Wool Concepts

UCVC and Custom Decals

A bunch of folks have enquired about getting (a) team logo decals and (b) frame name decals. Here is the update.

First of all, there are several ways to do decals for bicycle frames: vinyl die cut, water slide, printed vs screened, under vs over clearcoat, etc. It is of course possible to print them on your own using store-bought sticker paper and a laser/inkjet printer, but these are problematic because UV rays will eventually damage the ink and the adhesives tends to delaminate. So it's best to have them professionally printed by a place that ideally works specifically with bicycles. Also, it's best to clearcoat over decals, but I doubt that this applies to anyone except those considering custom frames at this point.

I'm going to place an order on February 21 from Victory Circle in Golden, Colorado. Victory does work for a number of USPRO teams and uses only the thinnest and highest quality transfers. A set of 4 name decals runs between $12 and $20 depending on the design. I'll cover the shipping, and you can pay when the decals arrive in early March.

>>> Here is the order form.



Two versions of the frame decals will be printed. These will be free to all UCVC members.

Results of the kit poll

I've taken the poll off the website and the results are below:

	UCVC kit poll
	DESIGN (1=awful, 2=just ok, 3=good, 4=great) Total votes 41
	1 (3)	7%
	2 (2)	5%
	3 (12)	29%
	4 (24)	59%
	QUALITY (1=poor, 4=very high) Total votes 41
	1 (1)	2%
	2 (2)	5%
	3 (27)	66%
	4 (11)	27%
	PRICE (1=highway robbery, 4=bargain) Total votes 41
	1 (0)	0%
	2 (9)	22%
	3 (30)	73%
	4 (2)	5%
	Which COLOR do you prefer? Total votes 41
	Yellow (6)	15%
	Maroon (35)	85%
	Which SUPPLIER do you prefer? Total votes 41
	Voler (4)	10%
	Champion System (8)	20%
	Other (6)	15%
	I don't know (23)	56%

The charts speak for themselves. Let me remark, nonetheless, that 88% of the participants in the poll think that the design was good or great. Kudos to Liam.

93% think that the quality of the clothes deserves a rating of 3 or 4, on a 1-4 scale. I prefer the Champion System fabric for the short-sleeve jersey to Voler's, but this is just a matter of personal taste.

A few people left comments. I'm copying them here, with my replies in italic:

• The logos on the top rear of the shorts get covered by the jersey. [Feb 11, 2008] This has more to do with the anatomy of the rider and the size of the jersey than with the cut. I've observed this problem many times before. It happens for some people, but not for some others. You may not experience this problem when you're actually on your bike, because then your back will be stretched out.
  

• Shorts lower quality waistband ; tech jacket GREAT ; SS Jersey runs small [Feb 11, 2008]

• I like the pad in the new shorts better than last year. [Feb 1, 2008]. Yes, I think that the Voler pads were less durable, but you don't know until you spend dozens of hours on the saddle.
  

• The quality of the hat is a bit low, and I think the short sizes ran a little bit small. [Feb 1, 2008] I completely agree that the cap is low-quality. I was quite disappointed myself. The resolution of the school's shield, on the lower side of the bill, is pretty low too. In the future the club may consider ordering the caps from a different vendor, although it may be more of a hassle, and minimum orders will be much bigger. With Champion System the minimum order is 10. Any other seller of customized cycling caps that I've seen requires ordering 100+
  

• The colors are a bit bright, and the maroons in the jersey and bibs don't quite match. minor points, though, as these kits are pretty cool! [Feb 1, 2008] The matching of the color of jerseys and shorts is usually a problem. It certainly was a problem with Voler. The issue is that the fabric for the jersey is different from that for the shorts, so the same dye color looks different. Pro teams may deal with this issue by applying different dyes to jerseys and shorts, so that the colors of tops and bottoms look identical, but I don't know.
  

• thank to everyone (Liam, Francisco, etc.) for all of your hard work. [Feb 1, 2008]

I encourage you to leave more comments to the kits, here below this post.

I was disappointed that a few people voted for a vendor different from Voler and Champion System, but didn't say which vendor in the comments section of the poll. Here's your chance to do it now. You may leave anonymous comments if you'd prefer.

The results of the poll are not scientific, of course, since there is self-selection in participation. The purpose of this poll was to have a rough sense of how people felt about general aspects of the kit. The person(s) in charge of the kits next year may or may not take your opinions into account.

Nats at Altitude

Heya people,
I found this article about arrival date for competition at altitude for those of you thinking you'll be coming out here in May!!!

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5549

Have fun with the winter.