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ION Mountain Bike Clothing – Feeling Fresh after 5 Days of Rain, Falling, and Getting Back Up

We’ve had the ION mountain bike clothing in our collection at Mantel for about a year now. High time to put it to the test in the real world. An assignment perfectly suited to our resident downhill mountain biker Boycke.

I took the ION Mountain Bike Clothing to the IXS downhill cup in Winterberg. Besides going for an awesome week of downhill mountain biking, I also wanted to find out how the clothes performed on a sunny day, a cloudy day, and a truly rainy day.

Boycke found the Ion Trace mountain bike short really comfortable.

Spending the week at Winterberg means a few things for your clothes: eating dust, getting soaked from both the heavens and your sweat, and last but not least: eating dirt.

ION Mountainbike clothing, also for Kite surfers and Downhillers

The ION name is one which has become a must-have for any mountain biker. ION started back in 2004 as a wetsuit manufacturer for aquatic sports, ranging from kiteboarding to SUP’ing. In 2012, ION started making mountain bike clothing as well.

ION makes mountain bike clothing which allows you to push yourself, enjoy nature, and take on her challenges in your stride. Besides being well thought out and innovative, ION clothing also looks sleek and unique.

For our week at Winterberg, we have at our disposal the ION Traze Plus Baggy Short, the Ion Traze Amp Baggy, and ION Traze AMP shorts.

ION Jersey – Perfect for changeable conditions

The jersey fits my body perfectly. Normally you need to tug on the fabric a few times to get that perfect fit. The inside of the shirt has a really slippery layer which causes it to simply flow onto your body, even if you’re wearing gloves. The smooth inner fabric also means the jersey always moves with your body as you go.

Thundering down a hill never gets dull.

The ION Traze AMP is comfortable, feels supple, moves with you, and conforms to the shape of your body because of the two-way stretch fabric. Two-way stretch means nothing more than that the fabric is able to stretch both up and down and side to side. This means the jersey fits perfectly, no matter what moves you manage to make.

The shirt felt just as comfortable during the two cloudy days as it did on the sunny ones. On colder moments, the jersey managed to keep me warm. We’ve had some small crashes on these days. Being overzealous too often can frequently be less than ideal for your helmet and clothing, but the jersey coped with the abuse well.

Time for rain

Alas, Winterberg too can fall prey to rain. I managed to stay fairly dry during the first 30 minutes of a 3 hour shower. After that, the first few drops managed to find their way through the double layer of fabric. The water didn’t feel cold though, instead it was almost at body temperature so it didn’t really bother me.

The jersey was quick to dry out after some rain.

By that time we looked like we’d just crawled out of the ocean, but my jersey felt completely dry on the inside within 15 minutes after the sun came back out.

Convenient, a cloth to clean your glasses with.

It’s ideal really. Rather than being soaked forever, I soon felt right as rain again. My friends cast the occasional look in envy of my dry clothes.

The only downside I managed to discover was that I had a tough time fitting elbow protectors underneath the jersey. It’s not impossible, but it does require a little patience.

ION Baggy Shorts – Technical shorts

Together with the shirt, I also tested the ION Traze Plus Baggy Short and the ION Traze AMP Baggy Short. The first thing I noticed about these shorts is that the fabric is (like the jersey) stretchy and features a smooth inside as well.

I’ve put my knee protectors on already, so let’s see whether it’s going to fit… Nevermind, I wanted to tell you how hard it was to pull the shorts over the protectors, but it’s done already! In order to see how well the shorts moved with me, I did a yoga warming up.

Even in the strangest positions the shorts move well with me, making it feel almost as if I’m not wearing any pants at all. Key words here: supple, light, and moves with you well. Time to see how the shorts hold up on the bike.

Boycke’s complete outfit.

At the start of the week I went on a long enduro ride to test out the padding. Something I did notice was that the shorts has slightly flimsy padding compared to lycra shorts. Once I had them on though, they felt really comfortable.

During my enduro ride the padding offered enough comfort to my rear while riding up the hills. If you want to spend hours on end seated on your saddle, the padding isn’t perfect. If you’re on an enduro or trail ride and only sit down occasionally, the padding is more than sufficient.

Jumps!

The conditions in Winterberg during the first few days were ideal with temperatures between 20 and 24 degrees. I tested the ION shorts on my first downhill run.

I tried to catch the shorts behind the saddle. My Troy Lee-design shorts occasionally snag on the rear of my saddle. This means you’re “stuck” behind the saddle while you want to move your weight back forward for the next jump or turn.

I could get the ION shorts to misbehave. The fabric simply slid over the top of the saddle and I was always able to get into the position I wanted to for my next jump, drop, or turn.

ION – The Crash-test!

In order to test the strength of the fabric we had to do something which inevitably happens when you push yourself. We had to crash. Naturally I was in full control by turning into a tight turn too sharply on purpose (yeah… right).

After having given that tree a proper hug, I somersaulted and slid down the hill, through the gravel. Test completed! People lining the course started screaming for an ambulance, fearing I might not be getting up.

Crash without serious damage, so the beer after tasted even better…

Fortunately the damage was minimal, it just looked spectacular. The biggest surprise was the fact that once again, my jersey was fine. The damaged had been confined to my ego.

All in all, I had 5 fantastic days of cycling and testing new kit. You’d expect clothing to start smelling pretty bad after five days of riding, but the smell was pretty neutral. Quite nice to know if you’re out on a bike trip.

I’ve always been loyal to a number of brands as a rider, but I’ve been forced to adjust my opinion on that. ION clothing has just beaten everything else I’ve got in my cycling wardrobe!

Het bericht Ion Mountain Bike Clothing – Feeling Fresh after 5 Days of Rain, Falling, and Getting Back Up verscheen eerst op Mantel.



This post first appeared on Mantel.com Bikes. Parts. Ride., please read the originial post: here

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ION Mountain Bike Clothing – Feeling Fresh after 5 Days of Rain, Falling, and Getting Back Up

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