LAP Project 001: Certified Armor in a Race Suit for $369
LAP Project 001 integrates certified D3O armor into a modular race suit. At $369, it's real protection for road and gravel — if the fit works for you.
A race suit with certified back, shoulder, and hip armor sounds like motocross gear stuffed into lycra — but LAP's Project 001 ($369) takes the opposite approach. The D3O® inserts stay soft and pliable until impact, then stiffen to absorb force, meeting EN 1621-1 and EN 1621-2 Level 1 standards. Every pad pops out in seconds, so you're not hauling extra grams up a climb when protection isn't the priority. For gravel racing especially — where 30 mph descents meet loose corners and zero runoff — the math on skin versus rocks gets uncomfortable fast. LAP's founder raced UCI Gravel Worlds; he built this for that calculus.
The modular design is the real appeal for anyone juggling multiple ride types in a week. Full protection for the Tuesday night crit, stripped down for Saturday's climbing PR attempt, same suit. No batteries, no CO2 cartridges, no activation sensors to malfunction. Armor integration depends heavily on how the suit sits on your body, and LAP offers no try-before-you-buy option — just a 60-day pre-order window. Riders between sizes or with unusual torso-to-hip ratios are rolling the dice. For everyone who's left skin on pavement and wondered why cycling protection lags twenty years behind skiing, this is the first serious answer that doesn't ask you to sacrifice speed.
