News — custom kit

We recently added a new manufacturing facility in the Veneto region of Italy to complement our Leicester factory. Leicester will continue to make our Merino Perform range, with the premium Custom and Performance wear manufactured in Italy. So why here? Italy has a strong claim on being the spiritual home of cycling, in fact we’ve blogged about this in the past, and the Veneto region is its cycling products manufacturing capital with Campagnolo, Pinarello, Fi'z:k, Wilier, Sidi, Sportful, Castelli, Alè, Fondriest, Basso, Selle Italia, Selle San Marco and Miche among the 60+ factories based in the region. They produce top riders too....

I’m having a bit of a moment. At 4.45am in a dark, chilly car park in Les Saisies, high in the French Alps, I’m getting ready to descend to Megeve with 500 odd other riders and I have a broken zip on my jacket. Any hopes at remaining “tranquilo” before I begin the world’s toughest one day bike race look to be scuppered as I struggle with the stubborn little piece of metal and unfairly growl at my girlfriend. A couple of deep breaths, some brute force applied to the zip and I recover my senses and make my way...