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Reviews
UnderGround - Dec 07
Keeping Your Cool...
Dressing down in the heat of summer is riddled with contradiction. You want to stay cool and dry but also need to avoid being fried through the hole in the ozone layer. The core fabric of Ground Effect's summer range is Intercool - a clever bi-component honeycomb knit coupling an inner layer of quick-drying polyester with an outer layer of cotton. The polyester pushes sweat away from your body while the cotton draws the moisture to the outside. Hot weather combined with the wind generated as you ride along fuels evaporation, keeping you cooler and drier. The weave is sufficiently porous to let the wind cool you, but rates a SPF of 30 plus - plenty for the longest day in the harshest sun.
Our first Intercool top back in 1995 was the short sleeved Slingshot. The fabric was an instant favourite - although sadly the Jade Green is yet to make a comeback. While the Slingshot and its siblings are vastly different today, the Intercool fabric, long front zip for venting, less-than skin tight fit and stand up collar for UV protection still feature on most of our summer tops. The imaginatively named Long Sleeved Slingshot followed a year later in the summer of 1996. Long sleeves negate the need for sun block on your forearms. They also add warmth when tearing downhill, or at the crispy start of a long day. Yet you can still yank them up when you overheat. Jade Green was sidelined in favour of Agent Orange, and the promptly renamed Rock Lobster has anchored our range of summer riding tops ever since.
Frase,
Ground Effect Product Designer.
UnderGround - Dec 03
Hey Ernie
I'm a kiwi living in South Korea. A few months ago I was killing time at work, glancing through some of your old product reviews. I came across one from February 2001. It was a funny story that was even funnier when I recognized the name at the bottom. Roger's tale of the surgically removed Daddy Long Legs was a hoot - in a macabre sort of way. We'd been working on a wee jump and that afternoon planned to launch it for the first time. As I was getting changed after work I had a premonition of some nurse hacking off my Slingshot so I put on a shitty old riding top instead. I stacked the jump big time, snapped my left collarbone and had to walk to A & E. The nurse didn't cut my top but insisted on yanking it off over my head. All performed without drugs. I was wishing that I had stuck with my Slingshot - the long zip would have made the procedure much less painful and I would have looked more presentable in the waiting room. Anyhow, I've been off my bike now for two months and the bone has still not knitted so I'm as bored as hell... which is why I'm stuck at the typewriter recounting this unhappy tale.
Malcolm Richards
Laurence does bedrock on Christchurch's Port Hills.
Photo: Caleb Smith
A bi-component fabric coupling an inner layer of polyester with a honeycomb knit outer layer of cotton. The polyester wicks sweat away from your body and the cotton draws it through to the outside, ensuring super-efficient evaporation to keep you cooler and drier. Magic.
> Composition: 51% Polyester; 49% Cotton
Sizing
This chart is a guide only – if you fall in-between sizes, the right size for you will depend on your body shape and how loose or tight you like to wear your clothes. It's no hassle to swap it, if your first choice is not the best fit.
| Unisex | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XS |
S |
M |
L |
XL |
|
|
Height |
154 -
164 cm |
163 -
172 cm |
169 - 178 cm |
175 - 185 cm |
183 - 191 cm |
|
Chest |
84 - 90 cm |
91 -
97 cm |
98 - 104 cm |
105 - 111 cm |
112 - 118 cm |
|
Waist |
66 - 72 cm |
73 - 79 cm |
80 - 86 cm |
87 - 93 cm |
94 - 100 cm |
|
Hips |
78 - 86 cm |
87 - 95 cm |
96 - 103 cm |
104 - 111 cm |
112 - 120 cm |
Unisex vs Women's Sizes
Most Ground Effect designs are unisex. The jackets, tights
and baggy tops generally fit both men and women equally well.
Fitted garments like cycle shorts and some tops are more gender
specific so there is generally a women's version in the Outskirts
range.
Choice of mad dogs and others hooked on racing around in the midday sun. The Slingshot is cool like a Tee shirt but won't leave you drenched after the first hill climb. Intercool fabric has an inner layer of polyester that wicks sweat away from your body and a cotton outer drawing it to the exterior - so you stay drier and won't lose your cool.
> Stand up collar for UV protection.
> UPF 50+
> Long front zip for maximum venting.
> Raglan sleeves and multi-panel 'performance' fit.
> No-elastic hem for warm weather comfort.
> Rear security pocket with twin elasticised angle-pockets for on-the-go access.
> Sewn in emergency tube repair patch, because you can never be too well prepared.
> Made by us in New Zealand.
> Both are made from Intercool fabric which makes them great summer riding tops.
> The Slingshot has the security pocket plus two elasticised pockets for on-the-go access. It has a slimmer multi-panel 'performance' orientated fit.
> The Manta Ray is a looser more T-shirt styled fit. It has a single zip security pocket in the back.
Washing Instructions?
> InterCool tops enjoy a warm machine wash. Try to avoid cold-water detergents and those with bleach. The cold-water varieties have little enzymes that are super-charged to brave the cold but can damage technical fabrics and cause skin irritation. And bleach rots natural fibres like cotton, strips the dye and may also cause irritation. As a rule of thumb, product that is easy on the planet is also easy on your body. Plant based soaps like 'Ecover' or specific sport wash formula are recommended.
> Hand washing is sometimes the only option on tour, but a washing machine rinses more thoroughly and is preferable if you have the choice.
> This Intercool top will be almost dry out after the spin cycle of your washing machine so using a dryer is unnecessary - if you must then choose a warm (not hot) cycle.