The Reason for the 2nd Kit

[Plawless]

It turns out that that I have done a poor job of explaining the rationale behind the new "race team" kit. It is not in any way meant to "divide" us. It is meant to provide a way to service the Spinnakers sponsorship (and hopefully leverage that into a multi year deal ).

Basically Spinnakers gave us a bunch of dough with an idea of sponsoring a race team. They wanted a Race Team and I thought that was an awesome idea and that we could provide a uniquely TS version. The Spinnakers brand needed to get major recognition due to the level of their funding so it seemed to provide a great opportunity to mix it up with the kit but stay true to the TSC argyle.

Being TSC however we couldnt just set up some sort of elitist team. We decided to use the $ that Spinnakers gave us to promote the Junior program of TSC. Instead of the racers taking the $ and getting free travel / race fees for events they were going to anyway we felt collectively that the TSC way of doing things would be to instead use the money to provide coaching to our juniors and the High School League. (Personally I feel this has been awesome and a giant chapeau to the folks who turned down cash in order to help the youth program - very cool folks!)

I regret that the timing of this race gear was so close to that of the latest club order. It was not anyone's intention to cause any unhappiness (after all that is the exact opposite of TSC!). What we will make sure we do is before the NEXT kit order we confirm all of the sponsors (and maybe look for some more) and make sure that everyone knows the plan for kit going forward.

Ok, there are the mea culpas. I am hoping that this post doesnt spur a whole lot of other commentary but at the same time if anyone is unhappy with the "old" kit they just ordered please talk to me about it (especially if you are an XL!).

-Peter
plawless@jsg.bc.ca

[Rolf]

I am hoping that this post doesnt spur a whole lot of other commentary.

You're not trying to stifle dissent, are you? The great thing about the forum is that it lets us all wade in and retrospectively pick apart decisions made in good faith by "the club".

I kind of doubt that we'll be able to sustain two different kit orders going forward. I wonder if anyone would order the baby blues given that there's this new, swishy, black option for gear? Any superfans of Galen's trendsetting, genre-bending easter egg design feel differently? (I may be completely wrong -- and the "racing" nomenclature may not be welcomed by our strictly rec riders.)

One consolation to the folks who unloaded a pile of cash on the latest order could be that they will be in possession of a soon-to-be-limited-edition kit that may be coveted by new Tripleshotters for years to come. Buddha knows, I've spent the odd ride staring longingly at the inceptive "Belgian", red/black/gold kit.

[JohnT]

Thanks for the explanation Peter. That makes a lot of sense. I've always liked the blue and will continue to wear it when I'm not racing. Indeed, I'd much rather be in light blue during our early morning, and often dark, rides than in black. Also, it means that people who don't benefit from the racing funding, don't have to wear the advertising. Way down the road, there's even the chance of multiple Triple shot racing teams. Blue for the club, and different sponsorship kit for different teams. NASCAR does something like that don't they?

John

[4827north]

Okay, time to get that order form out for us!

I think the popularity of the orders will speak volumes as to Josh's major hit on fresh and fitting design. The nice thing about the black is we can wear basic black shorts and still blend in. So, if you need to save a bit of cash, or have a really snobby ass like mine that favors Assos (once you've gone Assos, there's no going back -- no wonder their slogan is 'Sponsor Yourself'! cheap b**tards!)

I pretty much want to order at least one of everything that Josh has on his picture. It's that cool! The argyle completes it. Had we lost the argyle, it would have been a day of mourning.

So, how about that order form?

Great job, guys!

Brad