Road cycling is considered by many to be a secondary sport, or sometimes a boring one. Thanks to my family – my brother in particular – I discovered from an early age that it isn’t.
For over 15 years I’ve experienced cycling as an observer. I know what Strade Bianche is, that the Giro comes first, then the Tour and finally the Vuelta, I know every detail about the rivalry between Coppi and Bartali, and when I hear the name Pogačar I don’t hesitate for a second on the pronunciation. I have memories of long walks to catch Giro stages in the Dolomites, the endless switchbacks of the Izoard, the joy of finally seeing the peloton arrive – and, with all due respect to the athletes, running alongside them for a couple of metres.
And yet, in all these years I had never climbed onto a road bike, never put on a kit, never ground kilometres of road beneath a pair of wheels.
When a few pieces from the brand-new The One Off line by Gobik arrived on my doorstep, I took it as something of a sign.
After consulting my brother (the real expert in the family), we decided to use a scientific method to put the kit to the test properly.

So I decided to try a generic kit first, bought from a general sportswear website without reading the technical specs too carefully. Not the worst thing out there, an honest kit that my brother would have worn without complaint. Then I would try the Gobik kit. Both on the same day, on the same route.

Saturday morning, 7:00 AM, Liguria, Aurelia, Finale Ligure–Loano (following in the footsteps of Milan–San Remo).
I won’t bother recounting how the first kit performed – that’s not the point. I only noticed that around the legs, the hem of the shorts kept rolling up slightly on itself. Not the best sensation, especially on your first time out on the road.

After about half an hour I went home to change and finally try the Gobik kit – made up of the Krypton Jersey, the Xenon Bibs and the Randon Socks. Only once I had it on did I fully understand the technology behind the woven fabric I had read about in the press release (and that my brother had explained to me in detail the day before).

The right word to describe the feeling is absence.
Absence of friction, absence of shifting, absence of sensation on the skin.

The fabric followed my every movement, and at some point, out on the Aurelia with the sea to my left and the sun at my back, I stopped thinking about what I was wearing. Which, it turns out, is the whole point.
As a non-expert, I have to single out the socks in particular – they genuinely feel like the harder you pedal, the more they cool your ankles. A very strange sensation to experience and a difficult one to put into words.

I don’t know whether I’ll get back on a road bike, but if I ever do, I’ll definitely be doing it in The One Off kit by Gobik – and always with my brother alongside me, eyeing my outfit with barely concealed envy.

The One Off is available on the Gobik website.