Come on now, pink looks good on everyone. Okay, almost to everyone. Although I have never been able to stand the propensity of some bald men to wear pink shirts at weddings (have you noticed? there is always a bald man wearing a pink shirt at weddings), but I digress already. Surely, however, in 2021 we can also stop categorizing pink as a purely feminine color, since moreover this thing is a mere silly social construct. And here at Runlovers, we have never made it a secret that we love this color.
I however – when in doubt – have been wearing pink for a while.
In domestic cycling, then, it is well over 100 years that pink has been a coveted color: and even those who know almost nothing about cycling cannot have never heard of the glorious pink jersey. But if the pink jersey of the Giro d’Italia is a merit badge in the field, I – who am (literally) a Sunday cyclist – prefer to talk about a jersey we can all wear. Of course, you have to wear it in style, what am I telling you for.
I know, you’re already thinking about the (beautiful) jerseys of Rapha, which has always had pink among its institutional colors. But no, not this time. Today we go a few more miles and move to that hemisphere that boasts of having the flush water running backwards.
MAAP was born in Melbourne in 2014 and in just over six years has positioned itself in the Olympus of cycling apparel, or at least in my very personal Olympus. I was not at all surprised to discover that the founders include a graphic designer: because certain things ooze out of a brand’s DNA in everything it does, from its website to its socks.
MAAP is not cheap, so there is no point in skirting around it. Of course, almost no quality brand is, just as almost no cycling brand is. Moreover, MAAP manufactures almost all of its collection in Italy, and not a day goes by that I don’t wonder how much I would save if I could buy their products without them doing Milan > Melbourne > Milan, but so be it. Finally – and then we come to the pink jersey, or rather the pink jerseys – MAAP has always used a fantastic model that several times I wondered if it was a dummy (no, this is not an added value or not, it just makes me laugh a lot).
The pink jersey wow
It is the Echo Pro Base LS Jersey. It is super soft. It has honeycomb fabric inserts that-in addition to having an obvious breathable function-are stunning in how well they are made. The light coral color is orgasmic. That it is super soft did I mention that?
The good news is that you can find it at a discount right now. The bad news is that you can find it on discount because there are very few sizes left. Yes, there is also a long sleeve version.
The cool pink jersey
It is about the Training Jersey. This is the training version, so a little less attention to material workmanship, but not to quality or attention to detail: technically the two jerseys are equivalent. The good news is that the price is definitely more affordable.
The pink jacket
Why settle for the T-shirt when you can also have the jacket? The Ascend Pro Rain Jacket is of the same aforementioned orgasmic pink, and when I had it in my hands I felt a tremor in the force. Bonus: here you can find the mannequin with oxygenated hair. However, I admit that I had no heart to spend more money.
In short, if you have some self-confidence and a credit card with a good credit limit, I think you’ll know what to do in the next half hour. Also because all MAAP products are great (I say, have you seen the shoes?): the pink shirt is just the tip of the iceberg, see if you ever find something good for the next wedding.