Corey (maddslacker) has reviewed a few items from Funkier apparel so I agreed to meet with Eli at Interbike to look over the latest and greatest. After telling me a bit about the company (it’s the #1 cycling apparel brand in Israel and started out as a purely fashion brand), we previewed the 2013 line.
Every mountain biker needs a good pair of baggy shorts and Funkier has several styles to choose from. The thing that impressed me the most was the material selection; all of the shorts felt lightweight and seemed like they would provide great ventilation. Of course the tradeoff to making shorts lightweight is abrasion protection and based on what I saw I wouldn’t recommend these shorts for serious gravity riders. Still, Funkier seems to occupy a sweet spot in terms of style, function, and value, particularly when it comes to MTB shorts.
Funkier received Eurobike awards in 2010 and 2011 in part because their clothing features some interesting innovations. Like the fact that all their jerseys feature a water resistant pocket to store your phone or MP3 player–no more zip lock baggies for your electronics. New this year is a rain shell with an expandable extension (via zipper) to cover your hydration pack in the rain (see photo above). The entire jacket can be packed into a tiny bag sewn into the jacket itself for easy storage. There’s even a line of copper-based anti-odor socks that are made in Israel.
Funkier is working on building a name for itself in the US market and with innovative products like these it should take no time at all. Look for another Funkier MTB short review from Corey coming soon!
