Innovation Museum: Cameron Wurf • Q36.5

On the eve of the legendary Kona IRONMAN world championship we sat down for a chat with our sponsored athlete and famously innovation-obsessed Cameron Wurf to discuss the evolution of his approach to integrating the world’s best equipment and research into his athletic performance.

What is your first memory of making an upgrade to your equipment as an elite athlete?  Could you immediately “feel the difference”?

My first sport at the elite level was Rowing. I remember when I was 17 I got my first Empacher single scull. At the time, & still today, Empacher was the benchmark in rowing boats. I’ll never forget taking the first stroke, the boat simply took off! I also remember before I even got on the water, sliding the seat back & forth, feeling how smooth it was, the German engineering, everything about the boat was just precision & performance. That boat would carry to a world championship & also through the selection process to make the Olympic Team.

Could you explain your attitude to choosing equipment for training and racing? Do you have a specific philosophy or a specific (even unusual) set of criteria that you like your equipment to fulfill?

I’m student of sport & a massive fan of sport. My passion is to follow the best athletes & coaches & how they prepare & execute in competitions. When it comes to choosing my own equipment, I gather the information I can from the best of the best and then choose what I believe will also work best for me. I’m certainly not an engineer or a scientist, I prefer to follow the example of the experts in those respective disciplines & sporting fields.

Are there any technologies/innovations that you feel you were the pioneer of in the peloton?

One big chance we felt in the Peloton was the utilization of faster textile materials on the clothing. Obviously the body is the biggest thing that catches the wind. It was very noticeable when teams gained access to these materials before others, for the same effort you were simply traveling km’s per hour faster. Obviously now everyone has access to these materials to a certain extent so it’s harder to gain a significant advantage in this field.

On top of that, in my generation, digital shifting & disc brakes have obviously had a big impact but also those where more accessible to everyone from the time they were introduced.

What are the key characteristics you look for in your equipment (bike and apparel)?

Firstly performance is incredibly important to me. I need to know I’m not at a disadvantage to my competitors before worrying about the physical elements involved in elite sport. Then, when I have multiple options, I’ll test everything & asses which products allow me to best deliver my optimal physical performance.

Do other parts of your training and racing regime follow the same philosophy (for example nutrition)?

Absolutely, nutrition, hydration, & recovery, at the end of the day are the cornerstone of performance. Without doing these things at the highest level, you cannot reach you optimal level of conditioning, in turn, inhibiting your ability to perform.

Once again I study the best products & techniques available to me & implement the ones that work for me. Nutrition and hydration are in constant evolution with new products popping up daily. Also wearables giving us more information than ever on how things affect our body. When it comes to recovery methods I find donning ones that I can practice no matter where I am to be the most beneficial in the long run. For example massage, stretching, yoga, mobility, good sleep!

How did you first hear about Q36.5?

My Dad has been using Q36 clothing since 2014. He’s been reminding me ever since that I should also be using it [laughs]. Obviously due to sponsor commitments with my cycling team, it hasn’t been possible to collaborate with Q36.5 until recently. But now that we’ve been able to work together, I have to admit to him that he was right, the clothing is of the highest standards in comfort and performance.

What was the first Q36.5 garment you tried? How would you describe it? Could you “feel the difference”?

The first Q garment I tried was simply a Gregarius bib short and jersey. This is obviously something I’ve worn so many times over the years with different brands, provided the perfect opportunity to immediately assess how Q36.5 distinguish themselves from the rest of the market. The quality of the materials ensured a more tailored fit than if experienced in the past, even more so than custom kits from other brands. Obviously, the comfort meant that that my performance in the training session was optimized as well, I was immediately incredibly impressed by Q36.5.

What Q36.5 equipment are you using this season for training and racing? Could you please talk us through a few of your favourite items?

I guess for me the most important piece of Q36.5 apparel is the Tri suit. From my first race in South Africa at the beginning of the season I was blown away by the performance of the cooling elements of the suit. It was a hot 28 degree 90% humidity day, I’d arrived directly from a European winter so far from heat acclimatized. However when I made the suit wet I simply didn’t think of the conditions, I just felt so comfortable. It allowed me to focus on the execution of the best race I could do on the day, zero chafing or rubbing, the suit far surpassed my expectations.

As far concerns a personal favorite garment, the Q36.5 base layer is totally revolutionary. I find I can ride in shorts and a jersey in 10°C an be sufficiently warm when wearing the base layer, but also, in 30°C if a day gets hot unexpectedly, I’m still comfortable wearing the same base layer, it seems to have some magical way to thermo regulate.

Also I have to mention the rain jacket, it is a huge winner. It’s incredibly light & can fold up so tight it takes up little space in your jersey pocket. I live in Andorra in the heart of the Pyrenees where the weather can change exponentially in a heartbeat. No matter how cold or wet I can become suddenly, I know I’ll always be perfectly warm & dry if I have the rain jacket with me.

Do you have a technological “mentor”? Somebody with an extra special equipment knowledge who tutors you to be smarter about what equipment you use, clothing you wear, food you eat? What is the most important lesson you received from this mentor?

Like with everything I like to trust the experts. From them I’m able to get a good idea of what could potentially be the best thing to use. After that I’ve learned that what’s most important is to ensure it works for you, so doing a final round of testing to gain your own knowledge is critical in making the final decision on what to use. Obviously, the same things don’t work for everyone, some things work for most people but at the end of the day we’re all individuals.  So basically, my mentors are the leaders in the sporting industry, both on the athletic side, & the scientific side.

When it comes to Q36.5 it’s the same relationship as with other industry experts. I trust Luigi [Bergamo, founder of Q36.5] to suggest what he believes is the best & then from there do the final assessment myself.

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