Press
We occasionally submit kit to magazines and the like and hope we land a review. We do this without taking out advertising contracts and thus is obligation free, so sometimes we get a review and sometimes we don’t.
That’s ok.
What it does mean though are the reviews we do receive are the true and honest opinions from people who test out a lot of kit as part of their jobs. Here’s what they’ve said…
PS: If you’re wondering why many of the reviews are from mountain bike magazines in the UK, it’s because we have found that sending what we do to people who really use and abuse it, to be the best gauge on how good it is. Mountain bikers are rough on anything they own and the UK is wet, muddy and has bad weather. What better way to test kit?
(if you want to see what customer’s have been saying, click here)
The most recent: Issue #58, Singletrackworld, UK:
(Find the article on the Bike Shop Girl, here)
The end of October I was approached by Lab-Gear to review a few of their new woman’s line, 99. Today we are going to go over the pro’s and con’s, as well as share some photos of the different shirts we reviewed. First, make sure to read our preview from December.
The Process
One thing very unique about Lab-Gear was the process of ordering these garments. You go through a whole build out picking sizing, color weighs, and options. The options include a GT Stripe (racing stripe,) thumb holes, and various stitching for the cuff and collars.
After submitting your order the customer service is top notch. At anytime it is telling you where your order is along in their system. Finally, you take delivery. They are wrapped up nicely like a brilliant gift for you. Made exclusively for you! It happened also, to be delivered on my birthday.
99 T
This is a lighter weight long sleeve top. Easily worn with jeans or on your favorite long ride. We chose to build out our 99 tops to match well together as you can see in the photos. Due to this being very close to your skin, if you are sensitive to wool, you may get itchy while wearing this top.
Merino wool does its job, even though a very thin (tshirt like) top. This guy will keep you warm by itself on slightly chilly days, or team it up with the 99 Mid to have a very warm outfit.
With the fitting we decided to order the top to be a fashion fit. Not too tight, but a normal size you would by from a clothing store. The shirt fits well, but is on the shorter side for the size it is fitting.
99 Mid
As an outerwear top it is not quite a jersey, not quite a full on jacket. It reminded me a lot of a track style jacket. The Mid has a higher collar, thicker weave of merino and a zipper collar.
We ordered this top a size bigger than the T as it was going to be worn over other tops. Teaming the Mid and T up together is going to be the perfect spring morning ride apparel. The colors we decided on go well together for the pieces separate or together.
Final Thoughts
The cost are high for these tops, but merino wool comes at a price, as does customizing to your own liking. At the time of typing this the convert of currency from AUS to USD is:
$130 for the Mid $78.35 for the T
After a couple months of weekly use, washing, wearing and riding in - these tops look brand new. This isn’t normally the case with wool, you often get pulling or threads snagged.
The Mid will be a great purchase for multi use, and the T is a dream if you are a fan of wool.
(This product was given to me at no charge for reviewing. I was not paid or bribed to give this review and it will have my honest opinion or thoughts through out.)
And how about some reviews from back around 2003-2005… just to show we’ve been making great kit for a long time:
