LFGSS 2013 T-shirts (may even be ready in 2012)

I'm fat.

No, I am fat!

Is it too complicated to propose narrow sleeves on twinky versions and suitably roomy sleeves for us clydesdales?

Can't we do it how we did the original T-Shirts? Made a great thread if nothing else.

I personally think you should get/commission a design that can be on sale permanently through the forum, for a simple T-Shirt in the usual sizes ant a reasonable price.

Then hold an in Forum competition to come up with some designs for what you have proposed for the higher end product.

I like the comps because it's great to see how others feel about particular designs. I also think the forum jersey is a great design. It's different to all the other jerseys out there. Just like lfgss is different to every other cycle forum

The problem with a basic always in-stock basic T-shirt is the material and sizes.

I despise heavy cotton. Bamboo is better as it wicks, doesn't smell, doesn't cling, is cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

But the bamboo OTP shirts do not come in adequate XS and XL sizes. The companies that produce them just make slight variations of mediums.

The XL crowd like Gildans for the size. But the smaller Gildans have a horribly tight neck. Perhaps I have a fat neck (15 1/2 inch), but I don't think it's that bad. Gildans feel suffocating, so when it's hot the heavy cotton and tight neck is horrible.

OTP blanks result in me trying to do the right thing by all sizes, and ending up with a mix of cotton and bamboo shirts. Which results in needing to re-label to keep them consistent, as well as having communication issues about telling people why there is no XL bamboo.

Then there's the printing. Small quantities are damn pricey. The only way to make money from T-shirts is to print 50-100 of each design. Lower quantities create real problems in how many you sell to make profit, and re-runs have the same overhead so if you do 3 re-runs you still might not make the money. So you need the confidence to order a higher enough number, and know that they will sell over time.

The result of that is that producing my own blank to get a consistency of material across well-sized shirts starts to look surprisingly worth while.

If I can make 250 blanks in the same colour (black), I spread the cost across all designs and can ship them all off to one place to have them printed.

My research shows that this is actually possible. Order three batches of 50-75 shirts in different colours and materials pushes the cost up to the point that I could get 1 colour and all sizes in a material of my choosing.

Bamboo is really nice. It's lush.

But then, I purchased a DriRelease shirt recently to test that, and that's pretty lush too. Much to the amusement of my girlfriend I wore it for 4 days in a run (including 2 days of riding) and the thing still didn't smell, and still looked like new (no creases even from wearing a bag).

So I'm leaning towards a wide range of well-sized black shirts on a DriRelease poly/cotton blend.

This should actually produce a much higher quality shirt, and even with some extra touches to it, I should be able to bring the unit cost to about £8 per shirt.

Printing costs would vary according to design, and then whack a bit on for designers and we're above £10 definitely, shy of £15... so a £20 retail is still a good price for what should hopefully be a high quality shirt at a reasonable price.

To note: Condor sell a Creux ( http://www.creuxcycling.com/products/t-shirts/c-crank-tee-black ) DriRelease T-shirt for over £40. So you'll be getting a lot of shirt for a really good price, though I may not load it with every feature that Creux have to ensure the price doesn't needlessly escalate.

Anyhow how to choose designs is the question.

Nothing wrong with in-jokes, I wouldn't wear anything too po-faced.

^ This... is the problem with competitions.

Although I was disappointed when the forum jersey was released*, I think commission is a good way to do it. I just hope that with commission x3 there would be a design I like and would want to wear.

*not exactly disappointed with the design, I think it's good in its way, I just wouldn't wear it. disappointed that it wasn't something I liked.

Although I was disappointed when the forum jersey was released*, I think commission is a good way to do it. I just hope that with commission x3 there would be a design I like and would want to wear.

That's why I prefer to commission several designs.

Designers are best when they have freedom to do 100% work that want.

It may not be perfectly what we individually all want, but subjecting them to design by committee kills creativity.

I was figuring that with a few commissions, we should have enough to choose from.

Fuck choo saying 'bout my skills, Willis?

^^^^^Now this I would wear!

shall we have a poll on comission or competition to begin with?

I despise heavy cotton. Bamboo is better as it wicks, doesn't smell, doesn't cling, is cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Hi Boss,

This is your forum, and you have the com, I agree with most of what you have said but here are a few thoughts:

Personally, I only wear cotton. Can't stand any of the more "technical" fabrics.

Your spec fits perfectly well with a sports specific top, but T-shirts are not sports specific tops, they are an everyday usually cotton based casual top.

IMHO your specs seem more suitable to a proper cycling top rather than a t-shirt, I'd wager that most forum t-shirts just get ridden around London's famous London.

Just my 2c worth...

Competition!

Because I want to design something!

You'll just cut the sleeves off.

Any chance for t-shirts without those fucking baggy sleeves?
There is nothing fucking baggy about the sleeves...

I'm not sure I would engineer my own garment. All those other companies that make t-shirts already have surely already done the research on how to make them in different sizes already. (whichever ones DMCZone used for the Awesome 531 t shirts are a really good cut and quality, by the way)

On the other hand if the garment will be custom made, this makes my old Nervex Pro lugs design a possibility.

All those other companies that make t-shirts already have surely already done the research on how to make them in different sizes already.
O'really?

Hi Boss,

This is your forum, and you have the com, I agree with most of what you have said but here are a few thoughts:

Personally, I only wear cotton. Can't stand any of the more "technical" fabrics.

Your spec fits perfectly well with a sports specific top, but T-shirts are not sports specific tops, they are an everyday usually cotton based casual top.

IMHO your specs seem more suitable to a proper cycling top rather than a t-shirt, I'd wager that most forum t-shirts just get ridden around London's famous London.

Just my 2c worth...

I agree.

Except we all ride around London's Famous London in our T-shirts and carry bags, and soak our backs with sweat.

I want a T-shirt, that has better technical performance than 100% cotton, yet is a T-shirt first and foremost and not a fabric that is technical in look and feel.

The bamboo worked well here. The sizing was an issue though.

I've been trying out different fabrics with an aim to getting the above... a T-shirt, that happens to not smell and to not stay soaked for ages. But it's a T-shirt... not a technical jersey or anything.

... a T-shirt, that happens to not smell and to not stay soaked for ages. But it's a T-shirt... not a technical jersey or anything.

^That'd be great. I sweat like a bastard and the weekend reminded me why I never normally wear cotton on the bike.

Crispins is the best effort so far.

Would purchase cake shirt.

in-joke tees are the best tees.

lol

The t-shirts are going to be custom made... as in, take a piece of fabric, cut it to size, sew it up, put a label in, etc.

So I'll make them as good as I can after some period of getting people to try various blanks (from existing manufacturers) to get a good idea of sizing.

Not everyone is the same size though, and whilst I'm fine with making a greater range of sizes, within a single size all of the shirts will be the same. If it's common to have people with larger triceps then the sleeves may be baggier if you are lacking in that dept.

I'm lacking in the triceps... I live with it being slightly larger.

Sounds perfect.

Also, big props to BDW.