Team Kits

In the words of the great David Lee Roth, "It's not about whether you win or lose, it's how good you look." Granted, this is not entirely true in the world of cycling (we REALLY want to win), but the last part is definitely apropos. We absolutely, without a doubt, want to look GOOD out there. This is evident in the amount of time it took CAWES to decide on the team kit last year. Geez...we must have gone back and forth about 3 dozen times about stripes, colors, patterns, logos, fonts, etc. But, in the end, it was great, because we have a GREAT kit. We all love it, we get compliments GALORE, we're easy to spot in the peloton, and we know that we ended up with a fantastic look for the bike!

Most of the time, the pro kits are even better than locals - after all, they're paying some designer BIG BUCKS to come up with a kit each year, right. WRONG. Here are a few debacles that will be seen on the road in the upcoming season. Now, I'm sure some will disagree with me on these, and that's fine. But, here's my rating of the newest kits on the road...

First, HTC...Last year's kit may have been a tad bit cheesy with the anime ab muscles going, but the team looked sharp, unique, and awesome in these kits (minus the white shorts...let's face it, white shorts just don't cut it)...

The 2011 kit is best described in one word...ok. It's lost it's flare! A couple of awkwardly drawn stripes pointing at your crotch just doesn't do it for me. It's definitely not the worst one out there, but it ain't great! At least the boys get black shorts this year!

Omega Pharma Lotto 2010 kit. The color combinations have never been my favorite, but the design was okay, I suppose. A bit plain, but ok.

Omega 2011 - looks like they're trying to borrow HTC's abs, but they haven't done quite a good enough job. The red has become too "orangey" and the blue is too pale.

Team Garmin. My FAVORITE team. And, one of my favorite kits in the peloton last year. Come on...it's fun, the colors are great, and it has argyle on it! I think that Garmin, in general, has been great with their kit for the last couple of years. Until...

They became Team Garmin-Cervelo. Boooooring. The argyle is nearly completely gone, relegated like a bad sprinter to the neck and arm bands. The orange has disappeared. Bummer. Now, they just blend in, rather than being wickedly awesome. The kit is still pretty sharp, but it's NOT Garmin-y.

Team Quick Step has always been a sharp looking team. Simple colors and classic design made their kit stand out well. Since they've always had a rather classic look, the 2011 kit maintains their typical style...

I must say, I do like the red chevrons on the sides. Looking good, Tommeke.But the biggest disappointment for me this year. Team Leopard-Trek. With a name like Team Leopard, you would expect something exciting, something fun, something interesting, something wild. Instead, we get this.

BLAH. Oh, what a bummer.

Well, that's it for me...what do you think? Like em? Love em? Hate em? What's your favorite kit out there? Least favorite?

And, if you're wondering what the experts at Cycling News think about these kits and others, check out their fashion criticism here.