Vollebak carbon pants and a carbon bike.
In the dark comic novel of Flann O’Brien Third policeman (1967), one character thinks that “people who spent most of their natural lives riding … bicycles on the rocky streets of this parish confuse their personality with the personality of their bicycles as a result of the exchange of atoms of Each of them and you would be surprised by the number of people in these areas that are nearly half of people and half bicycles. ”
Experience similar emotions by wearing the latest stresses from experimentalists in London’s Vollebak dresses. This is if you have a bike with a composite carbon frame because vollebak with the excellent name of carbon fibers + dynema pants are component of carbon. Ok, just a little, but it’s still a neat trick: riding a carbon bike with carbon pants. (Pants are very use, but work great like bike pants.)
Vertically woven through polyamide fabric and elastan are black carbon fiber yarn. Horizontally, there are white threads of dyneema, a polyethylene with ultra high molecular weight (UHMWPE) 15 times stronger than steel. And that is why these stripes are controlled. Dyneema content is 5%, with carbon fiber only 1%. Weighing 350 grams, the pants can be stretched in any direction at the same time, withstanding harsh treatment.
Vollebak produces high -tech machinery from advanced fabrics that also pour water, sweat and even block fire. The firm claims to sell clothing that “feels like they are buying from the future”.
Clothing
Vollebak is an adventurous technological brand that is extremely expensive (carbon/dyneema fiber pants cost $ 617 and the company 100-year hood costs $ 570) but, being super difficult, these dresses have to pass it That wears them, so, in theory, this is a bargain. compared to fast fashion. Other products from the company are even more expensive. The apocalypse jacket costs $ 1510. But then, it is “annihilation test”, Vollebak boasts. It is 40% polybenbenididazole, a material that can resist temperatures “at least 2,370 f (1,298 C), the same temperature as black lava.
“We do not know about any other commercial piece of clothing where the main material can survive rehabilitation in the Earth’s atmosphere,” says Vollebak. The jacket is not only “crazy fireproof”, but it also has ten times the force of tearing a firefighter uniform.
Carbon pants part of Vollebak are super elastic.
Some of the other Vollebak products, such as $ 625 -dollar sun -loaded jacket, are deliberately deceptive. This jacket is so progressive (Brad Pitt owns one) that it is a past winner of the Wired Sports Gear of the Year and the best inventions of TIME magazine.
There is also the thermal camouflage jacket coated with gorgeous graph material, billed as a step towards an invisible Harry-Potter style cloak. Vaporware, of course, but it is also a provocation that pushes the envelope that one day can work.
“We are working on clothing and innovation designed to help us survive in the next century – whether exploring the farthest corners of the earth or the colonization of Mars,” said Vollebak co -founder Steve Tidball. He founded the company in 2015 with his identical twin brother, Nick.
They are athletes adventure, competitors in long-distance sustainability races, such as 78 miles marathon in the Namibian desert and the ultra-week races of Amazon. They are also creators, working in advertising for 15 years, including four years as creative directors at the renowned TBWA agency in London, an international advertising agency “with essentially” disruption.
Nick and Steve Tidball, the co -founders of Vollebak.
As advertising leaders seeking emotions, very paid, 46-year-olds noticed a market gap for the type of progressive but broken clothing they wanted for their adrenaline-filled adventures.
“As we survived the heat of heat, broken bones, bullets, angry snakes, tarantulas, hallucinations and falling asleep while raising our company would not be so difficult,” Steve Tidbal said.
The bright idea of the sun -loaded jacket came as the pair were leading the ultra trail du Mont Blanc in low visibility. The jacket has a membrane with a phosphorescent composition that allows it to absorb and preserve the light, then release it at night, like a sparkle – no electrical connections or electronic equipment.
The controlled pattern in Vollebak carbon pants are made of black and white carbon dyneema.
The two billion spheres of microscopic glass disruptedly structured in the black squid they give it the adapter camouflage ability: it changes colors in different environments, just like the sea mollusk for which it is named.
The T -shirt of Plant and Algae was made by pulsed eucalyptus and beech from sustainable managed forests and algae raised in bioreactors – it is compostable and has come out of brothers competing in a six -day ultrama of Amazon and seeing competitors others by burning their pollution. Clothing after the race. This blouse can simply be buried afterwards – it is completely biodegradable within three months.
Vollebak’s $ 3100 defense costume blocks electromagnetic radiation, infrared cameras shields, belt satellites where radar systems and come with pockets that function as Faraday cages.
Vollebak’s new protective suit.
“On the one hand, you can put the phone in your pocket to get out of the network for a while, and on the other, have a safe place to set up the car keys to prevent cloning,” says Vollebak. The suit can be costly and look exotic, but it was sold before Christmas after a soft launch.
Hardcore
Innovative. Controversial. out there. “Vollebak” is a Flemish term invented by strong cyclists which means “slam yourself – go as hard as you can,” says Steve Tidbal. He was chosen for his all -round impermeability and not for any connection with Belgium.
Drink a carbon bike? Travel with Vollebak’s carbon pants!
The Tidball brothers freely admit that they use their early adoptive customers as a lab mice. These strong users enjoy being researchers and development willing to spend a lot on prototype clothing that may need many versions before they become completely practical. In this way, Vollebak is more like a technological start-up than a traditional clothing company.
“We see our equipment tested in the extreme scenarios for which they are designed and some of the most distant parts of the world,” Steve said.
Where can you buy vollebak complete? Only from the company’s website. Steve Tidball said there are no plans for any Vollebak road store because this would include considerable expenses, which would consume the company’s budget for R&D.