V-Announcements: VLVV Product Line and Long-Awaited V-Casquettes

New Kit design (VLVV) and V-Casquettes

Whenever I drive somewhere in my car, I find myself wondering what the road would feel like from a bike. Driving in a car feels like cheating, especially on a windy day; roads are gobbled up at constant speeds irrespective of the conditions. On a bicycle, you learn what it costs to move up a gradient or ride into a gale.

I slip down into the basement a few times a day to admire my bikes. It is not unusual for me to pull one down from the wall and sit on it and imagine I might be riding it. If I change a component, I’ll bring the bike upstairs for a few days so I can gaze at it and evaluate how amazing it looks. I changed the bar tape from white to black on my #1 once, just to try my hand at what it would feel like to ride with black bar tape. When I changed it back to white a few days later, I felt a visceral sense of relief.

This is more than just being a Cyclist; this is the life of a Cycling Disciple – La Vie Velominatus. It isn’t our sport or hobby; this is our way of life. Everything we do revolves around the bike, whether we happen to be riding or not.

We have long had a Rules-Centric V-Kit available, and today I am delighted to announce a new product line centered not around The Rules, but around La Vie Velominatus. The design concept is simple: a clean design with a nod to the most iconic kit design ever, La Vie Claire. A full V-Kit line including a Witte (white) and Zwarte (black) jersey, a Witte Long-Sleeve jersey and gilet, Zwarte bibshorts, Zwarte Women’s bibs and shorts, and a new V-Shirt.

In parallel to this, I am over the moon to announce that we finally have V-Casquettes coming; one to match each style of kit. They are handmade in Italy by Apis, the premier cap manufacturer in the world and who make the caps for Omega-Pharma Quickstep among others.

The V-Kit Pre-Order window is open as of today and will be closing on January 1 at which time the order will be sent to manufacturing. (Orders may be modified or cancelled any time before January 1 at which time everything will be finalized for manufacturing.) The expected ship date is mid to late February. Please note that orders are shipped in the order they are received.

The Casquettes will be arriving at Velominati Headquarters in the next two weeks or so, depending on whether the troubles in Europe are impacting shipping schedules. Orders will be shipped as quickly as possible once they arrive, but we are not able to guarantee that Casquette orders will be arriving in time for Christmas (although we will do our best). The VLVV V-Shirt is available to ship as of now.

All products are available at The Gear. Please let us know if you have questions or if you are having trouble placing an order.

VLVV.

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

Teocalli says:

Nov 30 2015 at 5:27 am

@Ventorum

Hi guys, just a little question here. What will you do if someone in your area decided to start a group (and possibly a clothing-line) called “Velominati – Trackbike Propoganda”? :D

I'd imagine that unless they sought permission that The Keepers would issue a Cease and Desist notice. I'd also think that it was a pretty inane thing for anyone to do to try to ride off someone else's efforts. This being the polite response.
RobSandy says:

Nov 30 2015 at 5:50 am

@Ventorum

Hi guys, just a little question here. What will you do if someone in your area decided to start a group (and possibly a clothing-line) called “Velominati – Trackbike Propoganda”? :D

Give them a lesson on spelling.
fenlander says:

Nov 30 2015 at 7:17 am

Oooh nice,especially the black.

Might have to wait until the new year though as funds are a bit tight after doing up the Graham Weigh and just bought some of the new club kit as well.
Ventorum says:

Nov 30 2015 at 9:00 am

@RobSandy

Silly me, looks like it's me who needed a 4th grade spelling lesson :)
They are locally based and I don't think they knew the grandness that is Velominati. I think I'll just contact the admin and give them a heads up :)
Ron says:

Nov 30 2015 at 9:46 am

Ah, caps!!! Awesome.

I rarely find myself trapped in an automobile, but yesterday I spent 10 hours traveling back from a T-Day visit to the parents. I spent most of it looking out the window at the various farm lanes and country roads running alongside the highway, wishing I were riding a bicycle.

Doesn't help that we also pass through the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I have yet to ride. I was thankfully a little less envious of it, as the fog was extremely heavy.
frank says:

Nov 30 2015 at 10:43 am

@Ventorum

@RobSandy

Silly me, looks like it’s me who needed a 4th grade spelling lesson :)
They are locally based and I don’t think they knew the grandness that is Velominati. I think I’ll just contact the admin and give them a heads up :)

It's hard to believe they'd accidentally make up the same word we did? Definitely not OK to take the name, but also it's always flattering to be imitated.

We actually already have a pilot racing team in Portland, OR - the kit is very similar to the classic V-Kit. If they are genuinely interested in racing under that name, the vision for the team is to extend the clubs across the world; we would define the kit design and manufacturer, and the sponsor's logos are placed on the jersey.
frank says:

Nov 30 2015 at 10:44 am

@bea

@frank

@frank

@bea

Seriously? Women get shorts? Not bibs?

Thanks for the feedback! The overwhelming feedback I get is that the ladyfolk don’t like having to disrobe when going to the loo; but I will add a bib for the women and we’ll see if there’s any interest. It should be up a little later today. Cheers!

Women’s bibs are now online and available.

Waaaw! That’s service!

I pretend to be ‘one of the guys’ and actually have no idea what women wear. But I definitely prefer bibs over shorts, even with the (very) occasional undressing in the wild (and strangely enough almost always in winter).

Nice kit!

You appear to be right; the Women's bibs are already on the move.
Mikael Liddy says:

Nov 30 2015 at 1:43 pm

@JohnB well as a general rule it treats any site with a .cc suffix the same, seeing as the majority of those are cycling sites, I'm pretty sure it's just a productivity measure to ensure I don't get too distracted.
JohnB says:

Nov 30 2015 at 3:13 pm

@Mikael Liddy

@JohnB well as a general rule it treats any site with a .cc suffix the same, seeing as the majority of those are cycling sites, I’m pretty sure it’s just a productivity measure to ensure I don’t get too distracted.

Bastards!
chris says:

Nov 30 2015 at 3:42 pm

@frank

@Ventorum

@RobSandy

Silly me, looks like it’s me who needed a 4th grade spelling lesson :)
They are locally based and I don’t think they knew the grandness that is Velominati. I think I’ll just contact the admin and give them a heads up :)

It’s hard to believe they’d accidentally make up the same word we did? Definitely not OK to take the name, but also it’s always flattering to be imitated.

We actually already have a pilot racing team in Portland, OR – the kit is very similar to the classic V-Kit. If they are genuinely interested in racing under that name, the vision for the team is to extend the clubs across the world; we would define the kit design and manufacturer, and the sponsor’s logos are placed on the jersey.

The flattery would be greater if their site wasn't one giant morass of rule fails...