We are well in Q3 of 2022 and the holidays are coming in Q4.
Typically, Q4 is "Sale Season". Many companies use the end of year to clear excess inventory and you can usually find a Black Friday or Christmas sale running in every corner of the globe.
The end of year is also the time I usually receive emails from customers asking if RedWhite Apparel's bibshorts will go on sale. I understand the very human desire to get the absolute best bargain. However, RedWhite Apparel's long distance bib shorts have never gone on sale since 2019 and likely won't ever be on sale for the foreseeable future.
Rather than setting a high purchase price and discounting later during "Sale Season", RedWhite Apparel's bib shorts are priced to always give customers good value, all year around.
RedWhite's inventory and product lines are also carefully managed to avoid over-stocking scenarios which would typically make discounting necessary. It is our philosophy to pursue a strategy of price stability long term and we use a policy of competitive pricing and conservative inventory management to achieve this goal of never needing to discount product.
When you purchase a pair of RedWhites, you also get the following :
All customers can also enjoy a great deal anytime of the year using the Team Bundle. The only catch is that you have to purchase a minimum of 4 bib shorts. The minimum volume allows me to ammortise fixed shipping and fulfilment costs and pass those substantial savings to you via a generous discount. You may mix and match whatever you wish to purchase as long as the minimum number is 4.
The Team Bundle was introduced in early 2020 and 15% of all customers have used it to get a great deal for themselves and their friends. Please note that there are special rules under RW's return policy for Bundles. Do take a moment to read the returns policy thoroughly before making a purchase.
Ready to order a pair of RedWhites? Start by getting a size recommendation.
]]>RedWhite Apparel has had a history of discontinuing products that don't sell well. In 2019, I discontinued The RACE bibshort and followed soon after with a discontinuation of a wide variety of products.
Every year, I review sales data and look for products to trim and remove from the product line. The reason I do this is because inventory of underperforming products cost a lot of money to maintain. I explain more in this blog post.
RedWhite is a small company with limited capital. Every dollar has to be spent as efficiently as possible. This means every dollar has to be allocated to products that earn a rate of return that justifies investing in it. In the past, i've been ill-disciplined and hung onto products that should have been discontinued. The result of that was a lack of capital to invest in products that customers actually want to purchase.
Every year, I develop new products and launch a few. The goal of every new product is to meet a certain demand and ultimately grow revenue. If customers don't purchase enough of a certain product, the business suffers long term since that capital could be deployed elsewhere.
For 2023, I will be discontinuing 1 product and putting 1 more on the chopping block. Products that are "on the chopping block" are new products that have disappointing sales volume and will be prematurely discontinued if customers don't vote to keep them with their wallets.
My motivation for announcing a "Chopping Block" is to give you, the customer, a chance to vote to keep a product with your wallet.
The Entry Bib Short was introduced in 2019. The strategic purpose of this was to replace the old RACE Bibshort and offer customers a short-distance bibshort at a lower price point.
The ambition / hope for this bibshort was to attract price conscious customers to try a pair of RedWhites and hopefully upgrade to The BIB in future. After 4 years, this did not happen unfortunately.
What I learnt over 4 years was the following :
There are customers who love Entry Bib Shorts, but unfortunately there are too few of them. After 4 years of watching sales data and talking to customers, i've finally realised that Entry Bib Shorts don't fit in RedWhite's product line.
For this reason, they will not be re-stocked and will be discontinued on June 1st, 2023.
There's limited inventory available now if you wish to purchase it.
I developed the 3/4 Summer Bib Tights with Pad to cater to :
Unfortunately, after a mere 6 months, only 8% of customers bought one and that number has been trending down. On launch, there was a spike in purchases and that quickly (and unnaturally) tapered off.
It appears that the 3/4 Summer Bib Tight does not have a sizeable market. For this reason, I am now moving it to the "Chopping Block".
The Chopping Block is something i've had for a long time. It is reserved for products that are fairly new but have disappointing sales volumes. Putting a product on the Chopping Block means it will be scrutinised for a potential Discontinuation if sales don't pick up in the next year.
The product previously on the Chopping Block was The Entry Bib Short.
In the past, I don't publicly tell customers that a product is on the Chopping Block because I didn't want customers to purchase it out of FOMO - causing my demand data to be skewed. However, I am now doing this to give customers a chance to purchase it and also argue the merits of keeping it in stock.
I welcome comments as always. Please leave them below 👇
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Image generated using Stable Diffusion
Disclaimer : The author is not a macro-economist. This blog post is merely to inform the reader about the author's personal outlook on the current economic climate and how that will affect RedWhite Apparel and what the author's plan is to manage risk. Nothing in this blog should be taken as financial advice.
Edit (27th Dec, 2022) : Added a 6th point at the bottom about continuing to invest in the customer's experience with RedWhite and RedWhite's products.
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Back in July, I wrote about how inventory will be managed at RedWhite in a macro environment where the US Federal Reserve is conducting Quantitative Tightening. You can read that blog post here.
In that blog post, I talked about how RedWhite increased inventory levels in 2021 to meet surging demand. The plan was always to progressively reduce inventory levels once we lapped Covid and demand came back down to regular growth rates.
I also mentioned a possible consumer recession that could decrease demand for RedWhite's bibs and I wanted avoid carrying too much inventory in the event of that happening.
The Federal Reserve is committed to a goal of getting inflation down to 2%. This is not going to be an easy task and will require restrictive monetary policy for some time. You can listen to the latest FOMC Press Conference here.
The effects of this is materialising with mortgage rates rapidly increasing and consumer spending slowing down. It is natural for consumers to slow down spend when the economic outlook is negative.
The Federal Reserve commented that the labour market is robust (paraphrasing) which indicates only 1 thing - monetary policy can remain restrictive until unemployment rises to a certain level. That level appears to be 4.6% at the end of 2023.
When consumers are spending more on food, transportation, housing and are facing the threat of unemployment, the natural response is to cut back on unnecessary luxury expenditure.
Cycling clothing is arguably a luxury.
I do believe RedWhite's Bib Shorts & Tights are competitively priced, but at $85 for the cheapest item and $140 for the most popular bib short, they aren't cheap. Customers will certainly be more wary about making a discretionary purchase when there are other bills to be paid.
I'm generally an optimistic individual and don't wish to be a doomsayer, but when data indicates high likelihood of a recession in 2023, I do have to plan accordingly for it. Since this plan will affect you, it is prudent you're aware of it.
Here's what I will be doing in 2023 :
RedWhite will be reducing Inventory levels in 2023.
Assuming demand will soften as customers reduce discretionary spending, the logical step is to reduce supply of RW bibshorts and shift more of that capital into cash holdings.
I am taking a "wait & see" approach at the moment.
Typically I forecast 6 months of inventory needs and purchase in bulk. This approach isn't viable if demand is likely to decline. I will be shifting to shorter forecasting windows (3 months) and purchasing in smaller and more frequent cycles.
Not purchasing in bulk means there will be periods where certain products will sell out and simply won't be available for 2-3 months.
I do ask for your patience when things sell out and to consider alternative products in RedWhite's catalogue.
I value price stability just like the Federal Reserve.
RedWhites have never gone on sale since 2019. My pricing policy is a simple one. Pricing is a function of COGS (cost of goods sold) + a reasonable margin. That margin is relatively low because RedWhite is a structurally low operation cost business.
RedWhite has no employees other than 1 - Yuva (myself). The business is run out of my home. Because of this, I have the unique advantage of charging a smaller margin since there's no office rent or additional salaries to be paid.
Since pricing is competitive and I wish to keep it stable in a low-demand 2023, RedWhite will be continuing the "no-sale" policy which started in 2019.
I am getting information from potential customers that many cycling clothing brands are running sales and I am getting questions about RedWhite's pricing changes in 2023. While I have no opinion about what other companies do, my strategy for RedWhite has always been to maintain price stability.
The only actions I've taken lately is a $5-$10 price increase to cover additional shipping costs. I don't forsee needing to raise prices unless shipping costs dramatically increase in 2023.
I recently wrote about RedWhite's 2023/2024 Product Roadmap.
I will continue working on everything I mentioned despite a potential recession. I am a firm believer in product development and invest on a multi-year horizon. Customers can look forward to new and relevant products in 2023 & 2024.
RedWhite currently buys advertisement space on Google Search, Youtube, Facebook & Instagram. Pricing for these has gradually increased by over 10% a year since 2014.
I think it is time for me to actively start diversifying advertising spend. For years i've been reliant on Google and Facebook since these platforms offer scale and ease-of-purchase for advertisements. However, with increased pricing, it is quickly becoming uneconomical.
I will be diverting my effort to the following channels :
If you're a content creator and would like to work with RedWhite Apparel, please email me at : yuva@redwhite.cc
RedWhite is in excellent financial shape with no debt. This allows us the flexibility of allocating capital towards an acquisition.
We've been in a structural bull market for many years. Prices for acquiring other businesses have been prohibitively expensive. However, in today's macro environment, purchasing a business can potentially be cheap. I'm currently on the lookout for a business to acquire which has the following characteristics :
This business doesn't need to be strategic to RedWhite (though that would be nice). I'm looking for vehicles to deploy additional capital into which provides a return above what RedWhite can offer by investing in itself.
If you know of any such deals available, please email me at : yuva@redwhite.cc
I will continue investing dollars into improving RedWhite's customers' experience with the company and with the company's products. Since 2014, i've continuously improved shipping times, product quality and after-sales service.
You can expect more of this in a recession. Specifically, customers can continue expecting :
I will be exercising greater financial discipline within RedWhite in 2023. I will also be looking for opportunities to grow RedWhite.
This means the following will likely happen :
Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below 👇
]]>2022 has been yet another productive year for RedWhite. In October 2021, I detailed RedWhite's 2022/2023 Product Roadmap. You can read that Roadmap here.
I have completed every task set out in that Roadmap.
It is now time to let you know what I will be working on in 2023/2024. I listen closely to customer feedback and lot of the work done in 2022 was the result of customer feedback.
I hope you remain as vocal and tell me what you'd like to purchase in 2023/2024 in the comment section below. Do note that due to limited R&D capital and time, I will be carefully selecting which projects you propose to work on in addition to the tasks I will be setting out for myself in the coming 2 years.
Before I can begin to think about expanding the product line, I need to first consolidate the existing range of products. In November 2022, I introduced the following products (view all bibs & tights here) :
During this period of consolidating, I will be increasing & decreasing inventory levels for each product based on demand. Capital will be allocated to setting inventory levels to match demand as perfectly as possible.
This allows RedWhite to avoid over-investing free cash flow into inventory and allocate that to other projects.
Not everyone wants to wear Bib Shorts.
I have been receiving feedback from a vocal minority of customers who simply don't like bib shorts. These customers have been asking for a version of The BIB without the straps.
I hear you and in 2023 I will be finally starting work on a pair of long distance cycling shorts based on The BIB.
I do think this will be a challenging project because waist sizes vary widely across sizing. Without straps to hold up the shorts, getting the design of the waist right will be tricky. It should work for both large and small bellies and hold up the shorts over a year of use.
Expected Launch Date : To Be Announced since no prototypes exist yet.
Lycra simply doesn't work everyone.
Mountain Bikers don't wear lycra (XC riders are a unique exception). Foldable bike riders don't either unless they have no choice. Commuters going to work or to the shops certainly don't.
In fact, most cyclists don't wear lycra. It's just not socially acceptable at times to be seen in skin-tight clothing and many people shy away from it.
That being said, most people agree that having some padding on one's bottom increases comfort tremendously. Now wouldn't it be nice to have that in some form of underwear format?
As such, for 2023, I will be taking the excellent long distance pad RedWhite is known for, and incorporating into an underwear form. The goal of this product is to introduce RedWhite to a wider audience who don't wear lycra, but want the comfort of a RedWhite Pad.
Expected Launch Date : To Be Announced since no prototypes exist yet.
My apprehension about investing capital into developing products for winter riding is well documented. I believe that demand for winter cycling clothing will decline as more customers choose to ride on Zwift. It's simply a safer and more comfortable alternative to riding outdoors in the cold. One doesn't have to contend with icy wind, cold rain, black ice and salt from the road.
That being said, There are windows of "riding outside" opportunity in the fringe seasons and during deep winter. The weather is cold, but not miserably so. The days can sometimes be rather delightful, with a bit of nip in the air that renders typical summer lycra useless.
This is where a well made pair of 3/4 Winter Bib Tights will come in handy.
I will be producing these new tights using the same thermal fabric used in The Winter Bib Tight. It's an incredible fabric that is lightweight, yet warm.
I will be making 2 key changes :
This item will be almost identical in design to The 3/4 Summer Bib Tight with Pad. Only the lycra used will be different. It will be the thermal version used in the Winter Bib Tights.
Expected Launch Date : April / May 2023 (in time for the winter in Australia & New Zealand).
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Love to know your thoughts about this 2023/2024 Product Roadmap. Leave your comments below 👇
]]>RedWhite Apparel has a new logo. It is a simple "REDWHITE APPAREL" spelt out on a red background. You can expect to see variations of this in other colours, but officially, it will be white words on a bright red background.
The reason for this logo change is simple. The old "chain logo" was hard to read and didn't tell you anything about the company's name. This new logo is much easier to read.
I liked the old logo and persisted with it for over 8 years. It is an outline of a bicycle chain with the letters "R I D E" spelt out within the circular elements. However, unless you understood what it meant, you'd struggle to read it. Customers only got the logo after the knew the company's name and read the logo with fresh eyes.
As RedWhite Apparel continued growing and reaching new customers, the old logo started to become cumbersome. I'd often get emails asking about it. I also received feedback from customers who just didn't like the aesthetics of it. Arguably, it does look old-fashioned.
The big push for a logo change came in 2018 when I launched The BIB - Stealth (now called Legacy) which had a simple "RW" printed on the gripper. That bibshort outsold everything else RedWhite sold. Nothing had changed on that bibshort from a technical perspective. Only the design. It was a simple, black bibshort with a simple logo. People appeared to really prefer that over anything else RedWhite sold with the old "chain logo".
This experiment culminated in this year's latest product launches :
All these products used pared back logos and simple designs. These product launches are by far the most successful in RedWhites history.
RedWhite is all about giving customers highly functional long distance bibshorts that have a simple aesthetic to them. The logo of the company was an oddball that didn't echo this design philosophy.
We now come full circle with a logo that echoes the simple design language of RedWhite's products. Gone is the complicated "chain logo" that's hard to get. Replacing it is one that is as simple as the design language of RedWhites bibshorts.
I hope you like this new logo.
While I understand that the old one holds some nostalgia, especially with RedWhite's earliest customers, this new one better fits RedWhite's identity as a purveyor of simple, black, long-distance bibshorts.
A lot of people picked up road cycling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I've had the privilege of having a front row seat to the "Emergence of the COVID Cyclist" phenomenon. I'd like to write about it from the perspective of a regular road rider. I hope you enjoy this read. It is an "Ode to the Covid Cyclist"
My adult friends have settled into their lives. All have fulfilling careers and busy family lives. Some have young children. Carving time out for a new hobby is an incredibly low priority for them. Many don't have a regular hobby. The few who do, tend to stick with an old one. Few pick up a new one.
When was the last time your adult friend picked up a new hobby? Pretty rare on my end.
I have pitched cycling to them, but nobody has ever seemed keen. I can't blame them. Purchasing a road bike is an incredibly expensive endeavour. It's also rather intimidating. Tell any casual about riding 100km (60 miles) and it seems like an impossible task for them.
I'm not exactly sure what mix of factors got my adult friends into cycling despite these hurdles. Perhaps it was the boredom of being stuck at home for months. Perhaps it was not knowing how long the pandemic will last that got people to try a new exercise.
But I sure am happy they took the leap.
Cycling is an incredibly social activity.
Yes, the seasoned riders (myself included) tend to do more solo rides than group ones, but what makes cycling enjoyable is the company. Rolling out of bed and riding to meet your friends is nice.
What I have noticed over the years for myself is that I tend to stick with friends I know. People i've ridden with over the years. I notice that the older I get, the less likely I am to make new friends. It seems to be something people just accept as they age. The older you get - the fewer friends you have.
While a shrinking pool of friends isn't necessarily a bad thing, I suspect one's ability to make and keep new friends reduces the chances of isolation and loneliness during adulthood. This directly contributes to an increased level of mental health and happiness.
For this, I am incredibly thankful for the new friends that I have made from the pool of new Covid Cyclists. Ironically, if COVID-19 hadn't happened, i'd not have made a lot of new friends who will be a big part of my life in the coming decades.
I have had the privilege of riding with some really strong riders. Men & Women who push me to be a better version of myself.
What surprised me the most during COVID-19 is the sheer quality of talent among people who picked up cycling during the pandemic (Covid Cyclists). While my sample size may not be representative of the Covid Cyclist population, there is a sizeable percentage of these new riders who are talented.
Riders who can ride tempo at 35 kph (22 mph) for hours despite only picking up cycling for a year. Riders who can push 200-300 Watts and more when they need to.
I believe COVID has unearthed a new generation of adults who are incredible bike riders, who'd probably would have never ridden bike had they not been nudged into doing so by the pandemic.
I have never admitted this, but I did find myself in a bit of a "cycling-rut" for a few years leading up to the pandemic.
I was riding the same routes, at the same pace, with the same people and having the same conversations. Monotony was eroding my passion for riding to a point where it became almost mechanical to ride a bike. I'd roll out of bed, get on the bike and go do the same ride i've done for years.
I did feel a bit detached from the hobby I loved.
That changed when I met a bunch of wonderful new adults who see cycling through fresh eyes. These people are filled with so much enthusiasm that it becomes infectious.
Throughout COVID, these new riders helped me reconnect to the rides I did. It was no longer mechanical, but felt intentional and fulfilling. What a good hobby should feel like. There's something about doing an old route with riders who find it fresh and new. That enthusiasm rubs off on old me and brings me joy. I am thankful for that.
I've also been lucky to meet Covid Cyclists who are adventurous and invite me to interesting, challenging rides. They push me out of my comfort zone and out of my cycling rut. One example was a mad hatter ride where we went to hit all the climbs we could find in Singapore in a single continuous loop. I've never done such a ride before and never considered it. It genuinely surprised me and me feel like a newbie again. That feeling of being challenged rekindles one's passion for an old hobby.
Perhaps I have been in a cycling rut for far too long and meeting Covid Cyclists helped me get back to enjoying my rides again.
For that, I will be eternally thankful to the Covid Cyclist.
This is an Ode to the Covid Cyclist.
]]>I will be raising prices on some products that RedWhite sells. I will explain more after the summary of the items that will cost more on October 17th :
Bibshorts that will cost more on October 17, 2022 :
Unchanged Prices :
A pair of RedWhite Bibshorts is priced as a function of Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) + a reasonable margin.
Every year, I plan out RedWhite's product development for the next 2 years and calculate the amount of capital required to develop and manufacture new products. The margin RW charges on every pair of bibshort needs to be kept above a certain threshold in order to continue fuelling the development of new products and inventory.
In 2022, shipping costs for RedWhite increased over 15%. This was driven by extraordinarily high fuel prices. High shipping prices have now started to eat into capital allocated for new product development, threatening RedWhite's long term ability to develop and launch new products for customers.
To allow RedWhite to continuously invest and produce new products, pricing for Stealth Bibs will increase by US$10 and Cargo Bibs will cost US$5 more from October 17th, 2022
If you have any questions or comments about this upcoming price increase, please email me at yuva@redwhite.cc or drop a comment below 👇.
YUVA,
Founder @ RedWhite Apparel
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RedWhite Apparel has a Bibshorts Team Bundle. By using it, customers can save 20% on their bibshort purchase. In this article, I will explain how the Team Bundle is sustainable for RedWhite despite being offered at a discount.
Please note that the Team Bundle's discount is currently set at 20% for a minimum purchase of 4 pairs of bibs (as of 16th August 2022). RedWhite will periodically review the cost structure of the bundle and make adjustments to the discount amount and minimum pair requirements in response to cost changes. This is done to keep the Bundle sustainable from a margin perspective.
RedWhite's bibshorts have the following cost structure :
Through economies of scale, RedWhite can reasonably drive down COGS, but it eventually plateaus. One can't keep pushing cost of manufacturing down as it also erodes margins for the manufacturer and makes it unsustainable for them.
This leaves Shipping & Fulfilment costs as the only levers for me to pull to drive cost down.
On a per-bibshort basis, there's a tight limitation to this. However, the math changes when a customer orders multiple pairs of bibshorts.
When a customer purchases more than 1 pair, the economics of a RedWhite order changes. Specifically :
When a customer purchases more than 1 pair of bibs, RedWhite saves money on shipping cost and fulfilment cost for the incremental bibshort.
The critical breakeven comes at 4 pairs. At this quantity, the marginal profit earned exceeds RedWhite's free cash flow needs on a per-order basis (corporate speak for over-earning on an order).
At this point, I have a choice :
From a tax perspective, it's a much better deal for me (and the customer) to simply offer customers a 20% discount on 4 pairs. The customer gets a great deal + they tell their friends about the 4 pair minimum (lowers cost of acquiring new customers).
To add a cherry on top of this, the more customers purchase Bundles, the faster RedWhite's inventory turns over and the more free cash flow the company earns in a calendar year without paying more company tax.
And it's all sustainable from a margin perspective.
If you're able to get word out to friends about RedWhite's bibshort Team Bundle, please do so. Gather friends and tell them to give RedWhites a try. Ask them to join a group purchase and explain to them how the economics of it works.
While you're at it, I recommend reading the Returns Policy. There's a special clause in there for Bundles.
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Are you someone who introduce a friend to the Team Bundle? Or are you someone who was introduced to RedWhite by a friend who wanted to buy a Team Bundle? Leave your reply in the comments below 👇
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Disclaimer : The author is not a macro-economist. This blog post is merely to inform the reader about the author's personal outlook on today's economic climate and how that will affect inventory levels at RedWhite Apparel. Nothing in this blog should be taken as financial advice.
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Since 2020, RedWhite Apparel has been on an inventory expansion phase. There was an influx of new customers throughout COVID as more people picked up the hobby. In order to meet this growing demand, inventory levels were raised progressively.
The current level of inventory was always meant to be temporary. Growing demand that exceeds the rate of capital deployed (corporate speak for : RW grew more than the actual investment in growth during COVID) is hardly sustainable. My suspicion has always been that the various forms of quantitative easing in RedWhite's key markets generated demand that exceeded typical levels.
When COVID started easing and many countries began normalising, inflation started materialising in one form or another. There are many reasons for this and I won't be going into them for now. I brought this up for the next point.
Quantitative Tightening.
For better or worse, governments are now tightening monetary policy to get inflation under control. The US Fed for example has committed to removing $2-3 Trillion from its balance sheet. It remains unclear how this will be done and what the effects will be on the global economy. We are now in uncharted waters.
I am proceeding with caution and expecting the worst - a meaningful reduction in consumer spending, broadly in proportion to the Fed's balance sheet reduction. This might impact RedWhite sometime in the near future.
Logically, if a consumer spend decline is expected, RedWhite's sales will decline. In order to maintain the business' financial health, I will be proactively reducing inventory levels of all bibshorts and tights.
This process began in early 2022 when I announced a trimming of RedWhite's product lines.
Inventory was reallocated to RedWhite's most popular bibshorts - The BIB Stealth & The Cargo Bib Short with Pockets. This trimming of products offered and shifting of inventory lightened RedWhite's capital requirements.
I am now ready to enter phase 2 which is to gradually reduce inventory of even these popular items. This will reduce RedWhite's capital needs even further and allow the business to weather a potential consumer recession.
If Quantitative Tightening produces a worst case outcome, businesses could face higher borrowing costs (cost of capital). In order to reduce reliance on debt, they have to trim costs. When businesses start trimming costs, the job market tightens.
When jobs become scarce, consumers reduce their spending.
RedWhite Bib Shorts are relatively well priced, But they still cost US$130 which is an expense that can be cut from a customer's shopping list.
If this scenario does unfold (Consumer Recession), RedWhite needs to be in a financially healthy shape to take on a sales decline. One way to do that is to proactively reduce inventory levels.
This does mean some upside risk. I will be giving up potential sales by not carrying adequate inventory. However, I am also a firm believer in capping downside risk. Hence this move.
In the short term, this means there will be more frequent incidents of "Out of Stock" products. I will make inventory stocking errors since anticipating demand in such a macro economic environment isn't easy.
If you come to RedWhite's website in the coming months and see an "Out of Stock" product, it probably means that I mis-anticipated demand and something sold out faster than I could restock it. An inevitable outcome from carrying lower levels of stock.
I would like to pro-actively apologise for that and ask for your patience. A restock will usually happen in a 1-2 month cycle.
I get asked this surprisingly often during the summer / spring / sales periods. RedWhite will not be running any sale this summer.
Rather than setting a high purchase price and discounting later during "Sale Season", RedWhite Apparel's products are priced to always give customers good value, all year around. Pricing is strictly a function of COGS (cost of goods sold), advertising costs, shipping fees and a reasonable profit margin. I personally believe in offering customers fair pricing throughout the year. You can always pick up a pair of RW at any time without fear that it'll get cheaper during a sale period.
I do have a way for customers to get 20% off their purchase. This can be done by purchasing with friends using The Team Bundle.
The Team Bundle has a minimum of 4 bibshorts. A bulk order like this lowers shipping & fulfilment costs per bibshort, allowing me to offer a discount at a sustainable margin. A win-win for everyone :)
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Love to know your thoughts. Are you anticipating a recession? Are you cutting costs somewhere in your life? Or do you think all this is just hogwash and a recession won't materialise?
A discussion about economic situations as a result of government policy can become politically charged. This is a gentle reminder to keep comments free of politics.
Leave comments below 👇.
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RedWhite is in the process of cutting back on products being offered. Some products have already been culled (as per the blog article above) and some are still available on the website, pending inventory availability. If you're keen to pick up any of these "going extinct" products, here's a list :
RedWhite also carries 2 seasonal products for Winter. I will only be stocking these products twice a year to meet demand during Winter in the northern hemisphere :
Since 2019, I have been exercising greater product line discipline.
Being disciplined with the products I choose to offer allows RedWhite to remain financially sustainable. Each product requires inventory which is capital intensive. Since it is expensive to purchase and maintain inventory, every item needs to have the following :
Every year, I introduce new products and give each item a 2-3 year time horizon to prove themselves. In 2016, I introduced Jerseys, socks, baselayers etc. By 2019, I had established that these items didn't sell well enough justify investing in. A product line cull happened them. You can read about it here.
The cull happened because I wanted to develop 3 new products that added more utility to RedWhite's product line. In early 2021, I launched the following :
It's been 1 year so far and all 3 products are getting popular as more customers try them and spread the word. Jury is still out on Entry Bib Short since sales are not as high as I expected.
*2023 Note (for context) : The BIB being referred to here is an old model (not the one currently available). The BIB Stealth being referred to here is a predecessor to the current model of The BIB. It is an all-black bibshort that RedWhite is most known for. My apologies if this confused you.
Unfortunately, I am not done culling products. Next on the chopping block is The BIB. It's the first product RedWhite launched with in 2014. For years it was a "sacred product". One not to be touched because of what it symbolises - RWs 1st product.
However, numbers don't lie. Customers predominantly buy The BIB Stealth (the all-black twin brother).
Both bib shorts are identical and mostly black. The only difference is The BIB has red straps and a funky logo. Given how similar both items are + the sales numbers, the logical step is to cull it and redeploy the capital to The BIB Stealth.
This move is supported by a period in 2021 when The BIB Stealth was sold out and The BIB was in stock. Customers largely ignored The BIB and preferred waiting for inventory of the former to arrive. This was a missed opportunity for RedWhite and a lesson about prioritising inventory in popular products.
Less is more and for this reason, The BIB will not be restocked after it sell out this year.
2 new items will be launched this year. Each new item is being developed based on years of feedback from customers. They bring new utility to RedWhite's customers. These items are :
Full details of the 2022 / 2023 Product Roadmap.
A disciplined approach to managing product lines is critical for long term sustainability. It is indeed painful at times to cull products that have customers in favour of introducing new ones. Customers rarely take it well.
However, the long term success of RedWhite is dependent on me being disciplined with product line decisions. These decisions help improve the long term financial health of this business, ensuring that RedWhite thrives for decades to come.
Product line discipline also ensures RedWhite is always able to deploy capital into developing new products for you. If you've been following this blog for some time you know that there is an unlisted Product Development Blog. I write about new stuff i'm working on there. It's not publicly listed on the website, so save the link and visit it from time to time.
If you loved a product that was culled, I am deeply sorry. I hope whatever new I develop in the wake of a cull is of more use to you and makes your riding more enjoyable.
As always, if you have any thoughts, please leave them in the comment section below 👇.
]]>I first wrote about how indoor cycling's growth would impact demand for winter kit in December 2019. It's now 2021 and the ZWIFT platform has improved tremendously. Hardware that enables you to connect to it keeps improving as well. It's frankly amazing to see how much better hardware has become in 2021.
The only reason I am not on ZWIFT is because I have the luxury of riding outdoors all year. Singapore is near the equator and it is summer everyday.
However, for a growing number of RW's customers in the north, riding outdoors in Winter is becoming an activity they do less of. Especially when they already own a ZWIFT account and have an indoor trainer set up.
Here's what I believe - Indoor cycling will continue to grow and with that growth, it is uncertain if demand for winter cycling kit will be high. One thing I can be certain of is that more customers will ask whether they should invest in winter kit or a ZWIFT setup. Headwinds for winter clothing and tailwinds for ZWIFT-ing hardware.
With this uncertainty in mind, I developed The BIB Thermal and launched it in early 2020. A few months later, I developed and launched Winter Bib Tights with Pad.
I made both because I was curious to see which one customers preferred.
Over the past year, sales of Winter Bib Tights was 6x the sales of BIB Thermal. I was expecting the former to be more popular, but certainly not 6x more popular.
Admittedly, I did design Winter Bib Tights to cover a wide temperature range, intentionally overlapping the temperature range that would have made BIB Thermals suitable.
Read : Winter Bib Tights technical details.
If you're going to be spending over US$100 on a piece of clothing, it would be better if you can wear it in a wider range of conditions. More so if part of your budget will be allocated to a ZWIFT setup and you'd be riding outside less during winter months.
Customers seem to be agreeing with this approach. Winter Bib Tights outsold BIB Thermal by 6:1.
As we appear to be riding a secular trend towards more ZWIFT and less real world riding during Winter, I don't plan on developing new winter-specific products for RedWhite.
The Winter Bib Tights with Pad is a product that appears to be a hit with customers looking for cold weather comfort. I will focus on investing more capital to keep this product adequately stocked throughout winter.
I have plans for more hot-weather garments in 2022. Customers can expect 3/4 summer bib tights and shorter inseam bib shorts in late 2022.
If you'd like to know more about my product strategy in the 2022/2023, I recommend reading this blog post.
]]>I have written extensive about why I chose to trim these products from RedWhites catalogue here (Part 1) and here (Part 2). I recommend reading those 2 articles before continuing with this one.
In Part 2, I talked about 2021 being a year of consolidation. It has been successful and I am ready to share RedWhite's product roadmap for 2022/2023.
The most popular bibshort that RedWhite sells is The BIB Stealth. The next popular bibshort is The BIB. Demand for this is about 45% of the demand for Stealth. Below that is The BIB Navy which makes up 20% of the volume of Stealth.
Combined volume sold of The BIB and The BIB Navy since 2019 is less than the volume of The BIB Stealth.
Clearly customers value an all black bibshort that is minimally branded. What surprised me the most was the low demand for The BIB Navy. On hindsight, this should not have come as a surprise to me. It is rare to see a Navy bibshort on the road despite it being offered by many brands.
Based on this data, I will be halting production of The BIB and The BIB Navy. Capital freed from this will be redeployed into other projects.
Got thoughts about this trimming? Leave it in the comment section below.
RedWhite's Bibshorts have long inseams that make it not great for some riders below 170cm in height.
For example, a rider who is 80kg and 168cm in height would have to wear a size XL bibshort (weight is compressed over a 170cm frame). A size XL bibshort has an inseam that is about 12.5-13 inches. This causes the gripper to extend to the rider's knee.
To fix this, I will be introducing bibshorts that are 2 inches shorter in the legs and offering them as an option alongside the standard sizes. Sub 170cm customers can choose to purchase a shorter version of any size. For example, you'd have size XL (regular) and size XL (2 inch shorter) as size options.
I will be making this available exclusively in The BIB Stealth to gauge demand. If demand is strong, expect to see it rolled out to The Entry Bibshort and The Cargo Bibshort (Men's).
Estimated roll out date : Q3 of 2022
Sales of The BIB Thermal has been disappointing. It is the worst selling product RedWhite has ever made.
It is a unique product that is useful in very limited conditions. The weather has to be too cold for regular bibshorts, but not cold enough for The Winter Bib Tights. This is likely the reason many customers prefer purchasing full length tights than these thermal bibshorts.
When I designed The Winter Bib Tights with Pad, I used a fabric that could handle a wide temperature range of 0°C - 15°C (32 °F - 60°F)**. This makes the long cut Winter Bib Tights a more versatile option than thermal bib shorts. Read the Winter Bib Tights product info.
I will stop production of these thermal bibshorts and only offer The Winter Bib Tights as part of RedWhite's Cold Weather Collection.
** Everyone has different tolerance to temperature. This recommended range is a guide and gives you the absolute max and min temperatures most riders can use these bib tights in. The closer you get to each limit, the less comfortable you'd be. Always do a weather check before riding during winter. Stay safe!
Not everyone likes bibshorts. Some customers have requested longer tights that end at the middle of their calves.
From feedback over the last year, customers have given 2 broad reasons for wanting to buy 3/4 tights :
I am uncertain about the demand for this product. Will enough people want it? Nevertheless, I will be taking a flyer on this one and produce it in small quantities.
Expect to see it available sometime in late 2022.
If this is something you'd like to buy, leave a comment below.
****
RedWhite's product strategy is driven by both customer feedback and my own thinking. While I do pay attention to what customers want, I have to consider RedWhite's small capital size. This constricts me to invest in only the best product ideas that solves a true customer need while also driving long term revenue growth. If you have any thoughts about this blog post, please write that down in the comment section. Thank you!
I get asked about my day by customers sometimes. Usually, I reply with a simple, "pretty good, thanks for asking". Some customers have gone further, asking about what life is like, running RedWhite Apparel. Some have even specifically asked about my Mondays.
I thought i'd change things up a little by writing a blog post about what my Mondays are like. If you like this article, consider leaving a comment below about how your Monday is like.
Let's begin.
My wife dictates my waking time. My wife starts work early and is usually out of the house by 6.45am. She wakes up as early as 5.13am to get a workout in.
Why 5.13am you ask? It's because she has a thing for odd numbers on the clock. Rather than 5.15am, she prefers something odd like 5.13am or 5.17am. I've been married long enough to not question this. Happy wife, happy life.
PS : Sometimes, I just sleep in until 7.00am. It's nice to sleep in a bit.
I get a cup of coffee and power through my email inbox. Over 60% of RedWhite's customers are located in North America and Europe and many of them send emails during their waking hours (my sleeping hours in Singapore).
I get a variety of emails from customers. Most of them are rather lovely ones (customers who enjoy the bibs and write in to me about them). I also get a good number of customers with sizing issues (bibs too tight or too loose). I have a Returns Policy which covers customers who bought the wrong size and I implement it for this group of customers.
Obviously I get my share of challenging emails. Like any business, there will be customers who are unhappy with the product and write in to me about it. These emails are always the most challenging ones to handle. In all cases, I do my best to create a win-win solution and customers usually get a good outcome. However, there will always be rare cases where a customer will not be satisfied with the outcome. My job as a steward of RedWhite is minimise this as much as possible.
Emails out of the way, I start working through sizing requests on the Sizing HelpDesk.
Customers use this service to get a personalised size recommendation from me. I actively encourage customers to use the Sizing Helpdesk if unsure about which bibshort size to purchase.
Customers send in their Height, Weight and Waist Size. This is usually more than enough for me to make an accurate size recommendation.
Sometimes, I ask customers for additional information about their bodies. I could ask for information such as Hip Circumference, Torso Length and Thigh Circumference. More data points allow me to make a more accurate recommendation in some cases.
In rare cases, I will advise customers to not purchase my bibshorts if none of my offeres sizes will fit well.
A recent example was a potential customer who had wide hips, but very slim legs. This customer would need a size L bibshort to fit his hips, but because his legs were slim, the size L bibshort will fit loosely on this thighs. Because of this potential fit issue, I advised the customer against making a purchase.
I review orders placed by customers.
Reviewing orders is important because it allows me to catch any mistakes made by customers. The most common error is a customer buying an incorrect size. I am able to catch this because I cross check sizing helpdesk requests against customer orders.
Reviewing orders used to take up far more time in the past. Thanks to software, the time taken to review orders has dramatically fallen for me, despite an increase in order volume since 2014 (when RedWhite started)
RedWhite Apparel uses a 3rd party warehouse to store and ship inventory from. All I need to do is click a button on my shipping software and all new orders get sent directly to the warehouse's management system. The amazing power of modern software!
This is where my work ends.
The warehouse staff will review and pack each order and schedule FedEx or DHL to collect packages. Orders take 1-2 days to be packed and picked up for delivery.
I head out for a 2 hour ride on Mondays.
I often pick a flat route and ride at a steady tempo. My Monday rides' purpose is to put my mind into a thinking-zone.
Most good ideas for RedWhite come during these 2 hours. My mind tends to wander and I mull over topics ranging from product development to customer service. I also mentally review the week prior and think about the overall health of the business and the brand.
This ride is sometimes peaceful (when things are going well and RedWhite is firing on all cylinders) and sometimes not so peaceful (if there are problems that need resolving and I haven't resolved them yet).
I like my Monday rides to be more peaceful so I can focus on larger ideas. In order to do this, I may choose not to ride if there is an ongoing issue I have to resolve first.
If this happens, I end up doing a short 5km run or strength training in my home gym.
Non-RedWhite related reading - usually investment related.
I read extensively beyond my work at RedWhite. A large area of interest for me is investing and finance. I manage my family's investments and do a lot of work identifying companies in the public market to invest in.
Usually I read Form 10Ks and do a deep dive into a particular business. I will then determine if buying shares in it will increase our probability of generating above market long term returns.
My readings can take weeks and I dedicate a few hours every day on this. I enjoy it tremendously and is the only reason I spend so much time on it.
I'm also interested in software and anything science & engineering related. A lot of my Monday readings cover topics like this and this.
If you're interested in any topic (non-cycling related), shoot me an email. I'm more than happy to talk about it it.
I eat an early lunch at home. While enjoying lunch, I often watch Anime.
Netflix in Singapore has recently acquired / licensed a lot of fantastic anime. I highly recommend Yowamushi Pedal (cycling anime), Fullmetal Alchemist (pretty dark, mature themed anime) and Demon Slayer (also dark, but a bit more modern).
Every Monday, I do a comprehensive breakdown of RedWhite's finances. I go over the business' cash flow, balance sheet, revenue and outstanding liabilities. If there are any invoices to be paid, I pay it on Mondays.
RedWhite Apparel is run in a conservative manner. The business has no debt on the balance sheet. Every invoice is balanced by adequate cash flow. The business also has a healthy amount of savings to tide over any reasonable rough patch.
I do think the business' balance sheet could be more robust, but I am quite happy with where it is now. I also think I could use debt more strategically rather than not using any at all. For example, I could avoid running out of inventory by using a working capital loan to fund inventory purchases upfront.
I deliberately chose not to do so to derisk the business. RedWhite is a small, one-man shop which allows me to run it conservatively and still generate enough cash flow to pay my mortgage and living expenses.
I finish my day by replying emails sent by my suppliers. These emails usually cover topics like :
I'm usually done with work by 3.30pm on most days. I spend the rest of my evening reading or on my hobbies.
A friend introduced me to Warhammer 40,000 in early 2020 and I have been spending some spare time building toy figurines to play with. Warhammer 40,000 is a table-top war game. You build armies and you use your army to fight against someone else's army. I spend my free time building plastic figurines to add to my ever growing armies.
Warhammer 40,000 is an incredibly immersive, dark and rich world. If you enjoy table top games, definitely check it out.
My own army is called the Adeptus Custodes. Fun Fact : Henry Cavill (of Superman and Witcher fame) is also a Warhammer 40,000 nerd and he plays Custodes.
I'm a sub-par 40,000 player, but I am slowly getting better at it.
I'm in bed early on most days. I hit my pillow by 9.45pm and am usually asleep 20+ mins later.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. I'd love to hear about your day, so tell me about it in the comment section below.
]]>Everything was exponentially harder back then. The first version of the RedWhite website only had 1 page, had no e-commerce functionality and took 7 seconds to load.
The first 300 pairs of RedWhite bibshorts took almost a year to sell. Finding customers who'd be interested in purchasing bibshorts from a small, unknown Singapore-based company was a monumental challenge. To generate cash flow, we worked with a small network of dealers who'd buy our bibshorts at wholesale pricing and resell them. Margins were thin, but the cash flow enabled us to keep producing more bibshorts and pay ourselves a small living wage.
We made the decision to get into e-commerce sometime in 2015. It was baptism by fire. Finding customers on the internet is incredibly difficult without a marketing budget. We got lucky now and then when kind journalists reviewed our bibshorts, driving customers to our dinky old website (that took 7 seconds to load).
Customers were sent bibshorts by the postal system and delivery took 2-3 weeks. Because the company's financials were tight, we didn't have a generous return and refund policy. Customers certainly didn't experience the best of RedWhite in the early days thanks to a lack of experience, lack of a budget and our green-ness.
But, things did get better over the years.
RedWhite today is different business.
I occasionally reflect on RedWhite's history and look at what put this business on a path to where it is today. Everything good at RedWhite today is the result of the slow grind upward from compounding.
I call this The Compounding Tailwind.
Here's how it works :
The Compounding Tailwind blows gently, pushing the business along faster and faster in tiny increments. It takes years to see meaningful benefits.
RedWhite is only able to enjoy the position it's at because it has survived. If the business had been leveraged in the early days, some of the mistakes we made would have undoubtedly bankrupted us.
To allow this business to continue enjoying success in 10 years time, my task is a simple one - ensure maximum survivability. Here's a list of some simple principles I use to ensure RedWhite survives in the coming years :
As RedWhite Apparel improves over time, customers will enjoy better products and after sales service. Small changes and improvements every year will compound.
* * * * *
I hope you enjoyed this read and gave you insight into how I run RedWhite. Have a good weekend :)
]]>In that article, I wrote about my decision to re-focus this company on the products that truly matter - bibshorts & tights. I used to make a bunch of other stuff (jerseys, gloves, socks, baselayers etc).
In late 2019, I made a tough decision to kill these product lines (they contributed 20-25% of revenue - painful to see it go) and reallocated capital to RedWhite's core bibshort line.
In "New Direction", I talked about 6 products that I will be working on and launching :
I delivered on 5 of these planned products (see above). In addition to these 5 launches, I added an extra product for women called The BIB Women - Navy.
2020 was a remarkably productive year for myself and RedWhite Apparel. Like millions of people around the globe, I experienced some sort of lockdown. Not having any social engagements or being able to travel meant I worked longer hours. That contributed to a high cadence of product launches.
When I launched The BIB in 2014, I spent years improving quality, ramping up manufacturing and honing my business skills to deliver a top notch bibshort to customers worldwide.
I was very green in 2014. I was 26, extremely inexperienced and made a lot of mistakes. Having just 1 product helped during the early days. I didn't overextend myself. Because of that, the mistakes I made weren't fatal. RedWhite Apparel endured as a result.
The BIB's first manufacturing volume was only 300 bibshorts. The next batch was 500 bibshorts. I couldn't afford to manufacture any more than 500 in every batch which was a good thing. Keeping production volumes small allowed me to discover manufacturing mistakes that I could afford to make. If the early batches were larger (5000 for example), those mistakes would have been much larger, more expensive and likely bankrupted this company. Over the years, manufacturing volumes grew from 500 to 600 and finally I topped out at 2000 last year. Volumes are up almost 6x in every batch while defect rates keep dropping.
This is what I call a "period of consolidation".
2021 will be a year where I will be consolidating the new products. I will be increasing manufacturing volumes and closely monitoring feedback from customers. I will likely be making changes in my manufacturing process that will result in top-notch quality and consistency in every new item.
I will be working on new products in 2021, but I doubt I will launch anything until I finish consolidating the new products I made in 2020 and early this year.
I will be focusing heavily on the Ultra Distance Chamois.
Developing a new pad is a time consuming and expensive process. I did drop the ball a little in 2020 while focusing on Cargo and Winter Bib Tights. Now that those products are done, I am free to focus on this new chamois.
If you're wondering, yes. There will be a women's specific version as well.
I don't have a launch year for the new chamois. It could be 2022 or 2023. It depends on how quickly I can consolidate the new products and allocate capital to manufacturing this new chamois at scale (assuming I finish developing it).
Scale is important because the new chamois will have to be plugged into the thousands of bibshorts RedWhite makes every year. It is a big challenge.
Spare capital and time will be available throughout 2021. I will be investing those in the following projects :
* * *
I welcome comments and ideas. Please leave them in the comment section below.
]]>Hello and welcome to Year 2021.
We're not out of the woods yet. The pandemic is still in full swing, but there is hope now that a vaccine is available and is being distributed. Humanity has faced many challenges along our way to a better life. We often take 1 step back and then march 2 full steps forward. This is how we have progressed as a species.
I believe the future is bright as long as we can survive the short term setbacks.
Covid-19 took me by surprise. But RedWhite Apparel survived thanks to a mix of luck and financial prudence. I was lucky when I made the (long overdue) decision to close the RedWhite office and moved HQ to my home. Doing so shaved rental cost from this company's monthly burn.
Inventory is now stored and shipped from a Fulfilment Center. This was done in January 2020 after I took delivery of a large production order.
This was sheer, dumb luck.
COVID-19 started rampaging in February and lockdowns in Singapore and Italy came soon. Because I had taken delivery of fresh inventory and was operating out of a fulfilment center, I could still ship bibshorts to customers.
My luck did run out in May / June when inventory ran out, but because fixed costs were low with zero debt, the company remained financially healthy during the lean period. I was also helped along by my decision in 2020 to focus on bibshorts and jettison every other product I used to make.
RedWhite Apparel survived 2020 and emerged a stronger company. Revenue grew 4% while marketing and fixed costs declined 10%. The additional profit generated was reinvested primarily in Free Worldwide Express Shipping.
I've been busy laying groundwork to improve your experience purchasing from RedWhite Apparel in 2021. Shipping is now fast and customers in some countries can even purchase subsidised return labels on this website.
My immediate focus for 2021 is improving my service for customers in the United Kingdom. This is critical in the face of Brexit. Currently, UK customers who purchase from RedWhite Apparel have to pay VAT and a GBP 12 VAT collection fee to FedEx during delivery. This is not an ideal experience.
To solve this, RedWhite Apparel is now VAT registered with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This will allow me to charge VAT at checkout for all U.K. customers and pay that collected tax to HMRC from Singapore.
Your package will be delivered without the hassle of paying VAT to FedEx and the GBP 12 VAT collection fee. I am working with my couriers to apply this company's VAT registration number on all shipping labels and you can expect this feature soon.
In the meantime, do take note of VAT and the GBP 12 fee here (UK Customers only).
I have been busy developing multiple new bibshorts in 2020. These new products are currently being manufactured and will be ready for purchase in Week 4 of January 2021. More information here.
While waiting for these to drop, I highly recommend picking up a pair of new bibshorts here.
I will be actively working on a new ultra-distance chamois in 2021. The current chamois in my long-distance bibshorts is excellent. Designing a better chamois is very difficult. I have been working on this project for well over a year and believe I am finally close to a final design.
This is very much a slow, long-term project and you can only expect to see a finished product in 2022 or later.
It is currently impossible to go completely carbon neutral. However, I believe RedWhite Apparel can do more to reduce waste. One solution is to produce a bibshort that is made of a lycra that uses recycled plastic bottles.
I am currently testing a prototype of this bibshort for 6 months now. It is holding up really well and performs like regular "non-recycled" lycra. Once I finish a full year of use, I will likely produce this in a small batch.
If that small batch does well, I might replace the lycra on all my bibshorts with this new fabric. I see no reason not to if it performs as well as my current bibshorts' lycra.
If time and capital allows it, I will be working on some stretch projects as well. These don't have a clear product development plan yet. These are :
I hope you found this article informative. I wish you a very Happy New Year!
]]>
Production & supply chain delays mean the the next batch of RedWhite bibshorts will only arrive after Christmas and potentially as late as Week 1 of January 2021. COVID-19 is somewhat to blame but I too am partly at fault for not adequately planning for delays like this.
The purpose of this blog post is to give you enough information to plan your year-end shopping at RedWhite Apparel. Customers usually wait until Week 2 of December to make their purchases. This year, you might want to consider bringing your purchases to Week 1.
RedWhite's inventory is running low. Here are some figures for you (as of Dec 12, 8.50am, GMT 8) :
If you're in the market for a pair of cycling bibshorts and need it in the next few weeks, I recommend making your purchase soon. In case the item you want is out of stock, do note that fresh inventory will likely only arrive as late as Week 1 of January 2020. If you're not in a hurry, then don't worry as everything will be restocked in early 2021.
If you've been holding off making a purchase in anticipation of a Christmas / Year End Sale, do note that RedWhite Apparel will not be running one for the foreseeable future. This is explained here.
You may place your order today. Prices include Free Express Shipping (worldwide).
If you are planning to purchase a pair of bibshorts as a gift for yourself or for someone else, I recommend placing your order by December 16th. This will give FedEx and DHL Express the necessary time buffer to get your package delivered before Boxing Day. These couriers handle a spike in package volume during the year end which can result in a 2-3 day delay in delivering your orders.
If you're based in Singapore, we deliver to you by QExpress. There will also be a 2-3 day delay due to package volume spikes leading up the Christmas, so do plan for this accordingly if you need your package delivered before Boxing Day.
Gift Wrapping will not be an offered feature at checkout this year. I truly am sorry about this and did make enquiries with my fulfilment centre. Unfortunately with the increased e-commerce traffic throughout 2020 and limited manpower, they are unable to offer this to me.
If you're gifting a bibshort to a friend or family member, do take this into consideration and give yourself time to gift wrap the bibshort once you receive it.
I hope you have a wonderful December and Christmas :)
]]>I digress.
This year's Thanksgiving is different. We are in the middle of the first global pandemic in living memory. While this is bad, it isn't as awful as other terrible 4th Thursdays in November from history. November 1940 for example was particularly awful for Londoners during the Blitz. Perspective gives pause for thought.
This Thanksgiving, I have plenty to be thankful for.
I am thankful that RedWhite Apparel has survived this pandemic (so far). In early 2020, I made the decision to close down the commercial office space I was using and move operations into my home. I also trimmed down RedWhite's product line to focus on my core long-distance bibshorts. This decision was well timed as COVID-19 soon hit Singapore and a months long lockdown started. The lower fixed cost structure of this business gave me endurance.
I am thankful that science has progressed so quickly that we now are on the cusp of having 3 potential vaccines for COVID-19. One of them (Moderna's) can be stored in a fridge for 30 days and left at room temperature for 12 hours. This is much easier to store & distribute than dairy products. This is nothing short of astonishing - that we have potential vaccines ready in less than a year.
I am thankful that none of my family members and friends have contracted COVID-19. I am fortunate. Many aren't as lucky. My sincere well wishes and thoughts go to you if you have a family member or a friend who has contracted the disease.
I am thankful to all the frontline health workers who have been working without respite since the pandemic started. While I am safely cocooned at home and can afford to stay away from crowds, they don their PPE gear daily and go to war against an enemy that is faceless, is everywhere and is merciless.
Finally, I am thankful to live in 2020 where humanity has progressed to an extent where life is generally good for the vast majority of the planet. It is easy to get caught up in the negative things happening in the world today, but all in all, things are always getting better for humans.
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a wonderful week.
PS : In case you missed the email notice, RedWhite Apparel will not be running a sale this year. Here's the explanation.
**If you have anything to be Thankful for, do take a moment to write about it in the comment section below**
]]>The end of year is also the time I usually receive emails from customers asking if RedWhite Apparel's bibshorts will go on sale. I understand the very human desire to get the absolute best bargain. However, RedWhite Apparel's bibshorts will not be going on sale for remainder of 2020 and likely for the forseeable future.
Rather than setting a high purchase price and discounting later during "Sale Season", RedWhite Apparel's bibshorts are priced to always give customers good value, all year around.
When you purchase a pair of RedWhites, you also get the following :
All customers can also enjoy a great deal anytime of the year using the Team Bundle. The only catch is that you have to purchase a minimum of 4 bibshorts. The minimum volume allows me to ammortise fixed shipping and fulfilment costs and pass those substantial savings to you via a generous discount.
The Team Bundle was introduced in early 2020 and 15% of all customers have used it to get a great deal for themselves and their friends.
Ready to order a pair of RedWhites? Start by getting a size recommendation.
]]>It wasn't always like this.
Between 2017-2019, RedWhite Apparel made the following products :
RedWhite Apparel started in 2014 with a simple mission. We wanted to make bibshorts that help you ride further, comfortably. It was a simple mission and born out of a personal struggle to find bibshorts that just work and don't cost their weight in gold.
2 years in, I started thinking about growth and decided to make other products. Product line expansion is a classic way of growing a business after all. The new products added 25% to RedWhite's revenue.
This came at a cost.
Managing 5 new product lines is expensive. It sucks capital and focus away from the bibshorts that this brand is well known for. At the peak of this product line sprawl, I had :
Total : 131 SKUs
Keeping 131 unique SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) in stock and managing them efficiently is difficult. The inventory was expensive with poor ROI. They didn't add enough value to customers' lives. Many other companies do these 5 items well.
They also robbed my focus from what really matters - bibshorts.
In late 2019, I decided to go back to basics. I ditched all the above products and re-focused the company on bibshorts. RedWhite Apparel only has the following products :
Total : 35 SKUs
This small number of SKUs allows me to allocate capital efficiently. Including the other products, I used to have 166 SKUs that had to be kept in stock. Capital was stretched thin and not every product could be kept in stock to meet demand. When demand is unmet, sales drop.
Having just 35 core SKUs that we are best known for allowed me to keep everything in stock, more often.
Having fewer core products to manage also freed up more time for me. I am now able to :
Some of the stuff that I am actively working on are :
Simplifying RedWhite's product line and deciding to kill product lines that were contributing 25% of revenue was a difficult decision to make. However, almost 1 year on, the lost revenue has been more than replaced by increased sales of the few products I currently carry.
RedWhite Apparel is also a far tighter company today than what it was in 2019. Capital is deployed more efficiently. Each product has a strong reason to exist. Warehousing costs are down because the number of SKUs is only 35.
Cyclists also seem to understand what we do easily and this has helped me to communicate the brand's value proposition easily, generating more revenue as a result.
Simplifying has yielded more benefits. Less is more.
]]>There's little we could have done about production. Our manufacturing base is in Italy & Romania and when both countries went into lockdown until May, our production was delayed. Steps have now been taken to build some robustness in our supply by stockpiling raw material and inventory rather than the previous "just-in-time" supply chain model.
There certainly was a lot I could have done about shipping to customers. Prior to COVID-19, all RedWhite Apparel customers had their bibshorts shipped using the postal network. This is historically a very reliable system. Most deliveries happen in 2 weeks or less and you get tracking. Unfortunately, the postal network started breaking down during the pandemic as airmail flights decreased, custom departments slowed down and local postal networks experienced a labour shortage.
In late April 2020, I began an overhaul of RedWhite Apparel's shipping solution. This was arguably long overdue as being reliant on 1 major delivery partner (the postal network) was a misjudgement on my part. RedWhite Apparel currently has accounts on :
All 7 couriers are private operators with their own fleets, aircraft (FedEx, UPS & DHL have aircraft stationed in Singapore) and private customs clearance channels in all global markets.
The integration of these services with RedWhite's warehouse was completed in late April 2020 and all orders since May 2020 has shipped using one of these services. We've now reduced delivery times by more than 50% and increased reliability as well. Here's a summary of latest delivery times (as of August 2020) in our major markets :
These delivery times can be faster. I am seeing slight delays due to limited manpower and movement restrictions in some regions. An important takeaway is the robustness of these solutions. Despite an ongoing pandemic and increased e-commerce package traffic, these companies have proven to be resilient and on-time with their deliveries.
Fast Shipping is just 1 improvement in RedWhite Apparel's current operation. A new service available today is subsidised USPS, AU Post & Royal Mail Return Labels for customers in the United States, Australia & United Kingdom respectively
Customers who wish to make a return typically have to purchase a return label from their post office and send their bibshort back to us. You can now do this conveniently on RedWhite Apparel.
U.S. customers can also opt to have their bibshort collected from the comfort of their homes.
Purchase Royal Mail Return Label
RedWhite Apparel currently does not offer Free Returns as standard. The reason for this is covered under a blog post I wrote in January 2020 called "The Free Returns Paradox". That being said, RedWhite Apparel does cover the cost of sending items back under special circumstances. This is detailed in the Returns Policy.
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For many years, the postal network has been a valuable partner. However, it is fragile and this fragility is not good for RedWhite's customers, long-term.
To give you an understanding of how fragile the system is, this is how it works :
There are 3 critical weaknesses in the 8 steps above :
Step 5 is the first one. During a pandemic or any crisis that grounds flights, the postal system will have no available flights to purchase cargo on. No flights = your package stays in Singapore until one becomes available.
Step 7 is the second weak spot. Customs has to deal with thousands of packages a day. If customs is understaffed or simply inefficient, your package will be delayed. During the pandemic, staff levels dropped in many governement services, causing delays.
Step 8 is the 3rd weak spot. The postal service is reliable, but it is also fragile. A pandemic causes manpower levels to drop which causes the postal service to run slow.
RedWhite Apparel's long term success relies on our ability to delivery product worldwide, quickly and reliably. As a customer, you shouldn't worry about your order being delayed, no matter what the global situation is (short of armageddon).
As RedWhite Apparel continues growing, adding resiliency and speed to our delivery solution becomes very important. The postal network is no longer a viable long-term delivery solution.
From June 2020 onwards, any order placed on RedWhite Apparel will ship worldwide using FedEx. If FedEx isn't available in your country, a close alternative will be used. This would be UPS, DHL or Aramex.
These private couriers own their own fleet of aircraft, have their own customs clearance channels & their own local delivery fleet of aircraft, vans, motorcycles and trucks. Despite an ongoing pandemic, they are still delivering packages worldwide, quickly and reliably.
For Singapore customers (our warehouse is located in Singapore), we've moved away from using QExpress and will be delivering using Ninja Van Express. Customers will get SMS updates and will have a heads up before delivery.
If you placed an order recently and chose the free ePack shipping service, do note that there will be a 6-8 week delivery period from the date your order shipped. If you need help tracking your order, please email : yuva@redwhite.cc
Include the following information about your order :
Do be assured that your future orders will not take as long as it will be delivered by FedEx.
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The Entry Bibshort shouldn't exist.
RedWhite Apparel was conceived in 2014 to build bibshorts that help you ride further. Most of my current customers are ultra-distance riders who have no use for a bibshort that's only comfortable for rides below 3 hours long. The Entry Bibshort is an inferior product compared to The BIB range of long distance bibshorts.
To understand why this exists, let me take you back to when I first started cycling.
When I first started back in 2009, my first kit was a second hand pair of tights from a friend. Used tights are disgusting, but I was a broke student and after spending most of my savings on a 3rd hand bicycle, I had little left over for quality clothing. Once finances improved slightly, I transitioned to cheap knockoff bibshorts from China. These cost an average of $30-$40 a pair and I rotated through 3-4 pairs a year.
These shorts rarely lasted long. 4 months of hard riding and the lycra would have worn down (I have large thighs that contact the saddle a lot) or the chamois would have completed flattened. I ran the math and figured spending $70-$90 on just 2 good pairs would last me 1.5 years and give me a much better riding experience.
So I did just that.
Unfortunately, that didn't work well. Surprisingly, the quality difference between the $30-$40 and the $70-$90 shorts was minimal. I rode those 2 new pairs for about half a year before deciding to really step up my kit game. I splurged a lot more for bibshorts from the larger brands.
This is how RedWhite Apparel started. Tired from searching for long-distance bibshorts, and feeling broke after paying a lot for well known brands, I built my own. However, try as I might, I couldn't get the price of our current The BIB range down to that $70-$90 mark.
That changed in 2019 with a shift in thinking. I had read Clayton M. Christensen's "The Innovator's Dilemma" and his second book, "Competing Against Luck". I realised I was focused on the wrong question. My initial question was : "How could I make The BIB more affordable?"
I shifted this to the question : "How can I make a bibshort that non-consumers of RedWhite would want?"
Non-consumers of RedWhite Apparel don't need The BIB. These are mostly new cyclists or cyclists who rarely ride above 3 hours. If their experience is anything like mine, they're probably putting up with sub-par products because they are competitively priced. Why wouldn't these non-consumers just buy The BIB you may ask? This comes down to understanding what "job" these non-consumers are trying to do when "hiring" my products. The job they're trying to do is to stay comfortable on shorter sub 3-hour rides at an affordable price point. They most certainly don't need an overbuilt, more expensive option. This is different from traditional customers of RedWhite Apparel who "hire" The BIB long distance bibshorts to do the "job" of riding long distances in comfort. To better understand this perspective, do take some time to read "Competing Against Luck" by Clayton M. Christensen. Video summary here.
The second insight was understanding the natural next step for these consumers. The natural next step would be going up the price chain to the $70-$90 range where good quality products are strangely scarce. I believe the explanation for this can be found in the book, "The Innovator's Dilemma". As brands grow and seek greater profit, they naturally migrate up the value chain, offering better and better products to their existing customer base. It makes no sense to move down the value chain and seek an entirely new customer base that will also be less profitable. This explains why most brands that usually start in the low end of a market, eventually progress upmarket with higher priced products. The danger of this is you end up underserving potential new customers. Video summary here.
However, being a small business with no imediate pressure to move upmarket, I decided to launch The Entry Bibshort and serve customers who wouldn't typically consider the more expensive and longer-mileage The BIB range. I leveraged my existing supply chain, knowledge of fabrics, the fit and pattern design from The BIB, and developed a bibshort that can carry you for sub 3-hour rides in comfort at the $70-$90 price point. While it certainly is not cheap by any means, I believe it is the perfect step-up on your cycling kit journey.
Is this the right strategy for RedWhite Apparel? I have absolutely no idea. And that's the fun in running a business.
At the moment, it isn't possible.
Cycling is a niche sport with high barriers to entry. Anyone who needs a bibshort is most likely also able to afford a $500 bicycle. From a pure dollar outlay point of view, this is really high relative to a sport like football (soccer) or tennis.
Because of this high barrier, there aren't enough cyclists to generate the demand necessary to allow me to scale production of The Entry Bibshort. Scale allows me to negotiate lower manufacturing costs. However, this alone isn't enough.
Customers demand speed and the only way to deliver a bibshort quickly is via FedEx or DHL. This is expensive and the product's price has to factor this cost as well. One way around this is to work with a network of fulfilment centres in the US & UK and leveraging local post. However, with post offices moving really slowly during COVID-19, this is also not an option.
I will be exploring ways to deliver this bibshort cheaply worldwide as RedWhite Apparel grows.
. . . . .
Got a friend who's new to cycling and wants to get something affordable? Share this blog post.
Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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COVID-19 came out of left field and the recent community spread in Northern Italy has caused some delays in RedWhite's supply chain. With Northern Italy undergoing a lockdown, this has created a lot of friction in the system that aids movement of people and goods across borders.
RedWhite's bibshorts are manufactured in Romania and utilises raw material from several Italian suppliers. Because the movement of goods has slowed down, my manufacturer experienced a delay in coordinating and obtaining the required materials on time. The good news is, production of the latest batch of bibshorts has almost wrapped up in Romania.
The bad news however is the inevitable delay in shipping the latest production to my manufacturer's Italian HQ for extensive QC checks before being shipped to my Singapore warehouse.
A number of you reading this blog post have purchased my backordered bibshorts based on the promise that they will ship in March Week 3. I'm afraid this isn't possible any longer. The security checks at the Italian borders for incoming shipments (bibshorts from Romania to Italy) and outgoing shipments (Romania to Singapore) and the security screening in Singapore will add an extra week to the earlier shipping date. Bibshorts will arrive in Singapore in Week 3 and will ship in Week 4 of March.
COVID-19 and it's community spread in my manufacturing base is an unprecedented event and I truly am sorry about this 1 week delay in shipping your backorder and in getting the new batch of bibshorts in.
Please note that there are no delays in shipping orders to you from Singapore. This delay only affects my manufacturing supply chains.
TLDR : Bibshorts will ship in Week 4 of March / Week 1 of April rather than in Week 3 of March. No delays in shipping orders out.
Cheers,
YUVA, Founder
RedWhite Apparel
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RedWhite Apparel's 2020 focus will be exclusively on bibshorts and shorts. In light of this focus, I will be discontinuing the following product lines on this website :
One of my biggest challenges at the moment is growing the company while keeping the core long distance bibshort product line fully stocked. Every year, as demand ramps up going into the riding season, inventory runs out. This happens despite growing the volume of bibshorts ordered in every production cycle.
A good problem to have, but it is still a problem.
My decision to discontinue the above 5 product lines was made after analysing sales data. For every 100 customers who make a purchase on this website, only 20 choose to buy one of the above items. While 20% represents a sizeable chunk of revenue, it isn't high enough to justify the resources that go into maintaining those items.
Jerseys in particular are a tremendous resource black hole. They're graphically heavy and fashion driven. Jerseys follow fashion cycles and to do them well requires investing in a design team who can produce new releases every season. There are many other companies who do this far better than RedWhite Apparel.
RedWhite Apparel's competitive advantage is producing long-distance bibshorts and retailing them at an affordable price. In order to keep doing this well, I need to maintain focus and not deviate from this company's core mission. Maintaining product lines that aren't bibshorts does dilute focus at the moment, hence my decision to discontinue them.
Moving away from the above 5 product lines has freed me up to focus on some new projects that will be hitting the market in late 2020 and early 2021. Below is a list of products you can expect to see :
All of the above projects are in active development. Some are much further along than the rest and will be available for sale by summer 2020. Others are pretty early and a release date isn't available as of today.
If you have an opinion on this article, on this new company direction or on the products listed above, please leave it in the comment section below.
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The purpose of this blog post is to set the record straight.
The table from which RedWhite Apparel is run.
Welcome to the Mothership.
The RedWhite Apparel Global Headquarters is a 2012 Macbook Pro sitting on a dining table, inside a 700 square feet flat (apartment), in a Singapore Government public housing estate. Public housing is typically viewed unfavourably in many countries. Not in Singapore where 80% of the population live in one. Public housing is a national icon. Read about it here.
RedWhite Apparel started in 2014 with a laptop, a box of bibshorts and a spare bedroom in one of these flats. The company grew slowly and eventually ran out of space for inventory. In 2017, HQ moved to a 300 square feet office. We soon outgrew that and in 2019, we moved again to a 700 square feet warehouse / office. From 2014-2019, we packed and shipped every order ourselves.
As the business grew, packing and shipping every order started taking up more time. There was less time available for customer service, product development and the Sizing Helpdesk. Clearly something had to change.
In late 2019, I made the decision to move all inventory to a small fulfilment warehouse. Orders placed on this website are automatically routed to the fulfilment warehouse. The warehouse's team reviews every order, packs them correctly, and ships them out to you, complete with a tracking number.
As I no longer needed an office space, I decided to move operations into my flat. I am lucky to have a wife who tolerates the occasional mess (fabric samples, prototypes and production ready products often lie everywhere) and allows me to commandeer the dining table between 7am and 6pm, weekdays.
Do continue below to see images from the RedWhite Global HQ (and my home) :
I use a stovetop moka-pot for my daily cup of joe. It's easy to use and clean, makes a good strong cup and is cheap. Moka pots are usually hated, but with the right method, you can get really good coffee out of it. I highly recommend watching this video on how to use it well.
Every new product is ridden hard and washed countless times in this Samsung washing machine. I usually run hot and cold wash cycles to see how fabrics hold up to abuse. NEVER hot wash lycra by the way!
I have a small store in my home that's full of fabric samples and my bikes. I own a 2018 Ridley Noah SL and a couple of foldable bikes. I believe less is more and don't subscribe to the idea of N+1. But that's just me.
A complete athlete should be strong. I installed a pull-up bar to build upper body strength with. It's helped me maintain an aero position longer on my bike.
The wife built out a mini gym in our spare room. Complete with a mirror wall, impact-absorbing mat and a dumb bell rack. I do my core workouts here twice a week. I follow a minimalist strength training routine. Details are here.
I hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes post. If you did, leave a comment and tell me what you'd like to know more about RedWhite Apparel and myself. I read every comment and will do my best to respond to each one.
Yuva , Founder, RedWhite Apparel
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The advertising campaign can be viewed here : https://www.facebook.com/1440829892865358/posts/2559917460956590
I believe RedWhite Apparel has a balanced returns policy. It was written after years of gathering experience selling long distance bibshorts online, worldwide. In a nutshell, you can return anything purchased from us at any time as long as the item is in "as-new" condition with original hangtags attached. The policy also covers manufacturing defects that crop up during use and pre-mature wear and tear. You can read it here.
This policy is written to cover customers who purchased the wrong size, don't like the product (but kept in in saleable condition), have buyer's remorse (but kept the purchase in "as-new" condition) and those who were unfortunate enough to receive a defective item.
The policy does not offer refunds or returns to customers who purchase our long distance bibshorts, wear it, and then return it because they simply don't like it. Not liking something is subjective and a policy that covers this is non-existant in most policies of cycling clothing brands. Notable premium brands such as Assos and Rapha do not offer this (as of 22nd Jan 2020).
The RedWhite Returns Policy is written the way it is because of the Free Returns Paradox.
The Paradox goes like this :
The Free Returns Paradox is intended to offer customers a guarantee in order to build confidence and increase sales. However, because of natural human behaviour, a no-restrictions return policy often gets abused. As a result of this abuse, the previously very-generous returns policy becomes a massive cost that eats into sales. As a result, the no-restrictions policy becomes less generous. Eventually, it ends up back where it started - a returns policy with reasonable restrictions.
In order for a very-generous returns policy to work, policy abuse has to be negligible. This is definitely the case with a company as small as RedWhite Apparel. Fewer customers means fewer abuse cases. However, as a company grows and starts servicing a wider demographic, policy abuse naturally grows as well. This natural behaviour is evident when a company I personally respect a lot, Recreational Equipment Inc (REI), restricted its lifetime return policy to just 1 year.
There's actually a Reddit thread about it here. Also covered here.
I do have the stirrings of an idea for a returns policy where customers can have their cake and eat it too. REI resells used returned items at a discount on their member's only Garage Sale. I speculate that this is one way to fund their generous returns policy.
The question remains : Would you buy a used pair of returned bibshorts for 50% of the price from RedWhite Apparel?
Leave you comments below.
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Note the retro curved handlebars and deore rear derailleur
My first pair of cycling bibshorts was a knock-off Team Saxo Bank pair. It cost me $30. I rarely bought new clothes in 2009, and $30 was a lot of money for shorts. Those shorts lasted a whole year. They also gave me blisters in the tender flesh between my perineum and my thighs.
The following year, i bought the same shorts again. They were cheap, and I liked the guy who sold them to me. They still gave me blisters. This time, they lasted 4 months and I had to buy more to last me the whole year. My mileage was up and I was also riding faster which is probably why they wore out so quickly. I spent $120 on shorts that year.
Buying cheap bibshorts is a rite of passage for every new cyclist. I talk often to my customers and the majority speak very fondly of the first time they got into cycling. Having spent a lot of money on a bicycle, clothing was secondary. It's normal.
I believe every new cyclist has to experience cycling on cheap bibshorts. This experience is important because when you decide to purchase something more expensive (usually better as well), the cheap bibshorts serve as a frame of reference. If you're lucky enough to be able to afford riding in expensive bibshorts all the time, I highly recommend picking up something a lot cheaper and experiencing it.
I also think splurging on really expensive bibshorts is important (if you can afford to). If you never try something new and expensive, you'll never know if it is worth it. I've purchased my fair share of really expensive bibshorts. Some were good, but cost me dearly.
RedWhite Apparel was born out of my personal experience with product from both sides of the price spectrum. I ride 3 times a week and I rotate 2 pairs of bibshorts at any given time. I retire my bibshorts after a year of heavy use and pick up fresh kit. It certainly helps if the bibshorts are affordable to do this every year.
Cheap bibshorts can be great, but from personal experience, they usually aren't. "Cheap" is also relative so for the purpose of this article, bibshorts that cost less than $50 are cheap.
Do you own a pair of bibshorts that are cheap? Are they any good?
Did you start off on a pair of cheap bibshorts? What were they like?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
]]>In 2016, we launched a bibshort called The RACE. In May 2019, we stopped selling it and removed it permanently from our catalogue.
The RACE bibshort had its fans. It was also well reviewed by the media. Bikerumor wrote about it and Cyclingtips' Matt Wikstrom put it on his 2016 list of 10 Favourite Products.
The RACE was a bibshort we made for riders who preferred fast, punchy rides instead of longer AUDAX style grinds. These riders wanted a lighter, thinner chamois. We obliged and made a lighter version of the long distance chamois in The BIB and stuck it into The RACE bibshort. Other than the chamois change, everything else was identical. Same fabrics, construction and quality. We made some cosmetic changes (slapped "The RACE" in red on the silicone microdot gripper) and were in business.
The RACE was a failure. For every 10 pairs of The BIB sold, we only sold 1 pair of The RACE. Customers were confused by it. It had a thinner chamois, cost the same as The BIB and it wasn't a long distance bibshort.
The only way The RACE could have sold well was if we marketed it as an entry level bibshort for new cyclists. New cyclists don't ride the ultra distances our customers do and for their shorter rides, The BIB is overkill. The RACE should have been priced lower to ease new cyclists into the RedWhite brand. This would also ensure that The RACE sat apart from The BIB, catered to a more well defined audience and didn't cannibalise sales of The BIB.
Unfortunately, The RACE cost the same as The BIB to manufacture, so a lower pricing simply wasn't possible.
In May 2019, we made the decision to kill The RACE. While it is an excellent bibshort, you can purchase something similar from many other brands for the same price. RedWhite Apparel is in the niche business of making bibshorts for long distance cyclists. We should focus on that mission.
In the process of writing this article, I have been thinking more and more about producing a cheaper bibshort with a thinner and lighter chamois for new cyclists. The BIB is an excellent bibshort but it is expensive. Very few pieces of clothing in my personal wardrobe cost US$120.
What is your opinion about our decision to kill The RACE? Do you think RedWhite should produce a cheaper bibshort for new cyclists? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Indoor cycling is awesome.
2 years ago, I bought a cheap smart turbo trainer, hooked it up to my laptop and rode on ZWIFT for a few months. The experience was vastly superior to the old dumb turbo trainer sessions. I even (briefly) questioned the need to ride outside in the real world.
The ZWIFT platform has evolved and improved since then and the available hardware that goes along with it has come even further. We've been watching these developments with interest and it has made us put off launching a range of winter gear. If cyclists allocate more financial resources to building an indoor cycling paincave, bad weather outdoor cycling would naturally decrease and demand for winter kit should follow suit.
I believe our customers, who are hardcore all-season athletes, would appreciate a pair of long distance deep-winter tights from RedWhite, which is the only reason we are developing one for release in winter 2020 (on condition that the prototyping goes smoothly).
Beyond our fans, the big questions remain unanswered :
Do you ride outside no matter how awful the weather is? Or are you meek like Yuva and jump on a turbo trainer hooked to ZWIFT if the weather looks dodgy? Do you even want thermal long tights from RedWhite Apparel? Leave your comments below.
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