Feb 5th - Preview

This write-up is an amalgamation of various pieces I’ve written about these products, pulled together so I can easily share a single link when people ask.

Anyway, on February 5 at 11:00 a.m. EST, we’re releasing some performance winter products and hats:

• Winter Running Jacket

• Thermals: mock neck and crewneck

• New Era Hats: A-Frame, Golfer, Baseball cap

Below, you’ll find some background information on these products, as well as details about their development and refinement process.

Starting with the Performance Thermal:

This performance thermal is offered in both a mock-neck and a crewneck variant. Initially, we planned to use 100% merino wool, but after creating the first sample, we found it was itchy, shrank significantly in the wash, and didn’t fit well.

As the design evolved, we settled on a 50/50 wool/acrylic blend, which gave the garment a better shape, improved its on-body feel, and enhanced its thermoregulating properties.

Above, you can see a demonstration of how effectively this thermal regulates temperature: the merino wool traps heat while allowing moisture to evaporate (visible as frost on Shawn’s back).

Finally, the elastane adds stretch, and the raglan cut adds shape, ensuring a snug fit that enhances insulation and mobility without restricting movement.

Next, the Winter Running Jacket:

This text has been adapted from our original post about the improvements made to this jacket. You can read the original post here: https://www.mintedminutes.com/p/feedback-loops

When reconsidering the Cold Weather Performance Jacket, we realized (through personal experience and conversations with friends) that there were still ways to enhance version two (v2) of this product.

After completing more than 50 training runs in the jacket, here were my initial thoughts:

1. Hood: While the hood is nice in theory, it needs to be packable. I often tucked it inside the jacket so it wouldn’t flap around in the winter wind.

2. Zipper: Although the zipper caused no major problems, it could be more durable.

3. Inner Chest Pocket: An inner chest pocket would be helpful for holding keys, cards, or a phone, with the added bonus of protecting them from the elements.

We then polled a small sample of people who had purchased the jacket to see if they shared these observations (and to discover any insights we might have missed).

Others clearly had trouble with the hood, so we proposed a simple fix by making it packable. Below is the updated neckline, showing the added zipper seam that the hood can be packed into. Since we don’t yet have a physical sample, I can’t comment on its real-world performance. However, my main concern is the weight of the zipper and ensuring it doesn’t bounce or become noticeable during training.

Taking the above into account, we made a number of changes (including the ones shown in the first image).

I would like many of the items we work on to go through a similar process. Our team is fortunate enough to wear and test almost everything we make, but nothing beats feedback from all of you.

These tops, along with a lineup of our New Era hats (seen below), will release on February 5 at 11:00 a.m. EST.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below.