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***NEW KIT***
As some of you may know I've been talking to another kit supplier about getting hold of some good racing kit for the club that's a little more affordable than the world tour Endura stuff.
It looks like we'll be building a stock of jerseys/shorts and a couple of skinsuits for the racing cyclists in the club. With more and more people representing the club in races one of the problems we stumbled across last year was that getting hold of "premium" level kit from Endura halfway through the season if somebody damaged their kit and needed a jersey to wear in a race where they were representing the club. The current stock only has the standard jerseys and shorts which are not a great fit for racing in and can get a little uncomfortable and pretty smelly rather quickly. As an example, I wear an XS standard fit jersey so that it doesn't flap around. I'm not an XS sized human being.
The solution that I've come up with is to use a company called tmgpro who are based in St. Albans. They've been making kit for a lot of clubs of recent, including CC Luton (who some of you may know). As I see a couple of Luton riders on a fairly regular basis I've had the chance to see a fair bit of the kit, I've also had some samples from the company for a couple of weeks, and can say that the quality is excellent.
Neil Wass, who rides for TMG Horizon and is a keen racer runs the company. He's great with kit development, constantly tweaking things and sending them back to the factory and designing new jerseys and shorts etc. One of the samples I've had has been an aero jersey that is basically like the top half of a skinsuit with 3 pockets in the back and a very aero cut. It's a great bit of kit and much cheaper than actually buying a skinsuit so if you happen to slide off in a race in it it won't cost you the earth to replace! Anybody who races either on the road, in crits or on the track will understand that sometimes accidents happen regardless of the level at which you race and you can find yourself wearing about half of what you started the race in. Replacing expensive WT kit can get a tad pricey, so this is where the tmgpro kit comes in.
The idea is that there will be a stock of racing fit jerseys (around 10), some bibshorts and some skinsuits of various sizes. These will be there for anybody that wants to replace stuff halfway through the season with priority given to the riders representing the club in races. So far, the kit will only be available in adult sizing (sorry!). Just to make sure that there's no misunderstanding, all kit will need to be bought, there will be no kit given to any of the club members for free. It's a club not a team...
There will be an order going off soon and ANYBODY that wants anything can get in on it, not just the racers. This is the way that the ordering system works with tmgpro.
They have 2 different factories that make their kit for them, both based in Italy.
Asolo line:
The Asolo factory is a big operation, churning out huge amounts of kit for clubs and teams all over Europe, the standard of this kit is great, from what I've seen. The pricing is very reasonable (the pricing for the jerseys ranges from around 38 quid to 55 quid, prices TBC). They have a minimum order of 10 pieces and a lead time of 10 weeks. This is not flexible as they're such a big outfit. I'm hoping to get the majority of the stock order from here, if we have enough pieces to allow us to buy 5 skinsuits for the order (ie 5 more orders for skinsuits from club members).
Vincenza line:
The Vincenza factory is much more flexible, with no minimum order but a standard delivery fee of 60 quid, so the bigger the order, the cheaper the kit works out as the delivery cost will be spread evenly across the pieces ordered. Again, the quality is very high. I was out in a thermal jersey made by these guys today and it was excellent, only needed a base layer and it kept me warm for 4 hours at 5 degrees and didn't get sweaty with hard efforts (plus I ended up stood by the side of the road for 45 minutes and didn't get really cold till about half an hour in. Winner).
The items available from the factories (depending on order numbers) are pretty standard, ranging from aero jerseys to standard club fit jerseys (short and long sleeved), roubaix jerseys, gilets, windstopper race jerseys, windstopper jackets, full thermal winter jackets, various levels of bib-short with various different pads, skinsuits with and without pockets, bib-tights, 3/4 length bib-knickers, all the accessories such as caps, warmers, overshoes, buffs etc. All sorts. Watch this space for a definitive list of items with confirmed pricing in the near future.
It looks like we'll be building a stock of jerseys/shorts and a couple of skinsuits for the racing cyclists in the club. With more and more people representing the club in races one of the problems we stumbled across last year was that getting hold of "premium" level kit from Endura halfway through the season if somebody damaged their kit and needed a jersey to wear in a race where they were representing the club. The current stock only has the standard jerseys and shorts which are not a great fit for racing in and can get a little uncomfortable and pretty smelly rather quickly. As an example, I wear an XS standard fit jersey so that it doesn't flap around. I'm not an XS sized human being.
The solution that I've come up with is to use a company called tmgpro who are based in St. Albans. They've been making kit for a lot of clubs of recent, including CC Luton (who some of you may know). As I see a couple of Luton riders on a fairly regular basis I've had the chance to see a fair bit of the kit, I've also had some samples from the company for a couple of weeks, and can say that the quality is excellent.
Neil Wass, who rides for TMG Horizon and is a keen racer runs the company. He's great with kit development, constantly tweaking things and sending them back to the factory and designing new jerseys and shorts etc. One of the samples I've had has been an aero jersey that is basically like the top half of a skinsuit with 3 pockets in the back and a very aero cut. It's a great bit of kit and much cheaper than actually buying a skinsuit so if you happen to slide off in a race in it it won't cost you the earth to replace! Anybody who races either on the road, in crits or on the track will understand that sometimes accidents happen regardless of the level at which you race and you can find yourself wearing about half of what you started the race in. Replacing expensive WT kit can get a tad pricey, so this is where the tmgpro kit comes in.
The idea is that there will be a stock of racing fit jerseys (around 10), some bibshorts and some skinsuits of various sizes. These will be there for anybody that wants to replace stuff halfway through the season with priority given to the riders representing the club in races. So far, the kit will only be available in adult sizing (sorry!). Just to make sure that there's no misunderstanding, all kit will need to be bought, there will be no kit given to any of the club members for free. It's a club not a team...
There will be an order going off soon and ANYBODY that wants anything can get in on it, not just the racers. This is the way that the ordering system works with tmgpro.
They have 2 different factories that make their kit for them, both based in Italy.
Asolo line:
The Asolo factory is a big operation, churning out huge amounts of kit for clubs and teams all over Europe, the standard of this kit is great, from what I've seen. The pricing is very reasonable (the pricing for the jerseys ranges from around 38 quid to 55 quid, prices TBC). They have a minimum order of 10 pieces and a lead time of 10 weeks. This is not flexible as they're such a big outfit. I'm hoping to get the majority of the stock order from here, if we have enough pieces to allow us to buy 5 skinsuits for the order (ie 5 more orders for skinsuits from club members).
Vincenza line:
The Vincenza factory is much more flexible, with no minimum order but a standard delivery fee of 60 quid, so the bigger the order, the cheaper the kit works out as the delivery cost will be spread evenly across the pieces ordered. Again, the quality is very high. I was out in a thermal jersey made by these guys today and it was excellent, only needed a base layer and it kept me warm for 4 hours at 5 degrees and didn't get sweaty with hard efforts (plus I ended up stood by the side of the road for 45 minutes and didn't get really cold till about half an hour in. Winner).
The items available from the factories (depending on order numbers) are pretty standard, ranging from aero jerseys to standard club fit jerseys (short and long sleeved), roubaix jerseys, gilets, windstopper race jerseys, windstopper jackets, full thermal winter jackets, various levels of bib-short with various different pads, skinsuits with and without pockets, bib-tights, 3/4 length bib-knickers, all the accessories such as caps, warmers, overshoes, buffs etc. All sorts. Watch this space for a definitive list of items with confirmed pricing in the near future.
Comments
Also, it'll mean that there will possibly be more orders in the year, so if you miss one the next may not be so far off.
For now, I'd happily listen to any opinions on here and when I'm out on the club runs, so please let me know what you think! Also, it would be good to get an idea of anybody that would be interested in enhancing their wardrobe with a little more CCA blue.
Check the tmgpro website for some pics of their kit...
I'll have a chat with you and get a few bits ordered.
If you're curious, come and have a look!
I'm looking to get an order off ASAP so would be good to see what people think sooner rather than later.
Ta!
The prices here are ball-park figures. They may change by a few quid here and there depending on the size of the order and level of discount we will be given.
Jerseys:
03230: pro jersey, full zip, bioceramic. £54. This jersey was the sample that I had at the club night, pro cut with a full length concealed zip and slippery material on the front, It also has a reflective strip across the bottom of the back and around the ends of the sleeves
VR001: aero race jersey. £46 The other sample that I had last night, it has a very high cut front and tight chest so when you're in the riding position it is as aero as possible, very similar to the top half of a skinsuit with a 3/4 length hidden zip and 3 back pockets. Much cheaper to replace than a skinsuit if you slide off in a race
ST0200M: SS Jersey, race fit (similar to the WT or premium endura fit) £52
SB0200M: SS Jersey, silicone gripper, 3/4 length zip, club fit (similar to the standard endura fit) £36
SB0202M: SS Jersey, honeycomb material, full zip, club fit £40
Jackets:
ST0400M: winter jacket zerowind. This was the (rather popular) thermal jacket that I had at the club night, a snug fit, warm jacket with a high collar, 3 back pockets and a zipped valuables pocket. windproofed (therefore a little shower resistant too) £80
ST0250M: the medium thickness jacket that I had at the club night, windproof membrane all over, 3 pockets + zip pocket £65
ST402U: packable rain jacket £68
ST0300U: packable mesh back gilet £48
Bibshorts/tights/knicks:
05272: anatomic bibshort with banded thigh and printed braces, the sample that I brought to the club night. The braces on these shorts are very comfortable, similar to the sportful "total comfort" range of bib, the gripper around the thigh is a 60mm elasticated strip, very comfortable. £51
***For the above bibshorts there are several different pads that can be used. The prices quoted are for the 3rd most expensive pad, which I've used on some long rides and found to be comfortable. The highest end pad will add around £8 to the price of the item and is a bit thicker, with a softer material closer to the pad found in the premium endura shorts/skinsuits. There are male and female specific pads, please specify which pad you'd like in your order (Pad 1 being the top of the range, Pad 2 next one down and Pad 3 the standard pad, add a W for the female specific pad).***
SB0700M: standard club bibshorts, club fit £42
ST0701M: Thermal bibknicks (specify male or female) £62
ST0706M: Thermal bibtights (specify male or female) £60
Skinsuits:
ST0800M: Men's skinsuit SS. £69
ST0801W: Ladies skinsuit SS. £69
ST0804M: LS Skinsuit, thumb slots, cutaway neck, 60mm leg gripper and 1 central pocket in the back (low down, to keep it aero). £80
ST0805M: SS Skinsuit, cutaway neck, 60mm leg gripper and 1 central pocket in the back. £70
08137: SS skinsuit with 3 pockets (minimum order, 10 pieces. This item will only be available if there is enough interest) £74
To clarify, the last three skinsuits can be purchased with either a female or male pad.
Non-roadie gear:
SF1624M: FreeRide Short £47
ST0254M: FreeRide SS jersey £35
ST0252M: FreeRide LS jersey £40
Accessories:
SB00U: Summer cap - Sublimated £15
SB00U: Neck Buff £12
SB0900U: Armwarmers £22
SB0911U: Legwarmers £26
SB0903U: Chrono overshoe £18
SB0904U: Winter overshoe (not waterproof) £32
SB01U: Bandana £14
SB05U: Under helmet hat £12
SB07U: Winter hat with drawstring £13
12117: summer mitts (minimum order 15 pieces, again this will only be available if there is enough interest) £25
12115 winter glove, windproof (minimum order 15 pieces, same as above) £35
For the above, any piece of kit with a prefix of SB or ST can be made up in a child's size with the cost being the same as the adult piece but minus VAT. Kid's sizes are age 6-7 (116cm tall), 8-9 (128cm), 10-11 (140cm tall), 12-13 (152cm tall), 14-15 (164cm tall). 16 and up are recommended XS (which will include VAT in the price).
Tmgpro are providing kit for the women's race squad at Bonito Squadra this year, so there is plenty of women's kit available. If you're interested in finding out more about this, whisper me a message and I'll find out what I can.
Right now, if you want to order some new kit whisper me on this thread with what you want (including the code). When I have the complete order I'll be able to calculate the exact costs of the kit. Payment can be made in the usual ways.
The ST0800M sinksuit still has one pocket in the back, it just doesn't have the long grippers on the legs and has a full collar, not an aero collar.
The ST0805M is basically a slightly more fancypants version of the 800, with a cutaway aero neck and long grippers on the legs instead of conventional silicone grippers.
If you want to amend your order let me know!
Sorry to be a pain before I've even joined, thinking about it I better to order more summer orientated kit as the order will be arriving in march. Can I change my order. I'll stick with the Men's skinsuit SS ST0800M, but instead of tights go for SB0700M: standard club bibshorts, club fit £42 and instead of winter jacket I'll go for SB0200M: SS Jersey, silicone gripper, 3/4 length zip, club fit (similar to the standard endura fit) £36 and ST0300U: packable mesh back gilet £48.
I was hoping to get out with the club for a few rides prior to 2015, but have a hernia op on monday, so will be rehabing for a little while.
Kind Regards
Dave Mitchinson
07970080234.
Thanks,
Steve
The bad news is that everything else (which is coming from the VICENZA factory) is running very late. Sounds like they've had a slight meltdown in Italy and not got anything to work properly so the order is not expected to leave Italy till April the 4th.
Yep, we're all disappointed and no one more so than the guy who runs tmgpro who was making noises about not using this factory again because of this order. We're not the only club that he feels he's let down, there were several orders from several other clubs and teams which are running behind too.
So, your patience will be rewarded with... an apology. Sorry!
If you need your shorts and jerseys for races ASAP please whisper me and let me know. It's fine to pick them up when you can, you will have to pay for your complete order when you pick them up though and pick the rest of your kit up at a later date. Does this work for people? Whisper me and I shall sort out the invoices ASAP.
Ta
Payment can either be made by cheque, cash or BACS payment to the club account using your name and the word KIT as a reference. If you pay by BACS (sort code 20-41-12, acc number 20382167), email me immediately at will@ccashwell.com and let me know how much you've transferred. Without a confirmation email I won't be able to give you your kit!
Although the complete order hasn't come through yet if you could pay for all of your items in one payment you can pick up what I have here. The rest of the kit will be here by the second week of April. I'll desperately try and get it all here for the club night, but can't promise anything (it's somewhat out of my hands). Please don't make a payment till you have received a message from me telling you how much you owe.
Thanks for your patience!
Is there anyone who will be picking kit up from Will and will also be going to the Hardriders on Sunday morning, who could pick up my skinsuit please? I can't get over to Will beforehand.
If anyone is and can, please whisper me.
Thanks,
Chris