always riding's cycling blog

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Always Riding
Always Riding

Established in April 2008 by two apparel obsessed friends, Always Riding exists to help you choose and wear the most comfortable, stylish, and technically advanced clothes available, whether you hit the trails or the tarmac. We'll give you a selection of the best brands, make it simple to take a look, and even easier to get them to your door.

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Team Leopard Trek

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With the official launch of Team Leopard Trek yesterday in Luxembourg, this new, retro inspired outfit begins the long road towards their stated aim of early season Classics success, notably the Paris Roubaix with Fabian Cancellara, and ultimate glory in July at The Tour de France. We're primarily interested in the team apparel in this post, and so it was with great excitement that we learned a couple of months ago that the official team partner this year would be Craft of Sweden. 

A slow burning name amongst cyclists around the world, nevertheless, 2011 is not Craft's first foray into the world of professional cycling;  as they previously provided apparel to Phonak, and Team Saxo Bank, which netted them considerable success on the shoulders of Carlos Sastre. Despite receiving the best bikes, riders in the peloton are quite frequently left with cycle clothing that would not suit a 30 mile jaunt for the average enthusiast, let alone traverse the rigours of an international stage race. In this regard, Craft is bucking the trend by providing all team riders with their top of the line Elite Collection throughout the year and during off season training. Of course, this will also be augmented with the Swedish brand's base layer line up, which is regarded as one of the most advanced in the world.

We've compiled a few images of the forthcoming Craft Bike Collection for 2011 below, of which all products will be available to buy, along with the Leopard Team Kit very soon at; http://www.alwaysriding.co.uk

(download)

Posted by alwaysriding
 

Craft to Sponsor New Schleck Brothers Cycling Team

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Stop the press! We have just heard confirmation from Sweden that Craft will be the apparel sponsor to the new Luxembourg based Pro Tour Team featuring Andy and Frank Schleck.  

Alwaysriding.co.uk will of course be stocking the new team strip throughout 2011, but at this time the design is still to be finalised, so unfortunately we cannot show you anything yet.

We will post more details as we receive them, but we wanted to be the first to let you know this exciting news! 

UPDATED November 6th 2010 -

Here is the press release in full:

CRAFT is extremely proud to announce that the Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project will be training and racing in the Swedish label’s high tech clothing for the next three years. Having just been awarded their ProTeam status from the UCI, the team will be testing the equipment in the most demanding races throughout the season.

The newly established team brings together many of the top cyclists currently racing, including the Schleck brothers, Fabian Cancellara, Stuart O’Grady and Linus Gerdemann. During their first year on the circuit, the team will be pleased to be riding in Craft’s most innovative materials. Craft is confident that the partnership will be fruitful since the team shares with Craft many of the same ideas and goals.

Not only will Craft provide the team with all their clothing requirements including baselayers, accessories, compression items, alternative training garments and leisurewear, the company will rely on the riders’ constant feedback to assist in the development process of future high-end lines. Craft CEO Magnus Mansson sees this aspect of the collaboration as among the most important results from the partnership. "Our product development is fundamentally rooted in the cooperation with the best athletes in the world. By working with this new, we have joined forces with one of the most promising cycling team with a very special vision," Mansson explained. "Aside from that, we love cycling and this partnership is a sensational opportunity for us to showcase our premium sports apparel." Since the riders are all very demanding with regards to their gear, they will be enthusiastic collaborators in the development process; they know they will directly benefit from the interaction.

The team’s General Manager Brian Nygaard is equally thrilled about the partnership: "We’re extremely pleased to enter this partnership with Craft. They will be a technical partner at the highest level and deliver the best there is in terms of clothing a to an amazing group of world class athletes and our hard-working and dedicated staff. I truly believe we can give them great feedback on their impressive range of products and the long-term benefits of this partnership will be significant to both Craft and to us.
Posted by alwaysriding
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