Categories: KitLa Vie Velominatus

V-Kit: Zwarte, Witte, Winter

When we designed the V-Kit in the winter of 2010, we thought we’d arrived at the ultimate Velominatus look. But, as it turns out, Spinal Tap Black isn’t for everyone. Apparently, not every climate is like that of the Pacific Northwest, where a heat advisory is issued when the mercury hits 30C (85F) and businesses close when it dips below 0C (32F). Evidently, some places get a touch warmer and colder than that.

Just like having a perfectly curated stable of bicycles ready for each and every possible weather condition, year-round Rule #9 Cycling Awesomeness requires the kit to support it. Which meant that we needed to expand our kit options. With each season comes a different array of requirements. With each climate comes a different set of boundary conditions. Each requires a different bit of kit, and all of it needs to be Rule compliant (though the very fact that any of this is being discussed begs the question whether Rule #5 isn’t being violated in heaps) not to mention that every bit should work in perfect harmony with every other bit.

It is with this objective in mind that we present you with three lines of Velominati V-Kit, Zwarte, Witte, and Winter. (I’m disappointed that Dutch doesn’t have a more exotic word for “Winter” than “Winter”. For the Love of Merckx, would it kill us to put a “V” in there somewhere?)

The obvious place to start is with the easy stuff. The first addition to the V-Kit family was the Long Sleeve V-Jersey, which was released earlier this year; a no-brainer, really. Next came the Obey the Rules Arm Warmers released in the Spring, an even less-brainer than the LS V-Jersey. Based on the realization that there is nothing more disappointing than covering up that beautiful V-Cog on your chest with a garish YJA when the weather turns unexpectedly nippy, we now have the V-Gillet; an uninsulated lightweight wind & waterproof vest that stuffs down for easy storage in your jersey pocket.

Then things got complicated, and leave it to KRX-10, our genius V-Designer, to ask distressing questions that reveal how poorly thought-out our concepts were. Why were we offering a second kit, aside from the obvious reason that the community is asking for it. What was the purpose of a white kit? Would it be a revision of the black, or is it an entirely new design? How would it relate to the overall identity of Velominati? How would it work with the existing V-Bibs? Would we make adjustments to the black V-Kit to better support the white? Would we add V-Bibs specifically designed for the white V-Jersey? Would we only offer them in defined configurations, or would we design it with the flexibility to mix and match? Finally – and perhaps most importantly, what would we call it?

Obviously, the answer to the above questions are somewhere between “9” and “yes”. An all-white V-Jersey is paired to all-black V-Bibs in what we are calling the Witte V-Kit. While the black Witte V-Bibs* are designed to go with the white Witte V-Jersey, they look smashing with the original (now re-named) Zwarte V-Jersey; the women have been rocking this combination all season with the Women’s V-Shorts. Conversely, the Witte V-Jersey looks dapper as fuck with the original Zwarte V-Bibs.

We leave you with the choice: Zwarte, Witte, Winter. However you choose, choose wisely and choose carefully. Place your order by midnight on September 15 for the next V-Kit shipment, scheduled to arrive in early November. If you have already ordered the V-Kit and would like to switch your order to the Witte Kit, please contact us.

*Please don’t attempt to distract us with the observation that “Witte” is the Dutch word for “White” and that the Witte V-Bibs are, in fact, black. They are named in parity with the intended full kit, not individually.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

G'phant says:

Aug 30 2011 at 1:21 pm

@Gianni
More significantly, did you see he snuck another of those fucking Adilettes into the frame again?
VeloVita says:

Aug 30 2011 at 1:24 pm

@Nate
Looks like Giro got those right in this iteration. The previous version (Giro Lusso) of the white gloves had black palms that stained your hands after a sweaty ride, not to mention what they did to white bar tape. I don't know that I'd rock the beige with anything other than a wool jersey however.
Minion says:

Aug 30 2011 at 1:35 pm

@G'phant

@Gianni
More significantly, did you see he snuck another of those fucking Adilettes into the frame again?

Hey hey hey! At least he stands behind (and on top of, hur hur hur) the things he buys. Am yet to see any photos of your helmet mirror, Bretto has a camera don't he?
Nate says:

Aug 30 2011 at 2:07 pm

@VeloVita
Yeah, best feature is having tan lines on the back of my hands again, just like I did as a kid when I first started riding and spent my allowance on a cheap pair of old skool gloves with cotton net backing.
sgt says:

Aug 30 2011 at 3:49 pm

@Nate
Sorry Dude... too much padding, and I hate the velcro straps. I like Frankie's Aero gloves better, except for the wrist thing. And the Forma Reds look OK, but at twice the price of the Silverlines?

I don't think so!

@Ron
C'mon out! The Santa Ynez Valley has some awesome riding!
Ron says:

Aug 30 2011 at 4:54 pm

Holy shit, Buck Laughlin was an outstanding character. Fred Willard is great. I saw "Waiting for Guffman" in high school and then proceeded to watch is dozens of times again.

Nice work, sgt! Alright, if I visit my brother sometime this fall I'll try and arrange a visit. I have hopes we'll have a strong network of Velominati spread out across the globe so that when each of us travels all we have to pack is pedals, helmet, and kit and we can get some riding in. That would be awesome. A global V-Team. As it is now we have Seattle, Idaho, western Canada, HI, NZ, eastern Oz...and more.

As for gloves, my favorite pair are some really slick rainbow crocheted ones from prendas. Not that well made, but they're just for special days. Curious about the Giro The LX mitts, look great, have very similar ones (forget the maker) that have not held up well. I do have some PI mitts that are going on five years old and are in fantastic shape. Killed me to pay $45 for them (was only a nascent Follower) but they look brand new. That's a strong statement for mitts.
Nate says:

Aug 30 2011 at 5:10 pm

@sgt
If your hands are so fussy about gloves, refer them to Rule V. BTW I really should get down your way some time to check things out.

@Ron
Where in Cali is your brother? In the Bay Area myself.
Marcus says:

Aug 30 2011 at 5:57 pm

@frank

@Cyclops

@sgt

@frankWould socks be asking too much? I know the minimums are beastly for socks, but they'd be the icing on the cake.

I've been nagging him about socks too. Actually Champ-Sys minimums for sock is WAY lower than the Sock Guy and the like. I know it would be Champ-Sys but how bad can you screw up socks?

Have you ever worn good socks? Change your life. Shit socks? You'll get blisters and other things that we really don't need to be getting on top of all the other suffering we go through.
I'm waiting for samples from Champ-Sys, actually. They also now offer a cotton cap; although one of our community member's mother has sent me a home made cap which is the complete bomb-digity, which means we may be offering a hand-made cotton cycling cap. How cool is THAT?
The Champ-Sys shit has to be good enough to carry The V-Name. I've also implored Castelli one last time to go easy on the minimums, and am waiting on a response.
The items we'd like to add, Merckx-willing, are socks, gloves, and caps. Like I said, I'm waiting on Champ-Sys which have better numbers (both qty's and price) and if they are good enough to carry The V, we may see some more products showing up in the near future.

Having bought a bunch of different sets of gear through Champ-Sys, my take is that their bottom of the range (super cheap) stuff has a commensurate level of quality. In terms of socks, the cheapest ones were pox - the expensive ones have been pretty good.

You get what you pay for...
eightzero says:

Aug 30 2011 at 6:03 pm

Fookin' ride time.
RedRanger says:

Aug 30 2011 at 6:09 pm

@Steampunk

@frank
I was mostly referig to the gloves. If the socks aren't Castelli I can live with that. But gloves should really be Castelli. I feel strongly that the cap should be as well but I can live with a non Castelli cap.