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At Home or Winning Transcontinental, Be Seen in Apidura Packable Visibility Vest

Apidura Packable Visibility Vest, fitted hi-viz vest for road cycling, Christoph Strasser Transcontinental TCRNo9 winner, morning Stelvio selfie
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Apidura’s new Packable Visibility Vest makes sure you are seen without weighing you down or flapping uncontrollably in the wind. That is whether you are racing (and winning) The Transcontinental Race, bikepacking for a long weekend, or just riding your home roads. Apidura adapted lessons learned in developing lightweight hydration vests & backpacks for the Visibility Vest. They created a well-fitted hi-viz vest, so you are seen from all directions while riding from dusk, all through the night, and into the dawn.

You don’t have to be an ultra-distance Audaxer to benefit from extra visibility on dark roads…

Apidura Packable Visibility Vest, fitted road cyclist hi-viz vest

Apidura Packable Visibility Vest, lightweight road cycling-fitted EN Certified hi-viz vest in the dark
all c. Apidura

Hi-viz vests are a staple of road workers and bicycle commuters alike for one simple reason. Being seen by drivers is a big first step towards staying safe while sharing the road. That’s why Audax rules often require a certified hi-viz vest. And it’s why Apidura developed their Packable Visibility Vest for regular bike commuters, casual road cyclists, and serious long-distance racers.

Apidura Packable Visibility Vest, lightweight road cycling-fitted EN Certified hi-viz vest on body

It’s a lightweight hi-viz solution that packs down into a tiny built-in pouch. That way, you can always have it on those long rides that extend into the dark. It’s also EN 17353 certified so you can use it for your Paris-Brest-Paris audaxing, or just for morning & evening commutes. It’s 360° nighttime visibility that won’t get in the way of you enjoying road riding – year-round and around-the-clock.

Tech details

The minimalist Apidura Packable Visibility Vest is certified to EN 17353:2020 Type B3 standard. That designation is for safe night-time visibility for “medium risk” situations like cycling on unlit roads. That basically means plenty of reflective detailing so you can be seen from all angles. But few cycling-specific solutions are actually EN 17353 certified. And most EN 17353 certified solutions are bulky, unnecessarily heavy, or just uncomfortable to ride in for long distances. The newer EN 17353:2020 Type B3 certification seems to mean it is also compliant with legacy EN 1150 & EN 20471 standards, too.

Apidura Packable Visibility Vest, fitted hi-viz vest for road cycling, Christoph Strasser Transcontinental TCRNo9 winner, sunny morning selfie
2023 TCR selfies c. Christoph Strasser

There are countless visibility vests outside of the cycling world that are often fine for casual cycling after dark, but there’s nothing that offers full legal compliance and lightweight materials, packability and a race fit. We know riders and event organisers alike find it frustrating, so we decided to explore how our packable and racing design experience could be brought to bear. EN compliance was essential, but we also wanted to replicate the convenience of a lightweight gilet and make sure the vest was as unobtrusive as possible both while riding and when not in use.

– Betsy Seed, Head of Product, Apidura
Apidura Packable Visibility Vest, lightweight road cycling-fitted EN Certified hi-viz vest, sunset

From my point of view, riding at night is fundamental to endurance racing. It also offers riders the opportunity to experience empty roads, moonlit vistas, and mountain dawns. At Lost Dot we firmly believe that the responsibility for road safety lies firmly with the drivers of vehicles, but we’re also pragmatic and retroreflective garments make a huge difference.

– Andrew Phillips, Race Organizer, Lost Dot

Apidura’s Packable Visibility Vest uses the same anatomic shaping as their Hydration Vest (and newer Hydration Backpack) for a good fit. It uses similar lightweight material & minimalist design as the other Packables. And it features two of the same Packables adjustable sternum straps so it can fit over a thin jersey or a warmer puffy jacket, too. The vest includes no zippers and no velcro – just 2 plastic buckles on straps adjustable to fit different body shapes and genders.

Protection from the wind or rain was not in the design brief. Instead, the vest focuses only on visibility. But that makes it suitable for year-round use, too.

Christoph Strasser Transcontinental winner, 2023 TCR9 kit grid

The hi-viz vest weighs just 106g (claimed for S/M). It packs down into its own 8x12cm rear pocket, to easily fit in a standard jersey pocket. (Specifically, can you spot the tiny packed vest in Christoph Strasser’s TCRNo9 race-winning bikepacking kit grid above?)

Apidura Packable Visibility Vest – Pricing & availability

The Apidura Packable Visibility Vest comes in two sizes – a S/M for 90-105cm & L/XL for 106-122cm chest circumferences. The Visibility Vest is available now direct from Apidura for £45 / $58 / 52€, and through their retail partners.

My question meanwhile is, could Apidura just add all that hi-viz yellow and extra visibility to their regular Racing Hydration Vest to meet that same EN 17353 certification? And make every ultra-distance racer safer in the process?

More Hi-Viz is better if we are sharing the road with cars, right?

Apidura Packable Visibility Vest, fitted hi-viz vest for road cycling, Christoph Strasser Transcontinental TCRNo9 winner, rainy selfie
quick thanks to 2x Transcontinental winner Christoph Strasser for sending us some selfies he took during this year’s win

Thus, here’s a parting enquiry for road & gravel readers:

Would you prefer to have the added visibility all the time? Additionally, would you mind if your regular hydration vest were always hi-viz, even for daytime gravel rides? I suspect most mountain bikers don’t always want a hi-viz hydration pack. That is, based on the number of black, blue, green & red Camelbaks I’ve encountered over the years. Maybe though, for those times roadies & gravel riders do put a pack on their back, they (like me) may actually prefer hi-viz.

So, let us know in the comments below.

Apidura.com

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Matthew
Matthew
5 months ago

The fact that it is compliant with ACP/LRM reflectivity guidelines and available for purchase outside the EU is a huge advantage in my book. Granted there aren’t that many randos compared to other cycling disciplines, but there are enough of us to justify _something_. Up to this point, our options were basically vests for construction and trucking workers, not athletes.

The only problem is that PBP is this weekend, wish it had gone on sale earlier.

Ian - Apidura
Ian - Apidura
5 months ago
Reply to  Matthew

In stock for PBP participants at the Velo Culture store in Rambouillet. Open tomorrow!

LAMEDA
3 months ago

The reflective design is great. But the look is not very good to be honest. It would be better if it has a better design of look.

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