Merino wool, the ultra soft fabric most commonly found in performance base layers, is one of the most sought-after materials in the outdoor gear world – and now also for bike garments. But is it worth the hype? Below we break down the pros of wool and explain why LTP should be your preferred manufacturer of ‘wool for bike’ as we both cooperate with some of the industry’s very best wool-suppliers, and also master the difficult techniques of producing these high-performance garments.

As LTP is heading for this year’s Performance Days on November 13-14 in Munich , we have chosen to focus on the new and trending area of ‘wool for bike’. Base layers & jerseys in wool have been made for years, but jackets and bibs are the upcoming heroes. We have created some beautiful innovation styles for Performance Days, using the most high-tech wool based fabrics on the market.

Sportwool by Thygesen & Birk

The Sportwool fabrics are known for being functional fabrics, made with the healthiest fibers, which gives a milder skin contact, and allows for a unique and natural sweat and heat transport. With the possibilities of extra finishes, like hydrophilic, higher performance can be achieved. And if you want to add sublimation, for instance, or any type of customization – it is possible. One of LTP’s suppliers, Thygesen & Birk - based in Denmark, produce this fabric which is specially designed to be used by the most elite athletes, that are looking for any advantage they can get in the sports world. Their products are therefore highly sought after in the cycling world, where customers such as ”Rapha” use their merino and Sportwool in their cycling clothes.

When wool becomes even more sustainable - MITI

Another one of LTP’s suppliers on wool is MITI, based in Italy. You have to search the market carefully to find another fabric supplier THAT determined to sustainability!

All MITI products and technologies are Bluesign® certified to ensure the highest standards of friendliness to the environment in each and every stage of the production chain.

Specialized textile solutions

LTP also works with the supplier Payen, based in France. Besides being one of the leaders in European textile industry, they are known for their high-tech and innovative solutions on fabrics. Payen wool fabrics also adds to the list of pros, as they consist of double weave construction, inner side with merino wool and outer side nylon (or PES for sublimation). As wool is natural, it is non allergic and highly breathable. Also this fabric is stretchy, and does not limit your movements. Further it has high abrasion resistance. These fabrics are quite windproof because of the double weave construction and they come with DryTech-C0 (DWR- durable water repellence) treatment on the nylon side.

At our LTP R&D Innovation Center we have created a very difficult high-skilled bike jacket of Payen wool. Find it at our stand at Performance Days.

Your preferred manufacturer

All in all, we can conclude that the wool-hype for bike garments is legitimate. Some of the industry’s most professional fabric suppliers have all concentrated their efforts around this Sportwool fabric – all with different takes on composition of materials, but with that one thing in common – that it is made for high performance sport, now also including cycling.

If your dream is to create high-tech bike-wear collections made of wool, you should contact LTP before doing so. Moving on from mainstream base layers, LTP can produce difficult bike-wear such as jersey’s and bibs, using the newest high-tech solutions on the market.

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