I just received some samples from Spencer Smith and Dave at Planet-X Bikes…
As some of you may know, Spencer is starting a new clothing line called S2…Here are my initial thoughts:
Fantastic customer responsiveness…From Email discussion to samples received in 7 days (from Europe)
Top-notch choice of materials…A nice mix of lycra and some “mesh-like” sublimated material. The “shorts” have thicker lycra and then lycra thickness adjusts throughout the garment to meet specific support/cooling needs.
Seams…Absolutely runs circles around many companies (on par with Craft or Assos). Very well reinforced without placing seems in “trouble spots.”
Cut…Solid…Good arm holes, nice supportive feel. A little “short” in the torso, but just barely (I have a longer torso).
Zippers…Not YKK, but still solid. Work flawlessly one-handed.
Chamois…A mix between the thin (almost useless) fleece found in LG and the super-swank Oomph! Kilhuea Compression chamois (which is almost too much for running)…In short, a very good chamois for long course athletes.
Sublimation quality…Excellent. Crisp colors and lines. No bleed-over at all.
Leg grippers…Silicone leg grippers feel nice.
Arm holes…Just right. It always amazes me how many companies have trouble figuring out arm holes for tri suits (I think this is because many companies think a tri suit is simply a cycling skinsuit with a crappy chamois and the arms cut off).
Pockets…My only gripe is that they are really high on the back…I suspect Spencer will either educate me on why this makes sense or he’ll work to make adjustments. However, they are very tight and nothing bounces around…Very nice for running with a Fuel Belt bottle.
Once again, this is just a positive note to say the other companies better watch out…Between the customer service of Dave at Planet-X and the quality of these garments, there will be a strong new player in the Tri Clothing market.
Spencer is off to Italy for a 5 day vist to the manufacturer to iron out a few fine details before he gives the final nod to production garments , weve been working on most items for around a year now and the samples you received were Spencers last set of samples . .
Funny that you spotted two of the key points to sort - namely tri vest is going to be longer , and pockets on trisuit are going to be lowered ! So top marks for observation .
Hopefully by next Friday Spencer will have made the last few tweaks and were up and running and will be offering full custom sublimated clothing , with a simple to follow , easy to understand and straightforward to order process .
However given the usd is plummetting against the euro its certainly going to be top end , though as always you have to pay for quality !
no not at all , dont see why 220 will be the first
kit should be ready to go from next week , there are a few teams / clubs already in line , and as soon as weve ironed out a last few glitches , nailed down some final prices for the garments , should be up and running in a matter of weeks .
I thought 220 would be the logical choice as the only tri mag in the UK, is it to be launched in the US first, then? Interesting to hear your timeline as my team will be looking at new kit soon.
I thought 220 would be the logical choice as the only tri mag in the UK, is it to be launched in the US first, then? Interesting to hear your timeline as my team will be looking at new kit soon.
“When do we get to see it in the US? Will Zed Sport have it available?”
Will be available from S2 clothing - which will be run by Julian Lewis of Lewiskit in the UK , and in the USA by the main man himself , working closely with Julian .
Dave,
No problem. The quality is really nice so I don’t think most teams will sweat the prices (of course, I haven’t seen the final price so I could be wrong).
Let’s face it, tri clothes are hard to do well…Spencer’s experience going long is clearly reflected in the uniform quality and design. For those of us who will be wearing the uniforms for 9+ hours on race day, the attention to detail in S2 clothing can make the difference between a uniform you don’t notice and one you can’t wait to take off.
Hopefully, my teammates will agree and Ironheads Triathlon Team in Portland, Oregon will be the first U.S.-based team sporting S2 kit in 2007.