A Visit From HackneyGT

This week we had a visit from Russ, the charismatic ‘geezer’ from the unashamedly East London clothing company, HackneyGT. After an initial dabble in flamboyant cycling jerseys back in 2010, Russ took things back to square one in 2015 and announced that from then on, that all HackneyGT clothing would be made in the UK. And while not all of the confident-looking colour schemes are for everyone, we applaud the firm’s search for UK-made suppliers wherever possible.

HackneyGT was setup by Russ, when he was looking for a cycling-based occupation after years of worldwide, world music DJing. While the focus is more on the cross country and mountain bike racing things, we reckon there’ll be a few things here that the bolder of you might like. How about…

This leopard spot training top is fleecy backed, with rear pockets and a not so subtle design

Years of pioneering World Music DJing has left Russ with a deep love of Brazilian and South American music

Going by that jumper, Russ isn’t shy either

Here’s a peek at the new bibshorts, featuring the best Italian chamois pad (no one makes chamois in the UK)

Even the bib straps are printed

We love this base layer print. It can be your little garish secret under that black jersey, eh?

HackneyGT works with some top graphic designers for the latest looks.

The company’s search for UK-made clothing has led to a countrywide quest for the small cloth mills and sewing companies that still exist. The socks below from from a small hosiery factory in Manchester while the bobble hat comes from the last family-owned knitwear factory in Nottingham. And while it might not matter to you where your cycling clothes are made, it does matter to some riders – and that’s who the company wants to appeal to. Oh, and you can’t be afraid of a splash of colour too. 😉
While there are plans for some baggier mountain bike trail gear in the future, it’ll still have to be source-able in the UK, which might affect development times and the overall price.

Socks and bobble hats. All made in the UK.

You’ll be able to see HackneyGT (and us, as it happens) at next weekend’s London Cycle Show and if you want to look online, check them out at hackneygt.com

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)