Obbi and Graphene+
Lately at the Olympics there has been noise about Graphene+ but have you ever wondered why?
The primary reason is that when Graphene+ is printed onto clothing it forms a thermal circuit that redistributes heat produced by the human body across the entire piece of apparel - think cold to hot and hot to cold, always striving for even distribution.
When riding there are areas on our bodies that are ideal for evaporative cooling and other areas that are not - areas the have large surface areas and are in the wind are ideal. The thermal circuit moves heat from the hot areas which may be hot and not in the wind to the areas that are coolest allowing our bodies to maintain peak performance for longer durations. Imagine combining Graphene+ with Beta Red but that's a better left for a different post.
Walking through the photo below, the relaxed looking cyclist is wearing Obbi Francesco bib shorts and an Obbi Napoli Jersey. He's considering climbing Mount Vesuvius.
Flipping his Obbi Francesco bib shorts inside out reveals the Graphene+ honeycomb:
And if he were to race a Giro d'Italia stage after climbing Mount Vesuvius his shorts would look like this - note the even distribution of salt stains which are a reality after many hours of exertion in the heat:
Then compare the unevenness of salt stains on bib shorts that do not make use of Graphene+.
Though the photos are not of the same riders, and as ugly as salt stains may be, they are an excellent demonstration of how Graphene+ distributes heat. Better heat distribution allows the human body to perform better and remain comfortable for longer and that is why Graphene+ is has generated such intense interest at elite levels of competition. Marginal gains manifest as a podium finishes and/or a world records (the Olympics).
On winter gear the effect works in the opposite direction - warming the cold areas on our bodies by using heat from the warm areas of our bodies.
Since 2018, Obbi has been printing the Graphene+ 2D thermal planar circuit by Directa Plus on their dark apparel only since the thermal circuit visibly manifests as a 2D honeycomb.
Image the honeycomb visible on the jersey worn by Annemiek van Vleuten of the Dutch Cycling Team appearing on the Obbi Napoli jersey but you're only out for a club ride (not desirable). Note that we're using the jersey being worn Annemiek van Vleuten as an example, it wasn't created by Obbi.
With the high visibility honeycomb, Obbi's decisions to only apply the thermal planar circuit to their Francesco and Sorrento bib shorts on their retail line makes a lot of sense since. The Francesco bib shorts provide us non elite folks enough of a comfort/performance boost, we avoid the honeycomb on a beautiful Obbi Napoli jersey, and if we desire a further comfort/performance boost, we can order custom kits that allow customization of the Graphene+ 2D thermal planar circuit.
Next time we'll dive into Kinetech fabrics and Relyfe fabrics by Tessitura Taiana Virgilio and why Obbi has chosen to use these premium, made in Italy fabrics, in their apparel.
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Obbi owns their production facilities and specializes in producing small batches of products. If you're interested in having Obbi apply their expertise and knowledge in combining Graphene+ with Kinetech fabrics on tops and bottoms please contact us.
