We’ve seen some impressive cycling kits over the years, with the Peewee Herman skinsuit and jean short overall bibs being two of the favorites. But the limited edition Sugoi Ted King Lumberjack kit may just log roll them all.
Why? It’s the details, like printed buttons that look so real it’s hard to even notice there’s a zipper there instead. And denim-like printed panels on the shorts. Add in the matching beanie cap and arm warmers with a maple tree print that say “Tap This” and you’re getting close to the best kit ever. But what really pushes it over the top is on the bottom…
Leggings like hiking socks and shoe covers that look like boots. I had to do a double take on these, they look like the geniune article at first glance.
Sugoi has completely revamped their glove collection for 2014. They borrowed design and padding tech from their shorts to give them better moisture management, vibration damping and overall comfort. Just like most modern chamois are seamless, there’s a seamless liner on the inside of the palms. The Formula FX (road, left) and Formula XT Full Finger gloves use thin gel padding under the meaty parts of your palms with a small auxiliary pad at the base of the thumb. The XT gets touchscreen-sensitive fingertips, too, as well as lightweight but durable synthetic mesh tops that are color matched to their clothing kits.
Not shown, there’s a leather palmed premium model, also with gel padding, called the Formula FXE. Pricing ranges from $40 to $50.
We’ve seen most of the men’s line earlier this summer and last year. We even saw these bathroom-break-friendly RS Pro women’s bib shorts. Just unclip the bottom of the straps from the front and the cross-tummy strap lets everything raise up without the straps falling over your shoulders and making for a very difficult re-dressing. The design allows for enough slack to let you pull down the bottoms in the seated/squatting position for unencumbered potty breaks.
What we didn’t see were some of the really fantastic women’s cycling jerseys and fitness apparel:
The jerseys range from basic to high tech, mostly mirroring the men’s versions’ technical features but in a female friendly cut and colors/designs.
We hadn’t seen the Sugoi fitness collection before, but it looks really good. The Verve hoodie is a real standout, but all of the pieces featured some nice details. The shorts and tops all have scalloped reflective details wrapping around the sides at the shoulders, waist and leg openings. Whether you’re riding or running, they’ll help keep you visible.
Bottoms range from boy-short style tights to knicker tights, with t-back and t-shirt style tops.
They also had a collection of print jerseys just for fun.
