Our shop is ordering custom triathlon clothing for the '03 season. I’d like to get your opinions and feedback on which brand of cycling clothing you feel is nicer: Louis Garneau or Sugoi. Any thoughts and opinions?
It’s like when Mom used to ask if I wanted apple pie or cheese cake, the answer will always be “yes, please”.
Have owned both as cycling shorts and various kinds of shirts - as well as a Louis Garneau helmet, nothing but happy things to say about all of them.
Go Canuck companies! (many assume Sugoi is a Japanese company, they are based here in lovely Vancouver)
We’ve had good experiences with both products. The “semi-custom” program at Sugoi seems to have quicker turn-atounds, lower prices and lower minimums. That’s attractive to us. It is interesting that Canadian companies are making considerable inroads in to what was a U.S. dominated market. Remember Tinley clothing? The cotton running shorts? Those were cool.
I love Garneau stuff. Really very high quality. One of my buddies has a Sugoi jersey and he loves it. It looks well made. Call me old fashioned, but the Castelli stuff is awesome as well. I don’t know how you could go wrong with any of those companies!
-Robert
Louis Garneau is my choice. They make a quality product. One other aspect is I think they look and feel better. It is just a perception, but if I feel fast and look fast I might go faster. I like dressing the part for races.
Tom,
You can’t go wrong with either of these! I have used both brands and found the quality of the clothing to be very good. One issue though - the LG stuff for cold weather riding isn’t all that warm. I prefer the PI therma-fleece, personally. 
I’ve owned both, and both have held up under heavy use for far longer than one would normally expect (the collar on my '92 club jacket is getting a little mishapen). I understand that one of the companies is a little easier to work with for custom sublimation, but I don’t remember which… Personally, I think Sugoi gets the edge if for no other reason than LG is a touch more popular. But you can’t go wrong with either.
Of course if it were my choice, I’d go with DeSoto. At least for the power shorts and skinsuits
our tri team just ordered Sugoi tri tops… we went with the semi custom, and while I havn’t raced in them… they do fit really nicely.
David
Although you describe having to make a choice between LG and Sugoi, I hope you also consider Desoto. I have no problem with either of your two choices, even owning some of it, but I think Desoto is the best deal going. Let me tell you why…
Desoto has unparalleled customer service. If you email Desoto with a problem, etc. (which is rare), you get Emilio himself. When you get Emilio, he makes things happen–out of a love for triathlon and triathletes.
Not only that, but Emilio will bend over backward to stand by his products. I emailed Emilio to tell him that the fleece chamois on my power tri shorts was starting to unravel after a year of use. He had me send the shorts in and Desoto either replaced them or repaired them to as-new condition (I honestly can’t tell which)–at absolutely no cost to me. This isn’t an aberration or a one-time deal; this is how Desoto runs his business.
Desoto gives incredible support to triathletes and tri clubs. When I was on the Monterey Military Triathlon Team, Desoto gave us a 40% discount–a standard for clubs at the time. Now, the discount is (I think) only 25%, but it’s still available to a wide variety of clubs. That’s a good deal for the triathletes, who get top-quality tri gear at reduced prices, for the shops who still make money on the Desoto stuff that flows through their shops, and for Desoto–which is moving its high-quality products.
For the down side, Desoto’s line of winter products is fairly limited, which may be a consideration for you in Michigan. Still, for in-season stuff, I think you ought to consider carrying Desoto tri gear as well for your customers.
Without a second thought…DeSoto. All the way Desoto. Fit function style and second to none customer support from a very accessable Emilio. For the record, I don’t know the guy…but I see him firsthand communicating with people one on one. Forced to choose between Sugoi or Garneau I’d say I’m much impressed with my MTB Club jersey and shorts from Garneau and just a tad less impressed with the Sugoi singlet I raced in all year. A SLIGHT nod toward Garneau.
John
Don’t know about tri application but I put several thousand miles on our team clothes and it looks new still.By the way, will we still see that BIKESPORT LOGO on our jersey this year. Cullen
Absolutely, Bikesport supports more triathlons and cycling teams than any other shop in Michigan and will continue to do so. We spent over $15,000 last year on event and team support, not counting the $1000 we gave to the velodrome fund. That is part of what we do.
I love all my Sugoi jerseys. Our club used Louis Garneau this past year and they look fabulous, but quite a few people had problems with seams ripping and had to return stuff.
As for DeSoto, it’s fine but Emilio still doesn’t believe that triathletes come in any size besides really skinny. If I wanted to wear men’s clothing, I’d have a sex change.
Pearl Izumi has tri gear now. Where is Garth? He could comment as the Mad Cows stuff is PI. I love my MC cycling jersery.
when i was shopping for tri clothes earlier this year, i really liked the options and range of product LG made. It seemed that they had a “good look” but were also well made and had the features i wanted (wide shoulders, long zipper, etc)
I am looking into the same thing for some custom sublinated stuff. In the past I have always used Desoto for all of our team orders, and will continue to do so for regular training stuff. Problem is that Emilio doesn’t offer a custom sublimated option, otherwise the choice would be a no brainer.
i associate myself with plumb’s remarks. if you need sublimation, go garneau. if you don’t, easy choice: de soto.
interestingly, for my everyday riding i ride in a sublimated (slowtwitch) cycling jersey by garneau, but instead of the custom sublimated matching garneau shorts i ride in a solid color de soto cycling short. it’s my favorite cycling short, and the electric blue matches the blue in my garneau jersey.
what’s the moral? i don’t know.
Our club went with the full custom Sugoi stuff a little over a year ago and we love it. The first generation stuff had a few design functions we didn’t like (tri-short inseam and the tri singlet cut) and they listened very well to our suggestions and the stuff they offer now is a reflection of that. Darren is the rep we deal with for custom clothing, and you can’t find a nicer guy. He is the guy you see at all the Ironman North America Expos selling all the custom M-dot stuff they supply. They have been a great company to work with and give us a great turnaround on a fantastic product.
Mark Rinaldi
Inland Inferno Tri Club
i agree with de soto. i wore their skinsuit this past season, and was very happy with the wear, considering all the use it got. I bought their 2 piece racing suit about a month ago, but of course havent tried it out yet. I have nothing but good things to say about them so far.
I was given a pair of Garneau tri shorts to try, liked the looks, disappointed with the “endurance” of the fabric. It seemed to breakdown quicker than the usual DeSoto stuff. Gave me a case of the “droopy drawers”.
Everything I’ve ever tried by Sugoi has been top notch, I might add.
One of the big differences we saw with the Sugoi clothing over Louis Garneau was fabric. LG was using a “waffle weave” stretch fabric on the upper portion of their tri suits and most of their tops that I am concerned may make the edges of the graphics look not as sharp as on a more traditional weave fabric. The Sugoi stretch fabric are more conventional and do not use the “rip-stop” appearance, waffle weave fabric. The LG (waffle) fabric seems to breath very well, fit nice and be nice and cool, but we’re concerned about the appearance of the sublimation, especially smaller graphics. I think LA triathlon club was using LG or Sugoi for their uniforms, but I didn’t get a good look at the printing. Comments?