When Kits Were Cool
The modern day Pro cyclist has many disadvantages stacked against them by comparison to their forefathers. They have to ride plastic bikes with little or no distinguishing character or discernible caché; they must willingly or perhaps unwittingly subject their body to an array of questionable “training techniques”; and they have to spend every waking hour poncing around in public wearing gaudily coloured outfits plastered with a myriad of logos, half of them (thankfully) not even readable. No one wants to be a the face of gastric reflux relief, no matter how glamourous it sounds.
How they must wish they were born long ago, in a simpler time, when bikes were made by artisans, not robots, and they were shiny and classy, much like the automobiles of the same era. When the only substances they need ingest came from a decanter, and they could enjoy a quiet smoke along with their tipple. And they certainly long to be able to wear a long trenchcoat and Aviators on the way to the podium, or a crisp single-breasted suit with a smart Trilby, perfect attire for lounging after winning a Classic, or attending a Gentleman’s Club, rather than wrapped in nylon and dipped head to toe in fluoro paint and topped off with something more commonly seen at Yankee Stadium.
Just look at these pillars of style. They never had to fear the beginning of the season, when their DS would toss them a few plastic bags and tell them “this is what we wear this year.” They knew exactly what they were getting; solid colours, no fancy fonts, the main sponsor easily read in bold lettering, and black fucking shorts. There was no apprehension when moving to a new team about what hue of pink or aqua or yellow they would be subjected to. They knew hey were going to Look Fantastic.
Unless, of course, they’d signed for Atala.
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next years club/team kit design is the topic of today’s meeting….. hoping for primarily black shorts!
@fignons barber
Yup, it must have been kinda tough to to be a badass with a wee teddy bear on your belly. The awesome Z-Peugeot kit was for kids clothing but rocked.
Kits are still cool
@Owen
@JohnB
I bought the DAF top and it is great (it also goes well with our club colours so I can wear it with club shorts and , as someone said, it looks like I am the ‘club champion’ :) )
@RedRanger
SOMEONE GIVE THAT MAN A PRIZE!
Oh, wait, I’m the one who gives out prizes around here. @RedRanger, +1 badge goes to you!
@brett
Yes, all you need to do is have eyes.
@frank
Best kit ever. Is that Jean François Bernard?
Not sure about this though:
How does all this talk about wearing team kit, retro or not, square with Rule #17?!
@The Grande Fondue
No, that would be a young Andy Hampsten.
@Bespoke
It seems much of the discussion has been around the merits of the kits themselves, as opposed to a non-pro actually wearing them. However, as the rule’s description indicates, wearing pro team kit is questionable but not a contravention of the rule.
Here are some guidelines I have gleaned from other Velominati, if one does go down this route: the kit should be from a defunked team (at least 10 years), it should only be worn while riding a bicycle of the same era (no Frankenstein mashup of parts, and please for the love of Merckx no fixie conversions) and the kit should be Awesome (as with a good suit, you should be wearing the kit and not have the kit wearing you).
As to what constitutes Awesome, clearly that is the debate at hand – even among The Keepers.
@Nate
It’s Museeuw. No rules apply. He makes the rules. We follow them.
@Bianchi Denti
In the hairnet days, the shades were applied first, then the harinet – as a last resort just before crossing the finish line. Outside Belgium, it was usually discarded prior to the finale, which made having the shades inside the straps a very practical thing. Racing in Belgium was enough of an afterthought that the shades-over-the-straps Rule didn’t really become part of the culture until hardshells became more prominent and permanent.
Looking back at the Heroes of the Past, I’d say that any given rider’s ability to adapt to Looking Fantastic in a helmet is directly proportional to their generation. Fignon looked a fucking tit in a helmet, but always looked fantastic prior to wearing one. Jan Ullrich bridged both, but then you have the modern rider and they are generally able to figure the game out.
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@Ccos
Spot on about the functional downside of black kit. Last year, we had all black too which looked Fantastic off the bike, and received approving comments on a regular basis. But they got lost in a sea of black at every race. This year we added a field of light blue to the lower section on front and back. Much easier to spot. Old and new on Labor Day (and yes my teammate up front with the EPMS was soundly chastised before the ride):
@frank
Indeed; although AH’s exploits in the 7-Eleven kit were awesome as well. So one POV is that it’s OK to wear a kit from a team defunct >10 years. How about wearing the kit when you meet the guy who actually wore it (AH in brown sweater, me in my AH tribute jersey with a bike his brother built for me with their name on the DT and AH’s picture on the ST)? Does it make it better when the former pro has signed your jersey when you got to hang with him the summer before kids you about some guy having scribbled on your jersey?
Oh, besides the 7-Eleven I’m fond of La Vie Claire, Molteni ala Merckx, Brooklyn ala De Vlaeminck, Flandria ala Maertens, early iteration of QS-whomever ala Tommeke (blue w/white, white w/blue), PDM ala Dutch dopers (and Kelly, and LeMan)…. Something about classic jerseys.
I find myself of two minds on Mapei — sometimes I like it a lot, other times meh. Current stuff I like Lotto-Belisol. Not much else speaks to me….
@Optimiste Great response. Thanks!
@JohnB
Yeah that turned me off too. Those stripes mean something.
From Peleton Magazine. Photograph by KÃ¥re Dehlie Thorstad.
I think this kit is quite nice, assuming one is the British champion of course. I’m not fond of the translucent jerseys, but I understand that Spain can be rather warm this time of year so I’m willing to let it slide in this instance.
@JCM
Peter Kennaugh is indeed the current British champion. From memory he was recently awarded an MBE by @Gianni for excellence in field of fabulous shoes and socks.
Assuming he’s on the way to the Vuelta team presentations or a stage sign on, those sun glasses are fucking awesome as well.
If I was to stray from the path and forego Rule #16 or Rule #17, that kit would be the one.
@Optimiste
I’ve got a Cervelo Test Team kit from the days before I found the one true path. In terms of quality, fit and comfort it’s probably one of the best I’ve got but for all of the reasons above it will only ever get ridden on the rollers in the garage.
It’s also the light grey/white summer version and I’ve no idea how transparent the rear panels might be but after spending a few minutes behind a chap on a group ride in France last week who’s bibs showed every ‘rse hair, I couldn’t dream of inflicting that on anyone. (I recalled @franks advice on how to cope with riding behind bikes with fenders and promptly returned myself to the front of the group and upped the pace to attempt to erase the mental image through hypoxic suffering and lactic acid).
@Teocalli
Looking good there mate! I trust you’re going to turn up like that on Sunday!
I’m so very sorry but…
…I just couldn’t help myself.
@Chris
And shorts and jersey. That lad has some style. Yep, those sunglasses are smart too.
@Gianni
Almost Coppiesk?
@RedRanger
Who photoshopped out all the screaming fans?
@Chris I had the very unfortunate experience of coming face to face with a bloke in that lederhosen abomination in Italy recently. Even more scarily, he probably weighed in at a little over 18 stone. That coupled with his Project One Madone certainly made him stand out from the crowd, in a bad way.
@Deakus
No doubt about it, Kennaugh looks fantastic! He has one advantage though: riding for a team with few sponsors means they can go with the full, old-school bands and not have to dick around with the design it to accommodate a dozen sponsor logos. For evidence, look at all the US Champions jerseys.
@Deakus
Wow, that is such a lesson in how to be Deliberately Casual. I agree with you Deakus; I can almost imagine that as a black and white image from yesteryear. He’s probably got Hugo Koblet’s comb in his jersey pocket. Certainly showing some of his team mates the way.
@wiscot
Their Ridleys look awesome too.
Another blight is the scourge of charity ride jerseys. Big ups for the charities but they’re usually shocking colours and overdone with logos.
@wiscot
I may be wrong and I can’t find a reference but… I seem to recall that national federations can set rules, or at least have a big say, about national jerseys.
Hence the French jersey for example is your basic tricolor, whatever sponsor names or logos it has, and I think the Brits are pretty strict as well. The Italians obviously caved in to Astana, but then Italians and style have a tempestuous relationship.
Although yes it does help that not only is it a team without 17 sponsors but their kit is designed by Rapha .
@Chris Gutted that I can’t make Sunday. Had it all planned to do the middle 100 from the stop after Bakewell. Unfortunately H has had to go up north to sort something relating to her Mums house rental (her Mum is in a care home). So I can’t get a drop off/pick up. Doing an Imperial Ton Saturday down to and over the South Downs tomorrow by way of penance.
It’s mostly all here.
@Rom
Agreed. I regularly ride various charity events. The free t-shirt is often bad, but the ride jerseys are often just hideous. Probably because they are designed by a well-intentioned volunteer with no knowledge of the history of the sport or any semblance of a grasp of aesthetics.
@Teocalli Damn, I was hoping you’d turn up in V-Kit and do a quick ton on my bike whilst I had a snooze in the back of your wife’s car. Or at the very least you’d tow me for bit.
Enjoy your Imperial (proper) ton on Sunday.
we should set up a spring cogal
@Chris
Ha Ha – I doubt I could reach your pedals! I was planning to be as much of a sacrificial tow for you and whoever else was around. Shame, I was looking forward to it.
Agree re the Spring Cogal – also planning on a 1 or 2 day cross Channel Cogal if folk are interested.
@Teocalli Stage Cogal – now there’s a thought.
That said I might be keeping my multi day, overseas options open in case there is KT15.
@Chris
With those shades he does seems to be doing his best to channel Cioppi?
@Mike_P
Thats the hard thing about us normal folk looking fantastic. We (I really mean me) have to drop the extra weight before anything will look close to fantastic. I don’t think it would matter if you lederhosen friend was wearing the most bad-ass jersey shorts combo ever. At 114kg nothing’s going to look Fantasic. Even if he was a bodybuilder it just wouldn’t look right, let alone fantastic.
We need more 2014 Lotto-Belisol.
@RManneck
Lotto Bellissimo.
And Bellissima…..
@frank
Even when given seemingly perfect opportunities Fondriest struggled…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maurizio-Fondriest-Laurent-Fignon-Giro-1989.jpg
@century0fakers
This’d be genuine badass; Rule #16,
Staying Classy! Our club kit gets a few nice comments
Modelled by two of my better looking team-mates en-route to the 2014 Grand Depárt in Yorkshire
and here is the picture (doh!)
@simonsaunders
That is nice! Riffing on Sky kit, but understated and smart. Are there two versions? One with the horizontal band, one with vertical?
@sthilzy
This picture exudes so much awesomeness, I’m kinda speechless! How many cumulative wins? How much history? How many legendary rides? We shall never see their likes again, that’s for sure.
Actually, I think they’re laughing because it’s almost mid September and Wiggo has raced about 35 days this year so far. These guys had that in their legs by early May back in the day.
I’m partial to this shot: