The X-Tender: a case of style over substance?

X-tender: Here’s a product we don’t hear about much but which is nevertheless very effective when it starts to get cooler. You may have noticed that it’s popular with the pros and elite riders. Geoffroy Lequatre gives us some background and explains why it’s so popular in the professional peloton.

Back in 2005, it was fashionable to wear longer-length shorts. Lance Armstrong was one of the first riders to sport these almost knee-length shorts. His were of course custom made by the sportswear brand that sponsored the team. But what was the point of such a change? Was there a real reason? Or was it a case of style over substance? Well, I can tell you it was both.

The effectiveness of almost knee-length, longer shorts to protect the quadriceps is popular among some riders. If, on the other hand, like me you only had standard-length shorts, I solved the problem by making knee warmers to lengthen my shorts because the muscles in my very slim leg muscles didn’t respond well to the cold.

So in 2006 I sacrificed a pair of leg warmers to create the first knee-warmers. Once I had launched the G4 brand and after much product testing, I integrated these into our collections. Ours is seamless which has the double benefit of greater muscular protection with compression to support the muscular effort. Thanks to this compressive fibre, the X-Tender was born.

As part of the same family, you’ll find our various accessories, including black and white leg warmers, made of this same material, which are ideal for mid-season rides. Our ambassadors Mathieu Converset (AVC Aix) and Crossteam’s Steve Chainel both use these new generation products. Follow their example and look elegant in our high-performance products!

 
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