Home > Clothing-Gear-Tools

Pas Normal x Salomon Creates Unique Hydration Vest and Boots

Pas Normal Studios, PNS x Salomon multi-sport cycling gear collaboration, riding
13 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Pas Normal Studios has kicked off the start of a long-term collaboration project with Salomon, debuting with a curious high-tech combination of all-weather boots and a lightweight hydration vest. The PNS x Salomon XA-ALPINE 2 are trail running-inspired winter boots, repurposed as a pair of premium flat pedal city riding shoes. And the PNS x Salomon Active Skin 8 is a lightweight running hydration vest, repurposed for adventure cyclists…

Pas Normal x Salomon adapts trail running gear for cyclists

Pas Normal Studios, PNS x Salomon multi-sport cycling gear collaboration
c. Pas Normal Studios

Danish cycling clothing brand Pas Normal Studios has partnered with French ski & active outdoor brand Salomon for a line-up of gear blurring the lines between disciplines. Describing the collaboration as “fusing aesthetics and performance” it appears the first two ‘cycling’ products are mostly relabeled trail running gear. While that seems like a limited start, it does suggest that with a few tweaks, Pas Normal may be able to adapt some of Salomon’s huge product catalog to better serve cyclists.

PNS x Salomon XA-Alpine 2 boots

Pas Normal Studios, PNS x Salomon XA-Alpine 2 boots

Described as a blend of “cycling-specific” & “urban-dwelling wearability”, the 270€ pair of boots look to be a direct copy of Salomon‘s own XA-Alpine 2 Advanced hi-top sport shoes. Only the Pas Normal version gets a brown upper & natural-colored gum rubber sole (357g claimed per shoe).

Pas Normal Studios, PNS x Salomon XA-Alpine 2 boots, details

Combining a lightweight (bright yellow) sneaker with quick speed-lacing inside and a water-repellent outer shoe cover, they should be an easy-on shoe for around town or a bit of trail hiking.

Pas Normal Studios, PNS x Salomon XA-Alpine 2 boots, pair

Of course, their carbon-reinforced outsole does not include cleat attachment and their lugged tread isn’t specifically shaped for grip on platform pedal pins, so it’s likely these would be reserved for low-impact flat pedal city riding. To be honest though, a pair with platform pin-optimized tread or an SPD cleat attachment, and these would probably make a pretty solid foul-weather cycling shoe.

PNS x Salomon Active Skin 8 hydration vest

Pas Normal Studios, PNS x Salomon Active Skin 8 hydration vest front

Looking at the hydration vest, there does appear to be at least one minor tweak for cyclists. The 180€ PNS x Salomon Active Skin 8 hydration vest includes one 490ml soft flask in its chest pocket with a water filter and an extended straw to make it possible to drink hands-free while pedaling. It then also includes another standard 0.5l soft flask in the other chest pocket with a regular high-flow bite valve.

Pas Normal Studios, PNS x Salomon Active Skin 8 hydration vest back

The Active Skin 8 bag is a lightweight (claimed 210g) mesh hydration vest available in 5 sizes (XS-XL) with 8 liters of storage space in the main back pocket, plus several adaptable pockets on the mesh chest/shoulder straps. There’s also an internal hydration bladder pocket & hose routing for 1.5l of more water. A quick-release criss-cross of bungees acts as adaptable sternum straps, and mesh side panels work together to keep the bag stable. Pas Normal’s own product spec lists it as best suited for both Running and Casual Riding, so it should be a solid piece of cross-training kit.

Availability & What’s next?

Curiously, it looks like the PNS x Salomon gear might be a bit cheaper (depending on your market) if you buy it straight from Salomon. They also seem to have more sizes in stock. Plus, Salomon also offers their original analogs – not in coffee brown colors, though – sometimes for quite a bit less. In any case, it’s interesting to see Pas Normal venturing out a bit from their standard clothing-only line-up, and curious to see where this PNS x Salomon collaboration will lead next.

PasNormalStudios.com x Salomon.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

13 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Arin
Arin
1 year ago

I read the title as they created hydration boots and was really confused/excited.

Roger Pedacter
Roger Pedacter
1 year ago
Reply to  Arin

Came to make the same comment, lol

Astro_Kraken
Astro_Kraken
1 year ago
Reply to  Arin

In my experience they’re 2 liters and filled with beer

Klaster_1
Klaster_1
1 year ago

Disappointed to see no hydration boots.

Champs
Champs
1 year ago

True story: I love and almost exclusively wear Salomon shoes. That said, I had doubts about the magic of their fit translating into hydration. Would love these as cycling shoes, though.

Milessio
Milessio
1 year ago

Interesting, as I tend to use cycle clothing (tops) for trail running – running clothing doesn’t tend to use softshell + insulated fabrics for LS tops with useful pockets. Cycle tops don’t tend to even have articulated sleeves & often the fronts are too long, so no problem to run in them.Cycle gilets with mesh backs & pockets can be great to run in.

Roger Pedacter
Roger Pedacter
1 year ago

To paraphrase my creepy uncle, any boot is a hydration boot if you’re brave enough.

But yeah, the article title is somewhat poorly worded.

satanas
satanas
1 year ago

Dear Salomon/PAS: Please make cycling specific footwear!!! The Salomon hiking shoes have one major problem – the heel wedges hit one’s crankarms constantly; this shouldn’t be hard to fix by reducing these in size on the inside. If there were SPD versions too that’d also be great. (And Salomon XC ski boots with Xplore soles would be awesome too!)

Yomama
Yomama
1 year ago

What kind of bike is that?

Marsel
Marsel
1 year ago

How does PNS label makes these regular Salomon stuff unique?

Ben
Ben
1 year ago

There’s a reason you don’t see cyclists using soft flasks on the front of their hydration packs for longer rides or races. And it’s called gravity.

Willie Venter
Willie Venter
1 year ago

It’s about time the major players woke up to the fact that trail runners and mountain bikers share the same playgrounds. I’ve been using trail running hydration packs on long distance MTB rides for years. The MTB packs have too little storage space and sit too low, whereas trail vests fit better, and have more versatile storage for carrying extra food, water and wet/cold weather gear.

Mark
Mark
1 year ago
Reply to  Willie Venter

They both stink like hell once filed with sweat. Gimme a nice frame bag for the bike.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.