Dr Sarah Ruggins - endurance cyclist and outright LEJOGLE world record holder - prepares for One Way North (OWN2026) and uncovers a critical biomechanical issue. (8 min read)

MARCH 1, 2026

DR. SARAH RUGGINS: FASTEST LEJOGLE WORLD RECORD HOLDER PREPARES FOR ONE WAY NORTH (OWN2026)

Words by Ed Bartlett
Film by Fergus Coyle

Images as credited

Foreword

In May 2025, Dr Sarah Ruggins set the fastest LEJOGLE time ever recorded, becoming the outright world record holder for the gruelling John O’Groats-Land’s End-John O’Groats route. She completed the 2,700km challenge in 5 days, 11 hours and 14 minutes - the outright fastest time by any rider, male or female.

But what the headline results never show publicly is the sheer physical cost. In the case of Sarah's record, by the time she had finished her record-breaking LEJOGLE ride, she needed hospital treatment for severe saddle sores, caused by cumulative friction and pressure over five days of near-continuous riding.

Despite an extreme challenge such as this inevitably putting severe pressure on contact points, as someone who followed this challenge with both awe and respect in equal measures, I felt that this particular physiological end result was potentially a controllable variable. And, at best, completely avoidable.

Once Sarah had recovered from her ride, I got in touch and arranged to send her a pair of our bib shorts to test. There was no formal partnership in mind at that stage. No social media posts. No quid pro quo of any kind. Just a simple suggestion: try these under duress and see what you think.

Sarah took them straight into a demanding training block in the Pyrenees - long mountain days, extended climbs, back-to-back days in the saddle, and temperatures reaching 40C. If there were weaknesses, they would surface quickly.

Thankfully for us, there weren't any. In fact, the result was quite the opposite - Sarah was genuinely taken aback by the performance, and in particular the consistency of the performance. Because consistency means that kilometre 400 feels fundamentally the same as kilometre 40. And for challenges like LEJOGLE - or the new World Record attempt that is to come - that comfort is not a luxury. It's essential.

Sarah’s eventual decision to work with Kostüme as the official technical apparel partner for One Way North was clearly not driven by brand size, sponsorship budget or potential marketing visibility. It was driven entirely by product performance and shared values. We build in small preorder batches for a reason: it allows us to cut waste and invest significantly more in product specification and innovation.

At world-record-setting level, marketing narratives fade quickly. But good engineering decisions endure. Over the coming months leading up to the One Way North challenge we will give you unique behind-the-scenes access to key events, actions and results, starting here with a particularly interesting topic (and a very interesting result). Enjoy the ride!

Ed Bartlett
Founder, Kostüme

But to the amazement of all in the room, the chamois had retained its full integrity. Pressure distribution remained stable. Performance was effectively unchanged from when they were new.

For an athlete preparing to ride across mainland Europe in under 17 days, that consistency is reassurance.

But as a brand owner trying our very best to increase product longevity to help further reduce waste, it was also a massive rubber stamp not just of our product, but our overall business approach.

You can watch the full film below:

Why Comfort Matters Most At Elite Athlete Level

Comfort is often framed as a consumer concern - something recreational riders look for when searching "the most comfortable bib shorts” or “best women’s bib shorts.”

At elite level, the assumption is different. Performance is associated - thanks largely to the endless focus of marketeers - with power output, aerodynamics, discipline and mental resilience. Comfort is often dismissed as secondary, even indulgent.

In fact, when it comes to ultra-endurance cycling, I'd argue that the opposite is true.

When you are riding for 16 to 22 hours a day, across thousands of kilometres, comfort is not softness or luxury. It is structural integrity. It is pressure distribution that remains stable after repeated compression. It is fabric and chamois construction that prevent tissue breakdown over time.

For an endurance athlete, comfort becomes a performance multiplier.

> If saddle pressure is uneven, power drops.
> If friction builds, inflammation follows.
> If tissue damage begins, the entire attempt is compromised.

The most comfortable bib shorts at this level are not those that feel plush on a short ride. They are those that remain consistent under load, day after day, kilometre after kilometre.

As Sarah prepares for One Way North, comfort is not a consumer preference. It is arguably the single most important controllable factor in sustaining performance across 6,000 kilometres.

And at that scale, comfort is performance.

#EDIT007 And What Comes Next

The bib shorts Sarah will wear for One Way North form part of EDIT007, our latest limited batch. As always, production is aligned closely to demand through our unique preorder batch model, allowing us to specify our products without compromise. You may wonder how it is possible that a small, independent brand you've possibly never heard of before is able to make bib shorts that can make a measurable difference to an elite level athlete. The answer is in the business model. Because when you cut so much waste that you are able to spend double - or even triple - on your product specs, it is perhaps less of a surprise that their performance is exceptional. If you are new to Kostüme, you can read more about the benefits of our business model here and more about the making of our bib shorts here.

This is Part One of a wider One Way North series. In the coming months, we will share more from inside the preparation process: equipment decisions, recovery strategy, mental resilience and final checks ahead of departure.

Supporting Sarah on this project is not about marketing or visibility for visibility sake. It is about a unqiue alignment between athlete, equipment and intent, and a chance to show that can make history.