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Since their inception in 2014, in the historic textiles borders village of Innerleithen, FINDRA have quietly been building a strong reputation for fashionable, functional, quality outdoor clothing. Alex Feechan, the FINDRA founder, originally set out to create a range of women’s clothing for mountain biking, launching a range of merino wool-based items that were not just practical for adventures in the great outdoors but also fashionable and understated enough for a civilised trip to the pub after a long day on the hillsides. We visited their Design Hub last year before the launch of their ‘Designed by Demand’ men’s range. FINDRA continue their history of textiles innovation with the new Stroma Technical jacket made from recycled coffee grounds.
Stroma Technical Jacket
Patterning on the shoulders provides extra durability for carrying a backpack
The jacket’s high-performance fabric, boasting a waterproofing value of 10,000mm, is made from an eco-friendly ‘coffee yarn’ composed of coffee grounds and plastic bottles. Not only is it good for the environment, it is also deodorizing, fast drying and naturally UV resistant.
Alex explains, “The unique fabric of this jacket is in keeping with FINDRA’s sustainable, innovative ethos. Our customers have been asking us for a jacket since we started out, they wanted the next layer to add to FINDRA’s popular base layers and merino wool tops, and we wanted to give them something extra special”.
The jacket was designed and tested in collaboration with the Adventure Syndicate’s Lee Craigie, a woman who has devoted her life to cycling and helping others explore the outdoors on two wheels, and who, by a country mile has the best voice in the industry. I’m not the first to say it and I certainly shan’t be the last!
The hood features a structured peak and drawcord adjuster
Alex said, “This jacket has been two years in the making and has been tested by elite mountain biker Lee Craigie, so it’s been put through its paces. Lee wore the first version and we made improvements based on what she had to say.”
The Stroma technical jacket is lightweight with a relaxed fit and a breathable outer layer. It features a dropped rear hem and draw cord adjusters to protect you from the elements, while the sleeves have internal cuffs with thumb holes and taped seams. Concealed pockets and lightweight, waterproof zips all add up to a stylish yet performance-driven
water-repellent jacket.
The Stroma Technical Jacket is available in two colourways – Teal and Nine Irons, which is a beautiful charcoal grey, and costs £159. It is available from today direct from FINDRA.
Jessie-May Morgan is the UK & Ireland Tech Editor of Bikerumor. She has been writing about Mountain Bike Riding and Racing, and all its weird and wonderful technology for 4 years. Prior to that, she was an Intern at the Mountain Bike Center of Scotland, and a Mountain Bike Coach and Leader in the Tweed Valley.
Based in Innerleithen, Scotland, Jessie-May can often be seen riding the Glentress Trail Center, and its neighboring Enduro and Downhill Tracks. She regularly competes in Enduro at a national level, and has recently competed on the World Stage at a handful of Enduro World Series events.
For Bikerumor, Jessie-May is testing the latest mountain bikes, equipment and kit, letting readers know what’s hot and what’s not.
For context, she weighs 60kg and stands at 5ft 4″ tall (163cm).
The polyethylene terephthalate of water bottles can be recycled into polyester, but at what environmental cost? After 25 years of municipal recycling in the US, I think all municipal recycling in the US is being run at a loss, except for perhaps the recycling of selected metals. Municipalities can’t even give away plastic waste… They have to pay to dispose of it.
Another sad truth is that recycling a water bottle uses more oil than making a new water bottle. Let that sink into your head.
The only real solution would be to tax oil at about 400% in order to *reduce* production of plastics. Perhaps prohibit all offshore drilling to increase the price of oil.
Velo Kitty- What you say is true. Restricting the use of single use plastics is the way forward. There are other packaging solutions to contain liquids, to protect things in shipping, etc. The problem is that they are all more expensive or lower performing than LDPE or styrofoam plastics, but they do exist. We just need a push to implement them. It’s pretty obvious that consumer demand isn’t enough to reduce this plastic use.
The three Rs: Reduce – Recycle – Re-use. We’ve forgotten about two of them because Recycling is so damn easy. You just chuck something in a bin and it disappears. No effort required.
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