Castselli’s Insider range
When you have been designing and manufacturing clothing for nearly 150 years as Castelli has, you know a thing or two about the process. With the Insider jersey and bibshorts, this knowledge and experience has been used to bring you a range of indoor cycling apparel that is actually “fit for purpose.”
Castelli’s new Insider jersey and bibshorts are designed from the get-go to specifically be worn inside.
Insider jersey
The first thing to note with the jersey is that it is lightweight. It is very similar in design to their Climber’s 3.0 jersey and as a consequence, it is a racing fit, which means that you may need to go up a size for it to fit. In most jerseys, I am a medium, but with Castelli’s racing line, I’m a large.
The jersey is very thin in construction, but not too transparent that it can’t be worn for group training or if you livestream any of your rides. According to Castelli the “3D Mesh fabric allows maximum airflow for cooling while the 100% polyester content means it provides maximum moisture wicking.”
There are several pockets to store useful items such as headphones, if you don’t have a table close to hand but I have never used them. However, this functionality means that if you wanted to wear the jersey outside, on the hottest of summer days, you have storage.
Technical specifications:
- 3D Mesh lightweight 100% polyester wicks moisture and dries quickly
- Semi open mesh allows maximum air flow without becoming too transparent
- Full length zip makes for easy on and off
- 2 rear pockets for stashing whatever you need
- Weight: 98 g
Look and feel
I appreciate styling and the fit of a jersey is very much down to personal taste, but this winter season’s offering of “Fiery red / Saville blue” is pretty eye catching. The Saville blue colour is more black than blue and the Fiery red is more orange, but whatever the names, it’s an interesting and stylish design.
As already noted, the jersey is a racing fit and is designed to be that way so that the fabric wicks moisture away. The zipper is robust and easy to use so that you can remove the jersey without too much trouble. The neck has a low cut so not to feel constricted around your neck, during a rigorous session.
The feel of the jersey is different to anything I have tried, other than the Climber’s 3.0 jersey. This is because this item is designed specifically for indoor training and after using it, I am seriously thinking if now is the time to start buying specific indoor cycling clothes. For more information, click here.
Insider 2 bibshorts
To compliment the Insider jersey, Castelli also released the Insider bibshorts.
These are comfortable and have good wicking capability as well as good padding, with the skin care layer Progetto X2 Air Seamless pad being used.
The bibshorts have light weight Giro Air elastic at the leg endings and like the Insider jersey, has been crafted to be “fit for purpose.”
Technical specifications:
- 195 g/m2 main body Lycra®
- Mesh side panels allow extra ventilation
- Raw-cut leg endings engineered to keep leg from riding up
- Minimalist bib straps with monofilament open knit for breathability
- Progetto X2 Air Skin care layer without the Cushioning Layer
Look and feel
Like the jersey, they feel a little smaller than normal and in this case I am talking about the elastic straps that you pull over your shoulders. They felt slightly short compared to Castelli’s other offerings, so I measured them and compared them directly against another pair of Castelli bibshorts and there was 1cm difference – they were shorter!
As noted with the difference in padding used, it is clear that these shorts have been tailored for a specific purpose.
I do like the bibshorts, they wick the sweat, these are still a significant step-up from some of the clothing I have used to cycle on Zwift and is a high-end product. For more information, click here.
Overall thoughts on the Insider range
It is clear that the line of clothing is being refined to be optimised for indoor cycling with each iteration. Having spoken to other riders who have used earlier models, they reported that the stitching has come loose. But after thoroughly testing, I am not seeing this and earlier complaints about the fragility of the garments are not evident to me, which leads me to conclude that those earlier issues have been addressed. What I can surmise is that there are fine details which are being tweaked on each iteration, thus enhancing this product line and I would expect nothing less from Castelli.
