We were at the TCR show last weekend, and one of the most interesting stands had to be the Gore stand. Despite its smallish size, the Gore team had managed to incorporate a diminutive wind tunnel into the stand. Intrigued, we took a closer look.

A road bike was set up on a turbo trainer inside the tunnel, directly in front of a large fan. This fan was geared to pump out 40mph winds, a bit of an unrealistic test perhaps, but a good way to demo the Windstopper range. First they got me to jump on the bike wearing just the clothes I had on that day (a stripy white shirt and jeans for your reference) and stay in there pedalling just long enough to get really cold. My eyes were streaming when they switched the fan of.

Next, I donned one of Gore’s Windstopper jackets, in this instance a Xenon. The Xenon sits in Gore’s Light Shell product range, and has a close cut with a very long tail for that bent over position. It fitted just right, with an elasticated hem, pre-shaped elbows and a high collar keeping it snug. So, back into the wind tunnel and on the bike, and the fan was cranked back up to pump out a freezing 40mph wind. And the difference was unbelievable. Most people are aware of how essential a wind break is when riding, but carrying out a test in this wind tunnel was quite startling.

We’ll have more real-world tests of Gore’s Bike Wear range soon…