Back in the early years of the Nzo project, our mate Coxy was a regular visitor to the shop, our house, and the local trails.
He usually turned up wearing a getup that consisted of an Nzo top, and pair of Nzo shorts, and in summer that would be his attire for the entire weekend.
As a devotee of flat pedals, all he had to do to get ready to ride was tuck his shoelaces away and put on a helmet.
That approach caused a gradual adjustment to our designs and over the decades we have sort of formalised it. We make some purely 'bike' attire, but the things we like best, and our customers like best, are products we can live in.
Case in point, yesterday I went for a bike ride after work.
I was in the office doing something that has already faded into a blur, wearing 247s, an Nzo Merino short sleeve T, and a cotton t with a print on it. There were also Nzo socks in the outfit.
With exactly enough time left in the day get a ride in, I jumped in the van and headed for the hills. I literally switched shoes, added some gloves and a helmet to the getup, and got going.
As a sidenote, I must confess that these days I don't bother with padding in my pants setup. I usually just wear regular undies unless I am on the road bike or going out all day. OK, that is probably a little more information than you really need, but I add that because people sometimes ask about comfort on a bike seat, and I am inclined to say the best way to get really comfy on a bike seat is to sit on a bike seat. A lot. Once that is done, you may not need padding, especially on a full suspension mountain bike with big soft tyres.
Here in NzoLand we reckon if you are going invest in some of our product we encourage you to use it more often than those special hours you spend on your bike. Making gear you can do that with is our guiding principle.