Ok, we’re pretty sure Descente’s intent was never to create a protective chamois, but in the pursuit of comfort that’s basically what happened. In one of the more innovative approaches to chamois design we’ve seen in a while, Descente looked to Poron XRD – the same material used in body armor like G-Form’s reactionary knee pads. When Descente investigated using Poron XRD for chamois they found that it was great at absorbing low speed vibrations for long term comfort, but under hard impacts (think potholes, mounting your CX bike, etc) the added protection of the instantly stiffening material was a welcomed bonus.
Just how do you go about adding impact absorbing foam to a chamois? Descente has the details next.
Poron XRD is an incredible material, but an entire chamois made out of the stuff would be heavy, and honestly probably horrible. To make it work, Descente uses a thin foam cover and then sandwiches the black foam pictured to the left and the Poron XRD as seen by the yellow sections. The result is a chamois that Descente says is probably the most comfortable they’ve tried.
In 2014, the Poron XRD chamois will only be found in their top of the line Full Gas bib short. In addition to the technologically advanced chamois, the shorts have a race cut combined with their Compress Tech fabric for a high end short worthy of the term “Full Gas.”
Instead of silicone grippers of any kind, the Full Gas Bibs use a 2.5″ compression band around the thigh. Both men and women get a Full Gas design, each built with the same technology with the men’s short going for $200 and the women’s at $180.
