Sometimes you have to have luck on your side before a product becomes successful. Such was the case with the Gabba raincoat from the clothing brand Castelli.
From 2009 Castelli started with the Cervélo TestTeam which included Serge Pauwels, a collaboration to develop cycling clothing that should protect the riders against the most extreme weather conditions such as heavy rain, freezing cold, wind and snow.
Eén van de kledingstukken was een regenjas genaamd Gabba waar het TestTeam zeer enthousiast over was. Reden genoeg dus om deze begin 2010 op de markt te brengen. Het verwachte succes bleef aanvankelijk uit maar Castelli bleef vertrouwen hebben in het product omdat alle rijders van het Cervélo TestTeam enorm positief waren.
En gelijk hadden ze want tijdens de verkenning van het parcours van de Omloop het Volk waarbij de weersomstandigheden niet rooskleurig waren, vielen de Gabba regenjasjes van de ploeg Garmin Cervélo (de opvolger van Cervélo TestTeam) op en renners van concurrerende ploegen vroegen hoe ze er aan konden komen.
The result is that from then on more and more professional cyclists bought a Gabba raincoat directly from Castelli, but because their cycling team was not sponsored by Castelli, they marked the name and logo with a black marker.
After a while, Castelli provided also the other teams with the Gabba raincoat, despite not sponsoring them, and added a black marker. By the end of 2012, more than half of the professional riders had a Gabba raincoat in the back pocket of their cycling jersey in case of rain.
However, the general public was not yet aware of this revolutionary product, but that was changed by a fluke.
Milaan Sanremo 2013
De editie 2013 van de wielerwedstrijd Milaan Sanremo is er één die nog lang zal herinnerd worden. Het weer was verschrikkelijk: wind, regen, vrieskou en zelfs sneeuw. De omstandigheden waren zelfs zo slecht dat na 100km de wedstrijd werd onderbroken en alle renners in hun ploegbussen over de beklimmingen van de Turchino en de Le Manie werden gevoerd. Op dat moment reden 6 renners voorop met een voorsprong van 7 minuten
Just after the mountains, the peloton got back on their bikes, after some confusion, and the race continued. The front runners regained their 7 minute lead but were still overtaken by the chasing peloton driven by Cannondale Pro Cycling and Team Sky ProCycling.
The race was won by Gerard Ciolek who beat Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara in the sprint.
At the start a number of riders (including those from AG2R, FDJ, Omega Pharma - Quick Step) were wearing their marked Gabba raincoat. Dozens more were added during the game. Because the race was broadcast live, these jackets received quite a lot of attention from the press and the spectator was also trusted with them.
Ag2R and FDJ riders at the start with the Castelli logo highlighted in black - photo cyclingtips.com
More and more cycling teams contacted Castelli to supply them with Gabba raincoats and therefore Castelli decided in early 2014 to release the Pro Edition Gabba The only difference from the standard Gabba was that there was a black marker in the packaging that allowed the teams to color the letters and Castelli logo black so that they were no longer visible.
The packing box of the Castelli Gabba Pro Edition with the supplied black marker
A myth is born
The Castelli Gabba raincoat has been a revolution in the development of cycling clothing against extreme weather conditions and has finally liberated the cycling world from the plastic raincoats that were completely non-aerodynamic and that made the riders look exactly like a Michelin advertising doll.
The Gabba is now in its 4th generation and is also available in other colors than just black.
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