Santini has three new road kits available this summer: the high-end Tora, a water-resistant Haru and the ProTour-style Iro.
The Tora jersey is a race-fit cut (what Santini calls E1), featuring an elastic material in the cuffs and bib straps that is highly stretchy in one direction but not in the other. It retails for $175/£115.
The Tora bibs feature the same one-way stretch elastic in the leg cuffs. Also, the bibs have a 'NAT' chamois, a five-layer pad that features a perforated gel center layer. Sandwiched between 2mm layers of foam, the NEXT gel pad is shaped like a narrow saddle, with small suction-cup-shaped cylinders packed in the sitbones area. Santini claims that these little bumps offer shock resistance and promote blood flow. The bibs cost $190/£125.
The Haru jersey and bibs fall under Santini E2 cut design, which is a slightly more relaxed than the E1 Tora.
"In the Iro, the front and rear of the jersey use different materials. The rear is a stretchy version of Lycra Santini developed with Katusha called LycraKA.
"What they wanted was a jersey optimized for the tuck position," Medcroft said, "one with fabric in the front that was cut a little shorter and less flexible so it wouldn’t bunch up when riding in the drops and material across the back that would stretch a great deal so it could fit tight but allow a rider to comfortably roll their back and shoulders to allow the torso to lower into the aerodynamic tuck."
The Iro jersey costs $165/X110 and the bibs cost $160/£100.