Jerry, and listers.....does anyone know where I might be able to buy a 'Alfa Romeo' wool jersey.....preferably the red and white one with the green shamrocks on the sleeves....or the more modern one with the seahorse logo as on the car badge.
Noticed on the Woolistic site that they appear to have dropped the Faema jersey!.......I'd like one of those aswell.......sizes L 38~40" chest
Cheers
Kevin Sayles
Bridgwater Somerset UK
Woolistic, which is the brand owned by Alex Clarke of Vintage Velos, still have the best selection of currently produced wool replicas of classic trade team jerseys. I do note the quality of their Chinese-made stuff is not as good as the old Italian-made stuff. The wool is noticeably thinner, and for instance, a recent Chinese release of the Cycles Wolfe jersey lacks the front pockets of an earlier Italian version of that jersey. Ditto the San Pellegrino jersey. BTW, Alex is not at all a Francophile, and I seem to recall it took a lot of persuasion and advance orders to get him to make the Peugeot jerseys and despite what seemed a commercial success he said he wouldn't likely make future French jerseys.
There are a few other sources. Santini still make a replica wool jersey from time to time - I've accumulated Bianchi, Legnano amd Molteni over the years. A couple of years ago they produced both Bianchi and Legnano wool jerseys with front pockets and collars in connection with release of an Italian film about Coppi and Bartali. (Unfortunately, those are not the ones I have.) As to wool jerseys without commercial team names, anyone know if Sergal of Italy still make wool jerseys? Kuchari in USA still make wool and wool blend jerseys (and shorts), although I think the jerseys are thinner than In The Day.
DeMarchi of Italy, though they are known for polyester stuff, also make some very nice wool and wool blend jerseys and trainers. Because of their plastic stuff, the wool Demarchi items are carried by large-volume retailers like Nashbar and Performance. So I usuallly wait for the end of season clearance sales and buy wool Demarchi for half price or less. Just bought a nice wool blend jersey for $59.
These guys make some nice stuff, I have a wool trainer in Italian tricolore pattern.
http://www.earthwindandrider.com/
Haven't tried these two manufacurers in Oregon, but they look interesting:
http://www.wabiwoolens.com/
http://www.oregoncyclewear.com/
The second does custom graphics and big discounts for bulk. Might be a prospect for club jerseys or a future CR jersey.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: P.C. Kohler <kohl57@starpower.net>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Vintage Clothing, Shoes et al..
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Monday, October 5, 2009, 10:18 PM
\r?\n> "An Inquiry for the collective
\r?\n> resource knowledge of CR:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Looking for sources for Vintage style Wool sweaters, shorts
\r?\n> , leather
\r?\n> shoes, clips etc.. seems a bit out of character to be
\r?\n> cycling around
\r?\n> in lycra with Sidi ergos. any direction away from race and
\r?\n> the big R
\r?\n> would be most appreciated..
\r?\n>
\r?\n> cheers
\r?\n>
\r?\n> William OShaughnessy
\r?\n> Manorville, LI, USA"
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Well I am glad someone else thinks so! I feel I am just
\r?\n> about the only one
\r?\n> who enjoys wears vintage kit riding vintage lightweights.
\r?\n> And around here, I
\r?\n> am.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> But not to state the obvious: eBay! And not just eBay US
\r?\n> which is so boring.
\r?\n> I have about 45 jerseys, training jackets and shorts in my
\r?\n> collection, the
\r?\n> majority of which I got on eBay France, eBay UK and eBay
\r?\n> Italy. There are
\r?\n> about 12 regular sellers of jerseys. Of course if you're
\r?\n> closer to the size
\r?\n> of a 1970s European cyclist, it's a lot easier to fit into
\r?\n> jerseys 18 inches
\r?\n> from pit to pit as larger sizes are rarer. Leather cycling
\r?\n> shoes are easy to
\r?\n> score, too, if you know your size in European measurement.
\r?\n> Again, size
\r?\n> matters and smaller sizes are more common. One dealer in
\r?\n> France has about 30
\r?\n> shoes on offer now. Bidons are actually harder to score as
\r?\n> they are
\r?\n> extremely collectible in France and there really is a
\r?\n> dealer called Monsieur
\r?\n> Bidon who sells amazing ones from the 1960s onwards but for
\r?\n> serious money.
\r?\n> Essential though as a finishing touch to a restoration.
\r?\n> Cycling watches are
\r?\n> out of my league, the special Tour de France ones from the
\r?\n> 1950s and 1960s
\r?\n> can fetch thousands. Cycling googles are very hard to find
\r?\n> and I don't
\r?\n> really have a cycle old enough to justify wearing one but
\r?\n> that white cap and
\r?\n> goggle combination of the 1920s-40 French cyclist is the
\r?\n> epitome of cycling
\r?\n> style to me.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> So troll European eBay con gusto. France: search maillot
\r?\n> cycliste or
\r?\n> cyclisme, Italy: maglia ciclismo, UK/US cycling wool
\r?\n> (jerseys), cycling
\r?\n> leather (shoes) vintage jersey etc etc.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I recently scored on eBay UK a Woolistic wool replica of
\r?\n> the Peugeot-BP
\r?\n> jersey worn by Tom Simpson in the 1967 Tour which was used
\r?\n> in a documentary
\r?\n> on him and paid about the same as any Woolistic jersey
\r?\n> would cost.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> If you like the 1930s-1960s era, check out Trad-Tex in
\r?\n> Germany which have a
\r?\n> unique range of replica wool jerseys. Cost a bomb but they
\r?\n> are superb. And
\r?\n> yes Vintage Velos here in the USA with Woolistic but I have
\r?\n> really gone off
\r?\n> them now that they are made in China not Italy and at no
\r?\n> cost savings for
\r?\n> it. At least to the customer!
\r?\n>
\r?\n> So if you want to be authentic, it's easy. And remember if
\r?\n> 1971 Campagnolo
\r?\n> Nouvo Record derailleurs and Fiamme sew up rims still
\r?\n> perform ably, so do
\r?\n> wool jerseys, wool shorts and cotton caps. To me they are
\r?\n> inseparable.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Peter Kohler
\r?\n> Washington DC USA