What is the best pro team kit ever? I’m talking team kit only, not a leader’s jersey, national team jersey or the national champion jersey. Not the worst either, for those are legion and worthy of a much longer article than this. @wiscot and I exchanged emails about Urs Freuler and the fantastic Atala kit which led to quick discussion of best kits. He threw out Skil Shimano and La Vie Clair as kits to consider. It’s hard to disassociate the kit from the rider. Maybe the Orange Molteni kit would be rubbish if Lord Merckx didn’t own it for years. It’s also hard to come up with a great modern kit: too many sponsors, too much sublimation. Were wool kits nicer? Maybe they were in their simplicity, maybe more iconic. Sky’s kit was a excellent change for it’s uncluttered design and in years to come we may look back on it with as much admiration as we do a Molteni kit. But since that reedy weed Froome killed my VSP hopes recently, that jersey is dead to me, forever.
Here are a few nice ones. I’m sure I’ve left many nicer ones out. Let the arguing begin.
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I'm partial to the Brooklyn kit myself... I found a jersey last year but alas I had to return it because it was too big for me, and they didn't have any smaller available.
Wow! Great thread! I agree with whomever said early 80's Renault Elf. Classic. Also, Bugno in Chateux D'Ax was soooo classic to me. But, if driven to choose just one, it would have to be La Vie Claire, hands down.
Great kits in my opinion:
-- Credit Agricole for its clean colors. It stood out without being garish.
-- 7-eleven for similar reasons, but for the life of me and I can't understand why they sponsored a team when they didn't have international stores.
-- ONCE in yellow, but their pink at the tour was an eye sore
@Dallas
@ wiscot: money on the Flandria kit, i loved that one too!
Sorry, any answer other than Mapei is wrong.
I have been very reluctant to join up with a local team/club I sometimes ride with because their kit is so awful. Busy and ugly. They requested redesigns, I based it on a Banesto jersey I have (not pictured above) and they said it was too plain, looked like too many others. Yeah, well, I know it looked like another one! And, plain is classy!
Oh well, I'll have to be content to bomb around in the V-jersey!
i can't believe I didn't think of 7 eleven sooner
@Ron
Yeah, I think the problem partially stems from "design by committee", where if you try and make everyone happy, it winds up being just crappy all-around.
Pro teams have pro designers, which helps a lot. And look at Frank & co., they work with KRX10 and get professional-quality work for the V-Kit items. I'm sure many small amateur teams suffer from letting the "guy who knows photoshop" on the team do the design. I've seen a few good ones around here recently, though.
@EricW
I like the Rapha Sharp kits as well, pink is always a good accent color.
Plus with Rapha doing the next round of SKY kits, hopefully we'll see some new design inspiration injected into the pro peloton.