POC's Spring/Summer apparel is made from recycled materials

Some cycling apparel has a bit of a reputation for looking quite similar. This isn't ever really an accusation that has been levelled at Swedish safety gurus and relative newcomers to the cycling world, POC. With a distinctive look utilising clean lines and an always distinctive colour palette, POC has carved itself out a niche as the cool kid, bolstered by a long standing partnership with EF Education-Easypost. For Spring/Summer 2022 it's sticking to a formula that clearly works. Scroll down for our pick of the best bits of the collection for both road and gravel. 

Women’s apparel 

New clothing releases tend to follow a formula of men's clothing first, then women's. It’s a subtle change, but having women's gear as the first item on the press release from POC is certainly refreshing to see. 

To kick off, POC has a new model of bib shorts, the Women's Pure VPD bib shorts, which feature a reverse suspender design to allow a nature break without the faff of having to remove your jersey or fiddle with suspender clips. It borrows heavily from Ultimate VPD, with a women's specific chamois that features silicone inserts to aid vibration damping.

For colder starts, and those who find keeping warm a little harder, there’s the Women's Ambient Jersey; lightly fleeced, long of sleeve, and available in black and a handsome shade of red.

Both men and women can also get their hands on the new Pristine jersey. Short sleeves, constructed from recycled materials with mesh panels and a low profile collar designed for faster days in the heat. Turquoise, navy and a dusty orange for women, turquoise and olive for men.

Men’s apparel 

In addition to the Pristine jersey, the men's collection features the Muse Jersey, a short sleeve merino polyester blend offering, with classic styling and available in black or a dark turquoise. As an additional layer, POC has also released the Kernal Layer Vest, a sleeveless base layer also made of a merino polyester blend that aims to keep things warm but allow breathability when the mercury rises, and to wick sweat away from the skin.

Men's legs are also catered for with a new set of cargo bib shorts, the Rove Cargo bib. Constructed from recycled materials with flatlock stitching and seam free suspenders they prioritise all-day comfort on tarmac and gravel, and feature a longer Vital VPDC chamois, also with silicone inserts.

Accessories 

In addition to the main garments POC has new long and mid length socks on offer, with the Zephyr model offering a merino construction that aims for multi-day comfort without the stink. The Deft and Agile gloves (short and long respectively) provide two new options for those who like to keep their hands covered.

Socks and gloves are hardly going to set the world alight in terms of technological innovation, so there are also the new POC Elicit Clarity sunglasses, the lightest yet from POC at 23g. Constructed with bio materials and Zeiss lenses, they are impressive on paper, and live up to their billing in the real world - hit the link to read our full review of the featherweight shades. 

Helmets 

While no new models are on offer, the addition of MIPS to the Omne Air, Ventral Air, Ventral, Ventral Tempus and Octal X certainly adds credence to POC’s insistence on safety being their number one priority.