Duralite fabric & Castelli nanotechs

Ike,
Looked at a number of the retailers for the Duralite jackets. Not one provided a weight, even though weights for other brands, such as Montane, were provided on the same sites.

Frankly, I've had enough of the hype, and will pay nothing but a deaf ear to manufacturers that make grandiose claims without providing basic specs. That's it for me.

I dont know why they don't provide weights either. Must be contractual or something. But if you look at some of the cycling items for sale on the other castelli pages, they are lighter than the current garments we use for certain tasks. The plasma base layers are intriguing, the windshirts are less than 100g. The zip-in radiation layer jacket seems interesting as well.

I found a weight that would allow you to estimate a weight of the fabric. This Helium wind jacket(meidum) weighs about 70 grams.

http://www.excelcycle.com/blog/newsletters/crooked-zippers-see-through-jerseys-and-screaming-dolphins.html

This stuff may be lighter than cuben fiber. Its cut long in the back too, so its beneficial for hiking, or you could cut that off and make it even lighter.

I'd imagine these things would tear like wet paper if you snagged them on something, this would rarely/never happen while cycling, but there is a reason hiking windshirts are a bit more substantial.

Noone really knows though, thats why i was hoping someone with experience with them would comment.

http://www.ciclonline.com/eng/clothing-and-accessories/123-mavic/245-test-complete-mavic-infinity-and-helium-jacket.html

apparently addidas also uses duralite sl, on shoes. So i dunno if its exclusive or not.

For some reason, cyclists will be uber-obsessive over bike weights and then not so picky with the clothes on their back.

competitivecyclist.com is a great website for checking out gear you might be considering. I just glanced around a bit and didn't see many weights listed for clothing items, but they are extremely good about listing component weights. They are also very knowledgeable. I would call them if you have questions, they'd probably be able to provide some more fabric information, and they will definitely weigh specific items for you if you ask.

I would also not be so quick to dismiss the durability of some of these items. I don't have much castelli stuff, but I've got a few pieces of nice assos and giordana kit. The giordana stuff in particular, with carbon, is extremely durable. I took a tumble and slid across some asphalt doing about 25mph. My shorts were structurally undamaged, I was amazed. The fabric pilled a bit, and that was the only noticeable damage (after washing away the blood). The jersey popped a stitch in the shoulder, but still, almost unharmed.