What does Q36.5 mean? We asked the people behind the Italian kit brand that sponsors Tom Pidcock's team

Luigi Bergamo and Lodovico Pignatti Morano are the CEO and Creative Director of the Italian clothing company, Q36.5. Bergamo set up the company in 2013 after leaving a similar role at Assos, and has gone on to develop his own firm. The team now sponsors Q36.5 Pro Cycling, the team of British star Tom Pidcock and has big plans for the future.

What inspired you to start the clothing brand?

LB: I was always inspired and had the passion to make something different, or to give to the clothing field a different interpretation, or to find a new road, so that was a little bit of my inspiration as I wanted to satisfy a different need. I wanted to improve on small things like socks, but also with things like bib shorts and providing better integration between the shorts and chamois to produce a system of sorts. There were other things like I could not find a jersey that protected me a little bit from the cold, but also when I ride uphill, so that I don't sweat too much, but at the same time, when I start the downhill, have a little protection also. Basically I wanted to have smarter clothing as possible and better temperature regulation.

Did you notice a difference in sales when the team you sponsor signed Tom Pidcock? Did sales go up straightaway?

LB: I think we are still quite an unknown brand, so we definitely saw more interest in us when Pidcock joined the team. Tom is obviously a big name, so we’ve definitely seen that people have become more attracted to us and interested in finding out more about the company. It’s too early to say if sales went up, we will review that in due course, but our work with the team definitely helps us that’s for sure. It would be fair to say that our audience is now larger thanks to Tom and the work he does on things like social media. I don’t think we could reach the same amount of people that he reaches at the moment.

How do you ensure that the brand appeals to all kinds of cyclists, not just those interested in racing and finding equipment that helps them go faster?

LPM: Firstly by making sure it’s useful, that’s the most important thing. We can’t appeal to new audiences if our kit is not useful. We have two ranges with two different slogans, one is called Dottore feel the difference, and the other is Gregarius be prepared. The idea of that is that cycling of any level, whether it’s commuting, riding on a bike touring trip, whatever, you need to be prepared and understand how to make the experience more comfortable for you as a rider. If you’re comfortable, then you can stay in the saddle for longer, it sounds obvious, but it’s that simple.

With that in mind, if you had to pick one piece of kit from your range that you recommend every cyclist owns, what would it be and why?

LB: Our kit is like our kids, so you can’t pick a favourite child, can you? But no, if you really want me to say then I would probably pick the Dottore bib shorts as they are for sure one of my favourite products from our range. I also really like the Hybrid Que long sleeve jersey that we have. That jersey is predominantly a long sleeve jersey but it is also essentially a jacket, it is very versatile. It would be perfect for you in the UK as that’s something that you can wear all the time in the early season when paired with the right base layer.

To those of us who might not know, can you explain a little bit about how you came up with the brand name? What does that all mean?

LB: Well, basically the Q stands for query, like you would make a query during some research. And then 36.5 is what’s considered a normal body temperature for a person. So our objective when producing performance sports clothing is to basically maintain that temperature throughout the activity that you might be doing, in this case then cycling. Our aim with the brand name was to basically explain to people what we are trying to achieve as a company, and this is exactly it.

You seem to be a very research driven brand. Who does your testing for you? Do you work with testers who aren’t just professional athletes?

LB: Obviously we have the guys on the team, but we also have some great testers who typically compete in triathlon. We have lots of ex pros too and other more general riders.

Most importantly though, we’re all cyclists here at the company. We all try to go out daily and test stuff out so that we can be a part of our experimentation process. It is also worth saying that we work constantly with a university research institute here in Bolzano where we are based. They have what they call a climate chamber, where you can produce and simulate all kinds of different weather conditions.

LPM: The important thing with the research is that it means we can convince athletes more efficiently on why they should use our products. A lot of cyclists are afraid of change and afraid of moving away from something that might already work well for them. Some of Luigi’s inventions are radical and they will feel different to what a rider might have used in the past. So without that research data, and without the trust that data brings, it would be very difficult to convince people of the benefits that something new could bring to them.

The whole point of this brand is to dare to be different, that’s exactly what Luigi has said all along. He is always saying that he doesn’t want to be better than the other major brands, he wants to be different.

What do you hope to achieve with this brand within the next five years?

LPM: I think it would be fair to say that we want to continue to build credibility within the wider cycling community. We want to grow in the general clothing market, but we are also really interested in developing footwear. We have started to design shoes and continue to make big steps forward in that area. I think, just generally speaking, we want to be recognised as the most research driven company on the market.

We want to be seen as the brand that is constantly trying to innovate with textiles, with patterns, with technology, so we can always ensure that when you pull on a Q36.5 garment you will instantly feel the difference and the benefits of what it can bring to you as a cyclist. It’s like stepping into a Porsche when you’ve never driven one before, our clothes are cut differently, feel different and work differently than anything else out there.