A few weeks ago I launched a clothing brand centred around photography taken from the riders perspective. It’s taken a while to get to this point, and it certainly hasn’t been as straightforward as I would have liked (who’d have thought?!), but this wasn’t my first attempt at trying to contribute to the cycling community. In fact, my first attempt was a bit more ambitious than printed t-shirts and hoodies.
About a year ago I got the idea to develop a water-resistant riding shirt after realising that I almost always ride in some kind of check-shirt, unless it was raining. So I started sourcing the kind of materials, finishes, and details that were needed, as well as researching manufacturers that could produce to the necessary quality. After a lot of time, and many samples, I had a product that I was happy with, as well as a side of t-shirts that I could offer as well (because you’ve got to have t-shirts!).
The next step was meeting with small shops to see if they’d be interested. Which they were! (It helped that I’d done some surveying to confirm that there was an interest in the product) But they also explained that they only bought from distributors, and not directly from the manufacturer. So that meant meeting with distributors, and that’s where things went downhill… they told me that they only stock “established brands”. So despite my surveying and retailer confidence, they just weren’t interested.
I got a little despondent. But I still had the brand and the t-shirts, which I was still largely confident in, so I decided to carry on with just those. A few changes were needed to make them more interesting, which is where the photography came in. But after a few extra months of work, I’m happy with the result.
I’d really appreciate it if you could check out the site (www.frinje.co) and please give any feedback you can think of. It’s still early days, so I’d love to be able to have the community help shape the brand as it develops, and hopefully in time it’ll offer more than just printed t-shirts and hoodies. But mostly, I just want to know if they look good.
Thanks for reading.
Very nice and understated. Good prices too. I will be getting a couple of those T shirts at the end of the month. Cheers
apart from the stealth advert.
don't like the green on the website (on mobile)
Well done for getting this far, good on you for doing it.
I had a very quick skim of the site, I guess this is what most online shoppers do rather than detailed evaluation. The site is clean and I like your products. I kind of like the zig zag logo which is just as well as it is prominent on every product. If I didn't like it I wouldn't really have any purchase options. Do you think there might be a opportunity for a product with slightly more subtlety to the logo?
Nice work.
There is a typo in the second paragraph (missing 'as' I think) and sentence should be re-phrased (maybe drop 'as well as this..' and just state your environmental policy).
So the technical clothes have been shelved for now? Prob find them more interesting tbh but hoodies / T-shirts look good.
Hmmm tehy're OK but nothing jumping out at me if i'm honest.
I don't care about the climate issues, or that they were made using solar energy, i just want 'nice' things.
Why is the sizing in CM ? they look a bit Fruit of the Loom in a cut/shape context. Which IMO is not a good thing. You want a little 'shape' in the cut i think ? Especially as your target market is cyclists who should potentially be less fat than your average guy.
Needs a physical address and some background info.
No way I'd be buying without any idea of who and where my money is going to.
The logo looks a bit like you are a closet nazi who is discretely rocking SS lightning bolts.
Nice.
Website design goes well with the product, and I like the design of the shirts.
Personally I would only be interested in purchasing technical breathable versions of the shirts. I find it very hard to buy long sleeve riding tops especially that aren't gaudy logo ed monstrosity's, where as nice casual t shirts aren't so hard to come by,
Bookmarked and good luck.
Especially as your target market is cyclists who should potentially be less fat than your average guy
Speak for yourself.....
I like the T-shirts and like the fact they are 'ethically' made. I may well buy one, but sizes in Inches please, as despite being a civil engineer who solely works in millimeters and meters, and log all my runs and rides in KM's, i do not understand sizes in CM's!!
Other than that, keep up the good work.
The logo looks a bit like you are a closet nazi who is discretely rocking SS lightning bolts.
My first thought was that it was an homage to the Grateful Dead!!
Arguably the site is a little complex / artsy for something that is ultimately just selling t-shirts. If possible, it would be good to get the technical clothing developed and available for sale as it would probably be of more interest. Your waterproof shirt in particular sounds like a fairly unique proposition, while as mentioned already, there isn't exactly a shortage of places to get t-shirts & hoodies.
Don't like the misspelled brand name.
Are you UK based? If so, don't like the missing 'and' from the middle of 'Go Explore' or the US spelling of 'Catalog'.
If you're US based, then those two things wouldn't bother me.
Doubt I'm your target audience though, so good luck!
I just saw grey clothing with a picture on it, can't tell the quality from the website but to me they don't look the best.
Can't you offer a more exciting range of colour options? Personally I wouldn't buy grey clothes.
Good luck, I hope it works for you.
You lost me at cyclewear clothing brand that sells only non-technical t-shirts and hoodies.
Price OK
Ethics good
Clothing for riding a bike in - fail
Lastly, if you want to make the imagery on the clothes your selling point, don't make it small and obstructed by your logo.
Had a look but as its all the same there is nothing that takes my fancy.
A few thoughts on the site, and a few on the designs:
- When you land on the site (I'm on an iPhone here) you get a dark grey picture, overlaid on which is some dark grey text. It's as close to unreadable as you can get and it's not clear whether I should click on it. I sat there for a bit waiting for more content to appear…
- …but it didn't. I had to swipe down to see if there was more content and, oh, there it is. Don't do that: put your content right up front.
- The body text is also too low contrast, especially for its small size. There are guidelines for this sort of stuff. You need more contrast and better readability.
- Other than that the site is fine: standard e-commerce engine, so you can't go too far wrong.
- My main thought on the designs is that they're all 100% reliant on your brand, and your brand isn't established. If you don't have an established brand that people will want to display, you need one of two things: either desirable content which you apply your branding to (which isn't the approach you've taken), or branding that has such stellar graphic design that it stands as a desirable design in its own right. Without going into the reasons why, I personally think your graphics aren't good enough for the branding to stand on its own. But, that said, I think you've got a logo which could be evolved into something with more life: the concept's there and I think you could get some versatility out of it; things like softening that zig-zag, stroking everything less uniformly, playing on having different content either side of the zig-zag to make the whole "fringe" concept work, that sort of thing. Plenty of potential to evolve.
I'm inclined to agree with the above comments of it a) all being a bit grey and b) having a nagging similarity to certain undesirable early 20th-century iconography. Deliberately misspelling a brand name is fine, because you need to be googlable, but I can't help thinking "Frijj".
Like others, I'd prefer to see the technical garments than some T-shirts. Kickstarter it, maybe?
Stick with it, though. It doesn't seem like a bad start, all things considered.
Sorry, way too bland for my taste. Also as stated above looks like cheap quality fruit of loom type stuff printed up.
Show some different "cut" garments for slim athletic types and you might catch my interest but not yet...
Great going so far,
1) You say from a rider's perspective, is this your perspective or you've spoken to others?
2) Nothing seems to jump out at me to be honest
3) Your logo on the print itself could be construed to be a stand out for your brand or distracting, for me it's the latter unforuntately
4) your T's really should be technical in some manner... eg Dakine do a great cottonish tech tee not sure what goes into producing it from a environmentally friendly perspective
5) I like your environmental credo but perhaps maybe give your audience more background to this else not sure I believe the hype.
But well done for pursuing your dreams/goal
The highest res photos aren't high enough res for my tastes. I still couldn't really see the photography element.
Otherwise, it looks fine to me (although I don't tend to buy t-shirts where branding is the main element).
Good luck with it!
Not bad but I would like to see the zigzag effect much less overstated as it really negates from the actual pictures.
I wish you all the best with the venture by the way and why not send a sample to STW HQ for a little exposure on the news page?
Good luck with it, but personally I have no interest in non-technical cycling based clothing. As above, I'd imagine that I (and much of STW dwellers?) are probably not the target market? Would there be more crossover with the MBUK-type market? Do you have a target age range?
First off, good luck! If your web business is successful distributors will hopefully start to consider you to be established enough to pick up your brand.
Personally there's too much grey for me. Also I didn't spot the "view all" link on the main page until my second visit, so I initially thought you were only offering 1 hoodie and 3 t shirt designs. Also it seems odd for a web store not to have an "about" page of some sort. I think adding a personal dimension would be a good idea, there's nothing to say whether Frinje is a little startup, an ethically-branded sub brand of some other company, or what. Explain your links to cycling and sell your environmental commitment.
Edit: Oh on several of the product pages if you click on the product image you get a gallery where there's another image available (a close up of the design). Why aren't there thumbnails of each image shown on the product page itself (at least on my browser)? I only discovered this by accident.
Everything looks ok but t-shirts and hoodies are of no interest to me. However the shirt you mention in the OP might but you don't have that in the shop even though you have done all the groundwork?
Cool idea! If you can get Paramo to sell you some of the fabric they use for their “jeans” that would be ideal for a windproof water resistant check shirt with stretch. Mountain Hardwear also do a stretch polyester check shirt, but they’ve very hard to get hold of here.
Might be worth seeing if their factory in Colombia will do a short production run for you?
Haven't Dakine, Race Face and Scott all done technical checked shirts?
I'm sure they did them for about £80 a while back.
Just jumping ahead, the returns policy doesn’t seem very clear. Is it no quibble? Mention is made of checking the size guide, does that imply returns won’t be accepted simply if they don’t fit to the purchasers’ preference or build?
And echoing some of the comments above, they do look a little like a generic t shirt printed up. The laid flat on a surface doesn’t really do them justice if they are better than that. Maybe get a model wearing them?
Zigzag is too harsh, maybe a meandering trail, or even a wiggly line relevant to the photo in question?
The designs are cool, personally I would like a "park" range with big senders in view, would get me to buy some.
Decent prices though
Do you even read any of these comments or were you just hoping to get some sales? I notice your only other post is the survey you wanted completed a year or so ago and you didn't come back with any comments on that.
That logo could be perhaps flipped and angled so it looked like a tree perhaps make it a bit more outdoorsy and a bit less ss'y
Fair shout for having a go at your own business. The website is ok and I like the ethics etc.
Maybe it’s just me, but the colours are all quite dull and the product looks all creased up on the photos which doesn’t lead you to think it’s very high quality - which for £24 for a non technical t shirt it should be.
Personally I wouldn’t wear that kind of design casually (but I’m sure some people would) - technical t shirts / clothing for riding in however I’d be more interested in.
Personally I wouldn't pay £24 for a cotton tee shirt. i might pay £24 for a tee shirt made from some kind of technical fibre but i guess that wouldn't fit in with the ethics of your brand.
Who rides in cotton anyhow? Gets clammy and wet and stays like that!
But it's not cycle wear, just t-shirts and hoodies. Who do you want to buy your products?
Who rides in cotton anyhow? Gets clammy and wet and stays like that!
I don't think it's meant to be ridden it, it's 'codeware' (a name I just made up) like a broken riders tee, if you walk into a akward social situation and you spot someone wearing something like this you know they're probably a rider, they know it too, but you don't have to look like a Div wearing a Monster Energy hoodie (and anyway they could be a MXer the HORROR).
I like the look of the stuff, but the website fails my credibility test.
No physical address, or telephone numbers - hey, why not just spend a couple of quid on a Shopify e-commerce site, take in a few grand and disappear?
The payment logos at the bottom scream dodgy to me - using established brands to try to establish creditability is a known trick of scam sites.
I like the photos but the logo detracts from them. What’s the logo supposed to be?
Zigzag is exactly like the beginning of one of my migraines which put me in bed for a day if I don't get the drugs quickly enough so wouldn't be my choice
Nice site. But you wanted feedback so:
If you’ve gone to the trouble of creating the technical stuff why aren’t you selling that too? If that’s where it all started it should feature, even if it’s a ‘coming soon’ style teaser to tell visitors it’s in the pipeline just to get them coming back. I was only saying today I need short sleeved MTB tops.
You need more than an email address in your contact info, you need address and phone number.
Payment processors don’t need to be at the bottom of the page, they’re only relevant when someone’s looking to check-out their basket.
The logo doesn’t obviously have anything to do with the brand, it needs some king of explanation.
Having read most of the comments above I've just looked at the site again. I suspect there is something a little peculiar going on.
At the start of this thread the op stated that he couldn't get the technical clothing in to shops because he had struggled to get any interest from distributors because he isn't an established business. However, under the news tab on the site is the following.
'After a couple of setbacks (the kind of things that I never expected), I finally reached a point where I was happy with the prototypes. The fit and quality was exactly what was needed, and the fabrics had all the qualities that are expected in cycling clothing.
Unfortunately, the retailers I approached weren’t as convinced. As there wasn’t anything like that in the cycle apparel market, they didn’t want to take the risk of a new product.'
OP, rather than selling fairly generic, relatively expensive t-shirts in an already crowded marketplace, get the technical stuff made up. You've already done the hard work with the prototypes and have an e-commerce site set up.
that is exactly the sort of thing Kickstarter is for!Unfortunately, the retailers I approached weren’t as convinced. As there wasn’t anything like that in the cycle apparel market, they didn’t want to take the risk of a new product.
Also I'd agree re. the site in question, too expensive (for me) for a fairly generic looking, non-technical T. Site looks decent but lack of contact details makes it look like a scam site, and is breaking the law is it not?
100% honestly, I don’t like the graphics. A harsh zigzag of blank going across a ‘view’ makes me think of migraines! The crosses through circle also looks like you’re prohibiting something.
I am a very literal person and very awkward to buy clothes for! I either like a design or I don’t.
Now the good bit. Awesome for you trying to follow your dream/idea through. Most of us haven’t got the balls. Technical material would be what matters for me, though, but this is more of a risk for you, I guess.
Can you hawk your wares at a big event, perhaps? Get a few people talking? Get them to ride in your gear and be photographed doing so?
I’m no marketing guru, mind.....
Seroiusly, best of luck.
I like the site, but just look like generic t-shirts and hoodie with stuff printed on them. I'm not overly fussed by the ethical side of stuff and I wouldn't be paying those prices for something that looks pretty average. I was hoping to see a waterproof cycling shirt, so just hoodies and t's doesn't really make a cycling brand to me. Also made me think how much those waterproof shirts would be. In fairness, much as I love cycling, I don't really care if people know I'm a cyclist or not. So lifestyle brands aren't for me.
I'd like to thank everyone that has commented on the website, and thank you for raising the issues that I'd overlooked (although there were more than I was expecting, admittedly).
An address and phone number have been added to the contact section, as many pointed out I had overlooked.
The whole premise behind starting with just branded t-shirts and hoodies was to build awareness of the brand, before moving on to develop more technical apparel that was dedicated to riding. In all honesty, P-Jay's comment about it being 'codewear' is pretty accurate.
My main take away from this has been the need to add a "coming soon" section for the shirt, and crowdfund it's production. The problem with that is that manufacturers have minimum order quantities, and the one I had planned to use has a MOQ of 300. However, their production times would be about 3 months (that's what they claim anyway), which would mean that the shirts should be ready in time for the autumn! Just to be clear, they'd also have an RRP of £75.
I'd still love to hear any more feedback anyone may have. Especially when it comes to this crowdfunding!
Is the ride shirt coming?
'But mostly, I just want to know if they look good.'
Well since you asked...
Not for me. Bland colours and simple yet cluttered and ultimately boring 'designs'. The photos in the graphic are fairly uninspiring too.
The logo say nothing to me, and it's everywhere. What's the thinking behind it and how does it relate to the company name/philosophy?
But it's not all bad news... seems a few on here like what you've produced so there's a market for this type of thing.
p.s. i'd be much more interested in seeing the tech garments too (but keep the logo small) If you require any design assistance (you really do 😛 ), just ask
It will be now!
It doesn't even work as "codewear" if it's a brand no one has heard of and doesn't scream "I'm a "cyclist". I can go on to SportPursuit and fund no end of little-known brands selling leisure clothing loosely tied to some outdoor pursuit at more reasonable prices.
This guy is called Owen too
It doesn’t even work as “codewear” if it’s a brand no one has heard of and doesn’t scream “I’m a “cyclist”.
This is the challenge you face - building a brand from scratch. Brand awareness takes time to build - look at some brands that people would see and instantly recognise, and then figure out what's needed to get that level of recognition. A brand is much more than a logo (and I think you get this) - what are you going to do to build yours?
Sponsorship? Giveaways? Competitions? Videos?
Can you get people wearing your stuff at events? How about a physical presence at a race/event series? I'm now aware of the Big Bobble Hat people through them being at some of the MTB Marathons. At the World Cyclocross Championships this year there were loads of people in what looked like their hats - something about their branding obviously stuck with me as I saw the crowd and thought "Big Bobble Hats".
"FRINJE (pronounced “fringe”, but we like to be different)"
If you have to point out that you are different then you aren't. This just makes you sound like a try hard, "I'm mad me" kind of person. Very off putting.
The landing page is dull and uninformative - show me something exciting! Maybe some nice singletrack rather than a muddy farm track?
What is your logo? To me it either looks like the edge of a pine tree or a saw blade. Nothing at all to do with bikes. I also find the logo rather unbalanced with too much empty space on the right.
The pictures on the t-shirts are uninspiring. Photo prints on t-shirts rarely work well.........
Get some coloured t-shirts. Grey, seriously?
And if you want to raise brand awareness why don't any of your things have frinje written on them? And if it is cycling based why isn't there anything readily identifiable to do with cycling on them?
The logo needs some work - i'm assuming it's meant to represent a trail up/down a mountain or is it a camera flash logo? But I'm only led to that by being on here and from what you have said. Otherwise it resembles a christmas tree. It needs to be more obviously a trail - the bottom left should be thicker tailing off up to the top, and moved to more of an angle. And there can be less zig zags.
The logo and name don't appear to have any correlation to one another? The name reminds me of a bad haircut. Personally I'd dump the name. and come up with something that echoes photography/moment/trail/mtb/cycling etc. That's not easy, but make it easy to say or memorable.
If you are so keen on showing the photography don't hide swathes of it behind a logo - putting logo's on top of images is generally a no no. I would have the image in a panoramic format across the entire breadth of the t-shirt with the logo intersecting in a knocked out circle at the top left corner of it, but it would only be about 50mm radius at most. If you like the logo large I could see more abstract photography (tire tracks in mud) working if you filled the logo with the image, as oppose to what you have done here where they are both fighting for attention with neither winning.
The photography viewpoint idea would be aided by either seeing some bars in the foreground or a rider in the distance. Otherwise i'm not sure people will get it?
p.s. anyone want one of these?
But they also explained that they only bought from distributors, and not directly from the manufacturer.
Well that’s a lie. How do they get bikes from Giant, Orange, etc? And how do they get components from the likes of Hope? Clothing-wise Sweet Protection we’re coming from Sweet* until recently and i’m sure there will be others. A shop will buy whatever makes them money
*not actually phoning Norway direct but certainly not from a distributor
I clicked on to the site thinking I was going to see a technical riding shirt. I was a bit disappointed to just see hoodies and tees. I think you make have limited your potential sales by not offering female tops even though I ride mainly in men's tops
If you haven't looked already then Sombrio have had some good tech shirts over the years but none have ever taken off which has lead to retailers heavily discounting stock
I like almost everything - the colours (I *love* grey/heather jersey fabric), the logo, and the fact that nothing about it screams cyclist. The ethical side is also a massive plus for me, and unlike a lot of posters I'm not the slightest bit interested in standard 'tech' MTB shirts (i.e. slightly baggy polyester t-shirts).
But - and it's a big but - I'm too tight to spend £24 on a t-shirt. Quite honestly I'd be waiting and hoping you had a 40-50% off sale at some point.
“FRINJE (pronounced “fringe”, but we like to be different)”
Reminds me of the nonsense writing style you get on the side of an innocent smoothy bottle, and such like. Annoying, and I'd guess it must be near the end of the cycle where that is seen as fun and original, if we are not already well past it.
if you want to make the imagery on the clothes your selling point, don’t make it small and obstructed by your logo
And
I don’t like the graphics. A harsh zigzag of blank going across a ‘view’
Those sum up the products for me I'm afraid. The black logo hoodies are ok.
I do like the environment creds but it can sound very clichéd. I'd put a one liner on your home page "all our products are ethically produced " and back it up in depth on a separate page for those that care .
Feels like trying too hard but then I don't go in for marketing guff.
change your size chart to inches, and make some proper man sizes.
46'' in not and never has been xl.
Looking forward to seeing the riding shirt. In my opinion, you need a good core product before merchandise.
I have no problem with the logo or name… people will always moan about such things, and give you the armchair brand expert nonsense. Lots of good advice from other people about the site though… take it on board.
change your size chart to inches, and make some proper man sizes.
46” in not and never has been xl.
Ha To be fair, chest size of 45-48 inches is a pretty standard XL, even for 'generously' cut stuff like TNF.
Mountain Hardwear also do a stretch polyester check shirt, but they’ve very hard to get hold of here.
It's a really good product, and I've struggled to find more (I think I got mine on Sports Pursuits), or a similar product. Personally I wouldn't ride in it, but I do wear it a lot.
...a water-resistant riding shirt after realising that I almost always ride in some kind of check-shirt, unless it was raining
Me too. That bit got my interest. I don't like to have to get dressed in special clothes to go for a ride, just grab the bike and go in my every day gear.
So I immediately lost interest when all you are offering is cotton.
I will not wear anything with cotton in it on a bike. Cotton kills out on the hills.
I would love a normal flannel looking shirt that was windproof and waterproof/resistant. Ditto for jeans, (plus a bit of stretch for cycling).
As for the T-shirts, like most cyclists I already have too many T-shirts from events. I'd sooner wear an event T-shirt than a branded one.
Ordinary hoodies are a waste of time IMO - they are for kids who lurk around street corners. You don't want to be wearing them out on the hills if it rains or it's hypothermia time. Nothing against the style of a hoodie, I would buy a relaxed fit hoodie that was fully synthetic, windproof and water proof/resistant as a pull on for after a ride.
Your site is also too dark and virtually unreadable.
Go back to your original idea, and go direct to the consumer.
You are definitely doing it wrong.
Did you think about telling everyone your not our kind of customer so **** off.
You will sell more tshirts than bikes.
Instant clothing brand.
Me too. That bit got my interest. I don’t like to have to get dressed in special clothes to go for a ride, just grab the bike and go in my every day gear.
I don't really get this. Doesn't your everyday gear get ruined? Don't you get hot/sweaty or wet/muddy after a ride, so you need to shower and get changed into fresh gear anyway? Or is it just a style choice - you want to look nonchalant, rather than getting dressed up in a MTB uniform (which should perform much better than everyday clothes)? Not a criticism BTW, just wondering.
I like the design, definitely something appeals to my eye and the website is good too. But the turn off for me is the prices - £24 for a t-shirt is expensive but I would pay that much for a quality product. £50 for a hoodie is ripping the piss I’m afraid.
RM.
Phil it’s funny because you obviously don’t like the company you allude to (which is cool, horses for courses and all that), yet they have quickly established a brand and an identity, albeit one that not everyone would like.
OP, I don’t like it. Sorry. The shirt sounds cool but doesn’t exist. The t shirt and hoodies don’t work for me. I also hate the misspelt name which has no relevance to anything, and no mention of it on any of your clothing just that bit logo.
In al honesty I looked at your website and then immediately remembered Howies are still around and then quickly went to their website for a better range of better t shirts and clothing.
I completely applaud you for giving it a go. If I were you I’d be at Malverns festival this weekend with a load of t shirts, selling them for way below RRP or giving them out as prizes so that you can reach a bigger audience more quickly and get the brand out there a bit.
yet they have quickly established a brand and an identity
So I'm correct. But without the assumptions preceeding.
If you drop the E off the name, you won't need to clarify how to pronounce it 🙂
Lower case F and the word makes a nice shape and looks a bit catchier/shorter.
Also, might not be too hard to change as its only on the inside of the clothing, so you could sell the existing stock (although I suspect the T shirts are being printed to order somewhere else, you probably don't handle them between the customer ordering and receiving them?)
frinj
I'll gift you the name in return for a Tree Tee in medium 😉 (although I don't actually know if thats the correct size, I saw the sizing table in cm's, so measured my chest in cm's (95) and then noticed the sizing is in T shirt 'width'. I don't think I've ever seen that before...my only real way of checking that is to find a well fitting T shirt, smooth it out on the floor and measure it to make a comparison.
Edit: Awaits lawsuit from frinjcoffee of California...
£50 for a hoodie is ripping the piss I’m afraid.
Isn't £50 about the going rate for a non technical cotton hoody from (albeit established) outdoor brands? Assuming similar quality (yes, that's a big assumption), it doesn't seem unreasonable.
I took a look at the site yesterday but was hungover so didn’t comment. I didn’t think my grip on reality was strong enough to publish my thoughts.
a few things pop out.
shirts are only in grey. I don’t like grey.
the shirts only have found necks. I don’t like round necks.
i think the art needs to be a bit bigger as it currently looks too “vague” and a bit dreary.
dont like the zigzag thing.
The biggest “issue” for me about the site, is the actual pictures of the garments.
theyre all creased and low res. It smacks of someone selling their old stuff on eBay and getting bored by the 3rd listing.
taste asside. This the first and only opportunity to wow potential buyers and for me, it’s not something I can look past.
pleaese take the as feedback, not bitching.
I don’t like to have to get dressed in special clothes to go for a ride
Fair enough...
I will not wear anything with cotton in it on a bike.
Wait, is that not a regular material, I though you just said...
I would love a normal flannel looking shirt that was windproof and waterproof/resistant. Ditto for jeans, (plus a bit of stretch for cycling).
Err... is that not "special" clothing then?
OP, site looks pretty good, certainly better than I could do, if it's you, then stick to your guns (Everyone's a critic, right?) like Tracey I was disappointed that your check shirt wasn't on it. I's be keen to try one, they sound pretty good.
So I’m correct. But without the assumptions preceeding.
I think you probably are, they appear to struggle a little to supply bikes but I suspect they have sold a lot of T's and socks.
I have one of their bikes and four t-shirts so I have only helped to prove you correct.
To develop a brand you need a selling point, eg, your technical stuff. Once people buy that, like it, ride in it, they will buy T-shirts with the brand ("look at me, I ride in Frinj gear"). At the moment there isn't enough in the brand to make it worth anything.
Think of the Karrimor brand. That developed over many years of selling top notch technical gear, and was very well respected. It was sold to somebody who just wants a profit - they are selling ordinary stuff on the basis of the brand value that was acquired by the technical stuff. It won't last, as the brand will devalue, but they know that, once they've taken the value out of the brand will disappear. You're at the opposite end, you need to build the value into the brand.
I know nothing about marketing.
Isn’t £50 about the going rate for a non technical cotton hoody from (albeit established) outdoor brands?
Looking at The North Face website then perhaps I'm being a bit harsh - but a quick look on the Tog-24 and Dare-2B would suggest not... I guess it comes down to paying for a brand? Anecdotal I know, both myself and my other half had some hoodies printed on in small batches recently for clubs we're involved in - neither were over £25 and they are good quality hoodies.
RM.
If I was the OP i'd be worried about this guy's lawyer....
I'm surprised he's not been quicker off the mark.
Like the website, like the tees, it's nice to try to embed brand identity but feel like the lightning logo could be a bit less bold.
Would be interested in technical short-sleeved shirts, that are just like regular T-shirts but I couldn't ever bring myself to spend £24 plus p&p on a regular cotton t-shirt I'm afraid, even if they are made from organic bat tears or something.
I don’t really get this. Doesn’t your everyday gear get ruined? Don’t you get hot/sweaty or wet/muddy after a ride, so you need to shower and get changed into fresh gear anyway? Or is it just a style choice – you want to look nonchalant, rather than getting dressed up in a MTB uniform (which should perform much better than everyday clothes)? Not a criticism BTW, just wondering.
I get it, and I think there is a big hole in the market for more casual cycling apparel.
It seems in this country you either get dressed up like a storm trooper set to tackle civil war in a dystopian future, or a pro-level athlete in full-on gymnast gear. There is very little in the way of tasteful and subtle cycle clothing.
Yes, it might be the right gear for an all-dayer out in the hills, or your local road race. But sometimes you just want to go for a blast around the doors, have a casual couple of hours in blazing sunshine, pop out to the shops, take the kids for a ride, or do all of the above. In the winter I'll be head to toe in carefully considered gear, with everything serving an important purpose. In the summer I begin to think WTF, what am I putting this on for, and some days just end up in shorts and a cotton t-shirt - because there's no need for anything else, and it makes me feel less of as nob. I'd prefer not to wear any kind of uniform when I ride. I wear dedicated clothing when required, and I put up with the available styles because I have no other choice.
Actual dedicated, casual cycle clothing is really hard to find. Doesn't need to be massively technical. Quick drying. Maybe some kind of water resistance. A nice shirt I would take touring, where the only clothes I'd be packing are those I can wear on and off the bike.
In regards to the website:
Product images look like they're shot on mobile phone... Low resolution, out of focus. Whole point of the site is to showcase the products, and a good clear image helps me assess the product. I wouldn't buy based on those images alone.
I quite like the grey though 🙂
Not just the Flash's lawyer...
Rapanui are doing everything you're doing just loads better.
Good on you for giving it a go but really the only thing you are selling that no one else is, is your logo and that's not enough.
This. Tend to pick them up whenever I find them (which is not often, but I have a few). Got a really nice Mammut one from Go Outdoors on sale a while back. My absolute faves, which are years old, are 2 Billabong Hawaiian shirts in a quick drying, wicking fabric. They are awesome, but never seen anything else like them!Actual dedicated, casual cycle clothing is really hard to find. Doesn’t need to be massively technical. Quick drying. Maybe some kind of water resistance. A nice shirt I would take touring, where the only clothes I’d be packing are those I can wear on and off the bike.
If anyone was wanting a tech check shirt, and was dissapointed to find a bunch of regular tees, then... http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sombrio-vagabond-riding-shirt-2017/ and http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sombrio-vagabond-riding-shirt-2016/
I’d love a normal looking check (or plain) shirt for cycling and would bite your hand off if the price was good.