Gear Crush: Velocio Lela Rose Zinnia Cycling Kit
Usually, when you want to wear couture designed by Lela Rose, you shop the dress department at Nordstrom. There, her sweeping frocks and wedding gowns command thousands of dollars—making her collaboration with Velocio seem like a relative bargain.
The new Zinnia Kit ($349) merges Lela Rose’s fashion sensibility with Velocio’s performance savvy. “As a fashion designer, I am always focused on style and presentation and I find that athletic wear is often overlooked as a category needing style,” Rose says.
So, for her first cycling kit, she selected a dark, moody floral pattern that looks more Givenchy than Bontrager. It’s feminine but sophisticated, and perfectly on trend among New York City cocktail circuits. Yet it graces a cycling kit that’s built as much for performance as for good looks.
Velocio was launched in 2014 by former pro cyclist and founder of the Specialized-lululemon cycling team, Kristy Scrymgeour. She sifts through Italy’s finest cycling fabrics to choose the ones that feel as good as they perform.
And the Zinnia feels like a caress. The polyester, full-zip jersey is ultra-thin and silky, with mesh panels on the sides and underarms that dump heat on hard climbs.
The Velocio Zinnia is feminine, sophisticated, ultra thin and soft.
The bib features high-gauge Lycra that hugs but doesn’t bind, and the chamois provides both cushion and ventilation. In fact, long rides in 90°F temperatures is where this kit shows its stuff: The fabrics wick sweat so effectively that they feel like a valuable asset rather than a necessary burden.
Road cycling has always emphasized good looks. “Jersey should match shorts, should match socks, should match gloves,” former pro cyclist and coach Andy Guptill once told me.
“Looking like a pro is half the battle towards riding like one,” he maintains. The Zinnia Kit elevates both style and function for women cyclists, and proves that well-designed cycling apparel can do more than make you look good. It makes you feel spectacular.
Fashion meets function.
About Kelly Bastone
Once upon a time, contributor Kelly Bastone lived in the Big City of Denver, Colorado, where she visited the mountains as much as she could. Then she wised up and flipped the arrangement: Ten years ago, she moved to Steamboat Springs, where she skis (resort, skate, and backcountry), hikes, mountain bikes, fly-fishes--and occasionally ventures forth from her beautiful mountain valley to visit cities worldwide. A freelance writer,— More about this author →
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