cut and club cut), sleeveless jerseys, long sleeve jerseys, thermal jerseys, wind vest, thermal wind vest, short-sleeve skin-suit, long sleeve skin-suits, wind jacket, thermal jacket, shorts, bib shorts, knickers, bib knickers, thermal knickers, tri tops, tri bottoms, tri skin-suits, arm warmers, knee warmers, leg warmers, gloves, and shoe covers. As you can see, there is a great depth to the high quality products offered from Voler…especially for team orders.
• Made in the U.S.A.

CONS of TEAM wear clothing

• No real compression-fit offered.
• Club cut was too loose and ‘baggy’ for racing.
• Race/team cut was better, but still did not fit like some of the other top brands.
• The biggest drawback was that the material used in the jersey soaked up so much sweat that after a long summertime training ride, the jersey must have weighed 15 pounds.

But, the good news is that Voler has solved all of these drawbacks with the new BLACK LABEL line. In a nutshell, this new product line offers a FANTASTIC compression fit and a GREAT VALUE for the high quality you get!!!

FEATURES:

The features Voler has added include:

JERSEY:

• Race fit sizing/compression-type fit is ‘tighter’ than the standard Voler lineup. Snug and firm fitting in all the right places.
• Five (5) different fabrics that make up the jersey. The main material used is a new generation fabric called Genesis. Genesis is a micro denier Polyester yarn, extremely thin and designed to quickly transport moisture through channeling, where moisture is pushed from your skin to the outside of the fabric where it evaporate more efficiently. These micro denier yarns are also soft, comfortable and very durable.
• Sun protection UPF rating of 28+
• Silicon waist gripper prevents the jersey from riding up. Jersey really stays put.

  

• 2”-wide arm bands at sleeve cuff with silicon grippers making this the most comfortable jersey I have worn.
• Mesh sides to keep you cool.
• 3 rear pockets PLUS a zippered back pocket
• Full YKK zipper

BIB SHORTS:

• Flat Seams that don’t dig into your body
• Italian-made Forza HC high-compression spandex material   featuring tightly knit micro-denier fine yarns and an increased amount of spandex for great comfort and fit.
• Leg Power Band – 2”-wide silicon-less leg opening. Grippers will be added 2014.

PAD:

• Comp HP Italian-made chamois pad (by Elastic Interface)

  

• Seamless
• 4-way stretch
• Ultra-high (quad) density perforated foam with a microfiber surface fabric.
• Central channel has been modified to provide more relief along the perineal area.
• Thinner back liner makes the pad even more lightweight and breathable, allowing greater freedom of movement.
• This is Voler’s top of the line pad that can be used for 6+ hours in the saddle.

SIZING:

Black Label FS Jersey and Bibs are compression fit USA sizing running a little smaller than the Voler Team clothing. For fitting, stick with the same size for the Black Label products that you would normally wear from Voler.

But, compared to Castelli, there is more than a full size difference – meaning that an XL Black Label Bib Short would be equivalent to a XXL Castelli Body paint size. There is even more of a difference compared to Santini where an XL Black Label Bib is about an XXXL for a Santini Bib. Voler will run close to other ‘made for the USA’ market like Performance, Pearl Izumi, Scattante, and Jakroo to name a few.

Since the FS Bib Shorts are compression shorts, so they will actually run a little on the small size. This is really what you want when using a compression fabric. These bibs feel uncomfortable when standing around before the ride, but after a minute on the bike, you don’t even know you have them on. They are very comfortable for crit races or long rides. For these bibs, Voler is using a new performance material called “Forza HC High Compression Spandex” which is very soft, very stretchable and very comfortable.

Coupled with their new top-of-the-line Elastic Interface Comp HP pad, this makes for a very fatigue free ride, even after racking up 4+ hours in the saddle, your legs will feel fresher than with standard bib shorts.

HOW DID THEY PERFORM?

The Black Label FS products are my favorites! Yes, they are really that good!

Jersey: Even though it is a “race-cut” design, it is still very stretchable so that I am able to have a perfect fit even wearing a thick long-sleeved compression base layer. The wide arm sleeve bands do not constrict so this jersey remains comfortable even on the longest rides. It is high quality and well designed from the zipper to the rubberized waist band. It gets a 5 star rating from me!

Bib Shorts: utilize two different complementary materials for the top and the bottom. Both materials are very soft and very stretchable. The bottom of the FS Bibs is woven as a tight/compression-type fit. I have tried both types of bibs (compression and non-compression) and the compression fit is more comfortable during the ride and your legs feel more refreshed after the ride.

There is plenty of room in the legs to wear knee or leg warmers (Voler makes both thermal and non-thermal warmers).

Overall, this is an excellent short, but, my only dislike and this became apparent after using my other bibs (Castelli Body Paint 2.0), is that there are no grippers for the legs. Couple this with the FS bib short is a minimum length short and the legs will sometimes ride up over an inch. A quick chat with Voler and they said that they will be addressing this and coming out with a revision in 2014. Don’t get me wrong, these are still excellent bib shorts.

OVERALL SUMMARY:

Voler has taken the best elements from their best kits and combined them with special (compression) fabrics and trims. The FS jersey and bib shorts are among the highest quality bicycle clothes I have used, very comfortable, fantastic quality and a perfect fit. I can honestly say this new line is comparable to the best-of-the-best on the market today!

I highly recommend these products!

Also available in the ‘Black Label’ lineup are Thermal Booties, Women’s Short Sleeve Jersey, Men’s Wool Undershirt (SS and LS), Men’s Thermal Vest, Men’s Thermal Jacket, Women’s Shorts, and Men’s Shorts.

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.