GIRO eyewear and gloves

DO: I’m talking with Eric at the Giro booth and there are a couple of new product lines from Giro that I would like you to inform our readers about.

Eric:  We have three new pieces in the Giro sunglasses line. The first is called the Giro Filter which is a semi rimless design which means it has a frame at the top but a free lens at the bottom. The most exciting thing is our technology that makes it easier to change lenses. It’s called Pop Top. We have a little lever integrated into the frame. You swing the lever up and the lens is released, and you then grab it at the edge and make the change. This keeps you from putting your finger in the middle of the lens, so you don’t have to clean it or wipe the grit off when you’re done. 

DO:  Nothing is getting dirty, nothing is getting scratched.

Eric:  We hope!

DO:  I’m watching you do it as we speak and it’s not complicated. It’s very simple.

Eric:  That’s the way we like things to be. It really eliminates the stress of changing a lens. You don’t have to wrestle with it or worry whether it’s properly in the frame. We feel that’s a nice advantage over some of the more traditional ways of changing lenses. This also features a Carl Zeiss certified lens. It’s made in Italy by Carl Zeiss, a German company that’s renowned for making the world’s best binoculars, scopes, and lenses for prescription eyeglasses. The feedback on the lens has been really, really, great.

DO:  I can say it’s also stylish.

Eric:  The next piece is a new version of the Havik sunglass. We’ve developed a new lens cut so there are now two options for the Havik. The new version is called Havik Full. We’ve made the lens a little taller and extended the peripheral coverage. It’s good if your cheekbones are not so pronounced or if you have a slightly larger face. It features the Zeiss lens.

Eric:  One thing common to all of our sunglasses is that the temples are designed to fit with the helmet to minimize the interference with the fit system of the helmet. Other features are a ventilated temple that circulates air behind the lens, rubber noise and temple tips for a snug secure fit even when sweating.

DO:  I also see a hole in the nose piece. What is that about?

Eric:  It’s a little ventilation and helps with perspiration and keeps the piece from getting too coated with sweat. It’s a nice little detail and we try to pay attention to details.

Eric:  The last eye piece to tell you about is the Semi. There is now a new Semi Full. Like the Havic it has a slightly taller lens and a real nice shape to it. We now have two options if you prefer the semi rim style of a glass. All are very lightweight and have all the other features I talked about. It’s a good line and we’re really proud of it.

DO:  The next thing I see new for Giro is a glove line.

Eric:  Just here at the Interbike show we are launching a new product line of cycling gloves. We have ten models in total. Five are road, two are women’s, and three are mountain bike.

Eric:  At the high end we have the Lusso which is based on a vintage all leather cycling glove. We’ve updated it with Technogel padding. It is exclusive to Giro. It’s more durable and up to 300% better at distributing pressure than materials in other gloves. It really out performs traditional gel and foam padded gloves. It doesn’t break down over time so we can be very strategic about how much of it we use both in terms of the thickness of the pad and where it is placed.

DO:  Obviously our readers can’t see this but as I look at it, you don’t see the thickness a rider might be accustomed to. So as a word of caution, don’t judge the thickness of the pad as to whether or not it will work for you.

Eric:  Like with saddles, a glove is all about a shape that fits you and provides padding where you need it. Even though these pads are only 2-3 mm thick, Technogel is so good you don’t need anymore than that.

Eric:  The fit we’ve developed is a three piece palm which is unique in the industry. We tailor the fit of the glove in the same way a nice jacket is tailored. We attach the pieces to the heart of the glove in a way to fit your hand’s natural articulation. It reduces and in some cases eliminates bunching. You have really great handle bar feel with just the right amount of padding.

Eric:  Next up is the glove we call Monaco. It is available in short and long finger versions. Like the Lusso it has the pittards leather palm with a nice micro vented center so it breathes. Instead of the leather upper, we’ve gone to a more performance, traditional racing, four way stretch mesh. With a superb fit, the whole idea is the glove will disappear when you put it on. This is a great glove for a high mileage enthusiast or someone who races and likes a padded glove.

DO:  Next to that is the full fingered version of the Monaco. It has the same characteristics with a little more coverage.

Eric:  I wouldn’t say it’s a true winter glove. The idea was to give people the option.

Eric:  The next glove in the road line is called Zero. It’s inspired by elite racers who want little to no padding. The theory here is really like a slipper. There’s no Velcro. It’s a slide on glove with lightweight air mesh. A feature we’ve integrated is low profile pulls in the fingers. You hook your fingertips into them to pull your gloves off.

Eric:  The last two pieces are the Bravo and the Tessa. The Bravo is unisex and the Tessa is women’s specific. These gloves share identical features other than the sizes and colors. We use a synthetic palm that is durable and lightweight. We use more traditional gel for these pieces, but we’ve focused on the placement of the pads and optimizing the thickness.

DO:  I see these utilize your unique fit system.

Eric:  Absolutely, that’s common to every glove in the line.

DO:  When are these available to the consumers?

Eric:  They’re going into production now, so they should be available at the end of January to the middle of February next year.

DO:  They can find these where?

Eric:  They’re on our website at www.giro.com today.