Need your input...help on the way!

[tiggywinkle]

Dear Ladies,

I am in the process of designing clothing for our cycling kind.

Having been utterly dissatisfied and competing for sometime I have taken on the challenge. What I need from you is your input and desires for competitive and casual riding clothing, as well as your needs for comfort, proper fitting and anything else you would like to add such as pocket placement, zippers, etc. Let's hear it.

Feel free to e-mail any thoughts you have. Please be detailed. It would be helpful if you would describe what kind of cycling you do, i.e., strenuous, casual, spinning, or mountain biking.

I feel strongly we should look and feel good!

Thanks so much. Tiggywinkle!

[Irulan]

Book recommendation The Entrepenuer's Guide to Sewn product Manufacturing by Kathleen Fasanella. This is the bible to suceeding as a "designer", how not to make stupid mistakes that will cost you $$$ etc. You may be interested in the Design Entrepeneur web site, where you can order the book

Design Entrepeneur Yes, I think the author is an excellent mentor and teacher, but NAYY otherwise.

As for my specific concerns and comments regarding cycling clothing.. my biggest complaint is price point . I mean, $129 shorts? Give me a break, I dont' care how good the chamois is.

I understand that a certain amount of R&D goes into developing proprietary products and fabrics. But at the same time, I think $60-75 for a jersey top is ridiculous, and I refuse to pay it. How about a line of jersey for a $45 price point? That would be awesome.

Also, what's being sold as technical wear is a joke sometimes. For example, yesterday I was looking at these mountain biking jerseys my friends had (fox brand) Well, the fabric snags on everything, from the velcro of armor to little sticks. Not a very good match of fabric to end use. Or, most women's baggies are just too short. You have to buy men's to get a long inseam.

There is a huge gap in the market for plus sized cycle wear.. not my problem but it crops up pretty regularly as a gap in the market.

just my 2¢ of course


I"m not going to email, this is a board where things should be open to discussion by the group if it's posted to the group. IMNSHO of course.
Irulan

[Sparrow]

I'll second Irulan on the plus-sized wear, and it is my problem at the present. I'd dearly love a choice for road shorts other than Terry or men's shorts. I don't mind paying a bit more money for a decent short, but I'd like to have a few to choose from. I'm out there pushing down lots of road miles in hopes of being able to order "normal sized" women's shorts one day and being stuck with poorly fitting shorts gets boring (and sometimes painful).

[yogabear]

That is so awesome that you are going to design some cycling clothing. What an awesome adventure.

I am mostly a road cyclist, but I do mountain too. I hate it when all you see is the overly girly stuff with flowers and pastels. But, I don't want to wear the guys' stuff. There needs to be a happy medium or at least more color choices.

Also, I like more of a "racer" type of style or look, but not with a lot of logos, etc. I also get annoyed when some of the bike catalogs show these non-biking models looking all seductive on their bikes...it's kinda funny.

I understand too that brands vary in sizing, but why is it some commpanies have the size small as size 0-2? Ugh! I always thought a small was a size 4-6 or 6-8. Just my gripe though.

I think comfort should be first, followed by performance, and then, style. But, on the other hand, I think you can have all three if there's options in color. It seems like all the colors out there are either pink and purple type of colors or red and blue. Color is a big thing for me when buying cycling clothing. I tend to hate the busy prints too, but don't mind more than one color in my jersey.

Just my 2 cents...congrats on the new venture and good luck too.

[Irulan]

What she said about logos, for the most part I hate logos.

Now, I love bright colors and girly stuff, but then I mountain bike with a bunch of guys, and as the minoirity I do it just tweak them.

I second nice "basic"
colors also.

and let's not talk about sexy models overstuffed into thier sports bras draped over bikes with a come hither look....
I guess that's a marketing thing.

irulan

[tiggywinkle]

Ladies,

You all are wonderful. I really appreciate any information. I agree many things you have written....keep it up!

[snapdragen]

Know what I'd love, bib shorts, but designed somehow (and I don't know how) to make potty stops easier. I love my bibs (especially now that I'm "puffier" than I should be) because of the no waistband thing. But potty stops are a pain, you practically have to undress.......

Maybe straps that hook like overalls, or with velcro?

[trekchic]

I have been looking for a line of clothing that meets the "new cyclist who doesn't want everyone to think she's a new cyclist"! You know what I mean? The "real cyclist" wouldn't be caught dead in some of this stuff.........it should be marked for newbies! haha!

Seriously....how about sleeveless tops with light colors... I like caribbean colors!... with a built in REAL sports bra? I like the T-back top, too. How about longer length on the tops, that come past the waist area for those of us who don't have perfectly flat stomachs? No elastic waist band on the tops either. I don't mind logos.......how about one that is about women's cycling?

As for shorts, I am still looking for the perfect pair. I don't like them really long, but not really short either. I wish they didn't make you sweat so much! Is it necessary to make them out of lycra and polyesther instead of cotton? I do know that a seamless chamois is a necessity! I don't particularly care for bright colored shorts unless it is a stripe on black or navy shorts. I definitely don't like the "blue jean" look! haha!

Good luck!

[wavedancer]

I would really like to see more jerseys with built in "shelf bras" so you don't have to add another layer. I really like to be visible on the road, so more bright colors, forget the pastels.

[JDom226]

The plus size thing is very important. When most cycling manufacturers consider a size 12 an extra large it knocks a large majority of us out of buying their products.
Also, if you do built in shelf bras, please help out us well endowed girls. Sports bras at a reasonable price in a 40C are very hard to find. I know there are people larger than that out there that would like to find something that fit and was attractive. The stuff out there now looks like something that hung on my grandmother's clothes line.

[Sparrow]

I'll second JDom226 on the bras, speaking as a (currently) 42DD.

[melissam]

Please keep us smaller folks in mind too.

It can be frustrating when a size small or x-small is either:

A. Still too big
B. Not made by the manufacturer
C. Not carried by the stores

Good luck in your venture, TiggyWinkle!

-- Melissa

[yogabear]

I agree with Melissa.

[bounceswoosh]

Which brings up something that's always bugged me about, say, pants.

Men, who have very straight bodies, get pants with actual *gasp* measurements.

Women, who can come in very curvy shapes, get pants with ... a single number. A number that varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

If you really want to help women out, skip the small/medium/large BS with the marginally-reliable sizing charts and just give measurements. boob, waist, hip, inseam ... whatever makes sense for the product. Then offer to make custom versions in different dimensions for a fee.

Not to pick on TE, but it's a good example. The sizing chart depicted is the same whether you're looking at Pearl Izumi pants or Primal. But Primals fit smaller. And Primal jerseys fit tighter than most jerseys.

Just do us a favor and give us the numbers.

[pedalfaster]

Plus-sized ladies:

You gals say you want bike clothes. I've been buying and selling bike clothes for ~10 years now. I have a hard time convincing size 10's into Lycra, fer pete's sake.

Now, perhaps TE is blessed with amazing women with confidence to spare. But I guess I would really really like to know what you really really want when it comes to work-out wear (beside the super-supportive sports bra that doesn't look like your grandma's LOL--ok we gotta work on that!).

So are we talking about "baggies" here? Or skorts? What about jerseys? To get the full effect of "wicking" fabrics they must be pretty ...unforgiving. Is that ok? Or should they be looser? Comfort over performance? Or the other way around?

And to answer Twiggywinkle's question:

I've raced and I like very-
small-sized men's clothing best. Voler does a good job. In fact if you want the "perfect length" bike short just do women's shorts at the same length they do. Racers are a probably a "bad" market: we tend to get our clothing for free and we are pretty much built like small men.

Personal requirements include: bright, don't-hit-me colors, technical (wicking) fabrics, long zippers, three DEEP pockets, shorts(bibs are best) with small waist/hips and big, wide,non-binding leg-grippers. I *have* to have a separate sports-bra/jersey. Those all-in-one dealies are IMPossible to change out of in a parking lot!

If you have no bike-industry experience a part-time bike shop job would give you mucho marketing insight in a short amount of time.

And oh yeah, I'm in favor as "numbers" as measurements over ambiguous sizes as well.

Here is a bike-industry joke to lighten the mood:

Q: Wanna know how to make a million bucks in the bike industry?

A: Start with four million........


*Groan*, I know. Just came off of 6+ hours on concrete at the LBS. Sorry if I'm a bit crankkkyyy.