The finishing details have not been missed either. The fabric edges have been laser cut, with a smooth coated finish, again to move smoothly against other clothing. A neatly finished collar and externally smooth seams finish off a very well detailed piece of kit.

A very well designed, close fitting race jersey with the latest in fabric tech.

PRICE: £60/€70

SHORTS

Just like the Flexair jersey, the shorts take tech and design cues from Fox’s Flexair MX kit which was new last year. The cut and style of these shorts doesn’t differ much from your usual DH offering, so there’s no surprise when we first tried them on. The inner leg length measures approx 13.5” (34cm) and the shorts are not overly bulky around the thighs. Experience pays off here, and we feel this is a cut that will suit most riders out there.

The fabric is a Polyester/Elastane mix with a four way stretch, giving great mobility. Fox have put an emphasis on getting a mid weight fabric which has the highest abrasion resistance, giving long-term durability without weighing you down. Fox’s TruMotion fabric from their Flexair MX range has been fully proven and this tech works here in this DH short. The seams are double stitched with triple stitching in the higher wear area on the seat, great if you’re riding all year round.

‘MX durability but in a midweight DH short’

Breathability has not been compromised either and the Flexair short has carefully placed ‘laser cut’ perforations in both the leg and below the rear waist to help.

GLOVES

Here at Dirt we love a simple, light glove with an unpadded palm and a good fit. All of our favourites follow this formula and this Demoair from Fox takes similar design cues and adds just a touch more protection.
These gloves start with a Clarino palm, a high quality synthetic suede designed to dry quickly, retain its shape and give good control. It is a fabric that has been used on quality gloves for years and a favourite with Fox. Instead of adding extra reinforcement layers in high wear areas, Fox go for a simple single skin palm, reducing the number of seams.

The back of the glove has very lightweight, highly breathable fabric, lighter in weight than many similar gloves with the thumb having a slightly tougher, closer weave fabric on the upper. A long term test will prove this glove’s durability, but Fox have added rubber armour strips over the finger knuckles and the ‘FoxHead’ logo on the front of the hand. These strips should fend off knocks just a touch more than a typical trail glove yet not compromise movement, and will also protect the lightweight fabric.

‘A light, thin glove but built to stand up to some abuse’

The Demoair is a pull-on glove with no adjustment at the wrist. A neoprene fabric is used which stretches just enough and is shaped to sit well around the wrist when in the riding position, with a silicone patch helping when pulling on the gloves. This coating is also added on the main three fingers helping with control and grip of the brake lever blades. As with the Flexair jersey and shorts, these gloves take design cues and fabric tech from Fox’s MX range and roll them out in a complete outfit for the DH and gravity rider.

PRICE: £30/€40

High performance fabrics, with a great fit and all details covered has resulted in some highly desirable DH kit. The Fox Flexair and Demoair range looks a winner to us!

Foxhead UK, France, Germany and Spain.