Danish brand PAS Normal Studios popped onto our scene recently and just in time to warm up our late winter rides with their thermal bibs and jersey, plus their stretchy waterproof tech jacket and some mighty fine accoutrements to fill in the gaps.
What stands out is the fit, particularly for someone with broader shoulders that’s also tall. Everything came in XL and it fit perfectly thanks to long sleeves, stretchy bib straps and a jacket that just moves with you. The bibs were also interesting in that they’re fleecy lining makes them a thermal, cold-weather piece, but they’re standard shorts length rather than going to knicker town over the knees. So, I had to mix them with knee warmers on colder days, but it made it easy to regulate if things got warmer mid ride.
Tech details and full review below…
For the really cold days, I paired the ensemble with a DeFeet wool short sleeve base layer and Assos knee warmers and gloves. Everything else is from Pas Normal Studios. Pas Normal does make long sleeve base layers and full length leg warmers, if you want to keep everything from the same family.
The other items tested include their Merino wool socks and beanie, and a microfiber neck gaiter.
Starting on the outside, their Autumn/Winter Tech Jacket (€320) is a three-layer stretch material with taped seams throughout, making it wind and water proof. As with most laminate layered materials, the outside can get wet since the waterproofing comes from a membrane rather than a coating. Light mist on one ride did bead slightly and roll off, but when I sprayed it point blank with a hose (photo above), it immediately soaked in. But my skin underneath stayed dry.
The inside material is soft without any loft. The droplets you see on the tape are sweat, showing what accumulated during a moderately paced road ride. Pas Normal says it’s a breathable material, and it certainly vented some sweat, but like many waterproof jackets there will be some condensation buildup inside during aggressive efforts. So, IMO, it’s not a knock against them to show this since virtually every other WP jacket’s going to do the same…some much worse.
Now, here’s what I really like about the jacket: It fits amazing, and the material stretches and moves with me. I tested it on both road and mountain, half expecting it to be a little to fitted for MTB. But it worked great, stretching through acrobatic maneuvering and never once restricting movement. The collar sits just high enough and just tight enough to keep the wind out without ever feeling like it was choking me even when fully zipped. The importance of that last feature can’t be overstated enough…most every jacket I have tags my throat uncomfortably when fully zipped. Not this one.
The jacket’s construction is fairly basic, with only a few bonus features: a fleece lining on the inside collar, zipper garages top and bottom, and a small cell phone pocket on the inside right side (click image to enlarge). The wrist cuffs are elasticized to keep air from blowing up the sleeves. All in all a very good cycling jacket.
The Winter Long Sleeve Light jersey (€215) also fits exceptionally well. Raglan sleeve construction and ample sleeve length keep it comfortable throughout the normal cycling range of motion. It, too, has zipper garages top and bottom.
Three standard pockets on the rear are deep enough to swallow a mini pump. It’s shown here with a pump in the middle, phone on my left and wallet on my right. There’s plenty more room for snacks and stuff. Inside is a fleece lining throughout with the same external material lining the collar. And this collar fits just right when fully zipped, too. Love it. The wrists and waist have unlined, wide elastic bands that help hold it in place.
A full length wind blocking panel inside the zipper prevents chilly air from sneaking in. The zipper pulls on both the jersey and jacket are a bit small for grabbing with winter gloves, but they slide easily once you have hold.
The PNS x SNS wool beanie (€69) is a collaboration with SNS Herning, a knitwear company near them in Denmark. It’s thin enough to fit well under a helmet but plenty warm. It’s available in black and this gray/green stripe that’s just as handsome off the bike as on.
They offer a similarly colored wool neck gaiter (€69), too, but this one’s a simple microfiber tube with unhemmed edges. Simple, effective and cheaper at $22 when it officially goes on sale with their Spring/Summer ’16 collection.
The Winter Bibshorts (€215) have moderate coverage up to the belly button with wide, comfy mesh shoulder straps. The insides are fleece lined with a fully ringed silicone gripper on the leg openings. Like the tops, the fit here is fantastic. With some tighter bibs, once my legs get warmed up and have a little pump, the band gets too tight and I end up moving it around periodically. Not so here. It’s tight enough to keep the legs from sliding up (or letting knee warmers slide down), but not restrictive. For me, that’s a perfect fit.
The chamois is their own design and uses lightweight foam of an appropriate thickness. The thinner sections extend outward a little farther than normal, but it doesn’t feel weird on the bike. The front section has a slightly longer area – not enough to cover everything, but enough to help with a bit of wind blocking. Along those lines, the fleeced material kept me warm, but every now and then I could feel a cold gust penetrate the material. That was mostly while still getting started, once I warmed up I didn’t really notice it…but worth mentioning that they’re not wind proof. Anyway, back to the chamois: It’s good.
If I could give one piece of advice to PNS, it’d be to offer more technical information on the materials used. Their website is pretty, but I’d like to see more details on the fabrics and features to help sell me on it. Having ridden their garments, I’m sold, but for anyone looking in from the outside, they might need more data to justify the high end prices.
As a group, these items (including the non PNS items shown) carried me comfortably through rides in the low 40s (ºF). At those temps, I ended up zipping down the jacket and jersey about 1/4 of the way once warmed up. Without the shirt base layer, I used just the jersey and jacket in the low 50s. Adjust to your preferences, but all of the items are supremely comfortable and have, thus far, held up to multiple uses and washings (jacket only washed once). And they look darn good, too. Multiple colors are available for most items.
