The company looked towards Tom Pidcock’s feedback to develop the new rain jacket, which they aptly named after a joke. “He was telling me how, as a protected rider, he would often spend hours racing very protected in the bunch,” Q36.5 founded Luigi Bergamo said. “With a heart rate as low as 80BPM and how this meant, if the weather was bad, he would suffer the cold tremendously and needed truly thermal racing gear”.
Hence the jacket was experimented on several times throughout the season, with Pidcock notably using it in Tirreno-Adriatico and Flèche Wallonne, races where the rain was present and the weather was truly difficult to handle. In both occasions, he rode it to great success, confirming it did not hamper performance – whilst, at least in the Swiss company’s point of view, perhaps improving it.
‘The ‘Condom’ is engineered to be the last layer in the rider’s rain system (to be worn even without a jersey underneath), worn underneath either the Vampire, or Vampire + Rain Shell/Rain Shell Plus which will be removed in the last kilometres where the rider needs to be as aero as possible,” he explained. Officially, the price will be at £250 pounds, or about €282 euros, making it quite pricy for the average cyclist.
This year Tom Pidcock had a tremendous debut season with the Swiss team and managed to confirm his Grand Tour rider credentials at the Vuelta a España where he finished on the podium, and his influence has seen the team being able to sign several World Tour riders into the 2026 season.
At Tirreno-Adriatico, Pidcock came close to taking the win with full winter gear on. @Sirotti
