Did you know Richmond Cycles has its own range of branded Richmond Cycles kit? We interviewed our very own founder Richard to get a little more info on the inspiration behind the design!
Give us a little background on you?
I’ve been a recreational cyclist all my life. In my thirty year career as an international opera singer, I always traveled with a bicycle. It’s been a wonderful way for me to get to know a new city and keep some kind of fitness going along the way.
What does road cycling mean to you?
Even before the pandemic made it necessary, I’d been traveling abroad less in recent years and getting to know the wonderful cycling opportunities around Richmond more. Exploring the world on two wheels is a gift that just keeps on giving to me.
What was the inspiration behind your designs?
Richmond Cycles has been known as ‘the bike shop by the bridge’ for more than forty years. It seemed a natural choice to celebrate that image on our custom kit.
What inspired Richmond cycles to start making their own kit?
We wanted to give the cycling community a chance to identify with their local bike shop. We aim to be a friendly, inclusive bunch of cycle enthusiasts with an eye for quality products that will enhance the riding experience for our customers and ourselves. For those customers who get what we’re about and want to support their local bike shop, wearing our colours is a chance to show it.
What’s in the range? What products are they and what have they been designed for?
After a bit of trial and error and a couple of seasons of ride testing, we’ve settled on Santini as our main kit supplier. Turns out Santini now supply kit for the Trek pro racing team - but they were designing for Richmond Cycles first. They are a family owned company who are reliable, easy to work with and big enough to offer cutting edge technical fabrics. For those of us who still want to represent on the road for us and don’t quite have a cycle racer profile, we have a club fit jersey from Scimitar. We’ve tested several recycled jerseys and both in terms of fit and functionality, Scimitar is by far the best we’ve found.
We’ve got a core range of clothing items to keep you covered from top to toe.
What features are absolutely non-negotiable that you ask for from your kit?
You’ve got to feel good wearing it!
Which brands do you take inspiration from? Who is peaking your interest/ making waves in kit design?
There is so much out there, it’s just impossible for a little shop like ours to dedicate enough space to show people a representative sample of the good stuff. We’d love to be riding the waves but instead have settled for classic quality that we hope will stand the test of time.
What are the key features of the kit? Top/ Bottoms?
The pad in your bib shorts is the most important feature. This can be a very personal thing. If you find the one that works for you - keep buying it. It’s the reason we don’t do it as custom item.
How did the Richmond cycles community influence the kit?
We did send a few early designs and colour ways out on our social channels during the design phase. The comments definitely influenced the final product.
Where do you see the evolution of the kit in the future? Any plans for more pieces?
We hope to be the bike shop by the bridge for a long time to come. I’m sure the fabrics, colours and design of our custom offering will continue to evolve over time but what we’ve got is made to last so we’re not in a rush to produce something new every season.
