Hey all, i searched some othere topics but couldnt find exactly what i was looking for.
Is it just me, or has moto gear turned into a giant billboard for the brand you're wearing? Looking at the latest Fly ,Alpinestars, Fxr, Etc. Not picking on an specific brand but what happened to some sort of design to the gear? Its basic colors with a MASSIVE logo across the chest in most cases. No interesting designs unless you want to go the Canvas route and fully customize the gear yourself. Which is not my ask. Thors newest gear is getting slightly better with a small logo. I'm all good with ready-made gear. I'm all good with different styles entering the market, etc etc. But is there another brand that I'm not familiar with, that puts a little effort into a cool look without a giant logo on my chest? Or is it a ridiculous ask that I should let go of?
I'm aware of the purpose. Brand recognition blahblahblah. But personally if I'm sitting on the gate and the dude next to me has some cool looking gear and I don't know the brand... I'm gonna ask.
Not intended to be a rant. I'm genuinely curious if there's a brand I'm not thinking of. I've domed out on this so much that I've considered looking into launching my own gear company. Then I realize I don't have 7 or 8 figures sitting in the bank and I come back to reality 😂
Idk man, seems like it’s always been that way.
Fasthouse seems to be a little more subtle?
Agreed! I'd pu them in the dame category as the new Thor stuff. Better, bu still not all that impressive. Thinking back to lIke the mid-2000s Thor gear that Cr22 used to wear. The cool bandana syle gear. Still had a logo on the chest, bu it had MORE than just that.
I felt the same way about MTB gear and recently switched to mostly black kit with the least amount of logos I could find. I was tired of paying to be some companies billboard.
I can't think of a time in my racing years that it hasn't been that way.
Sure, there are a few sets of gear that were exceptions but most gear I've seen has huge branding all over it.
CANVAS MX still has my interest, but I really want to see the gear in person before I buy it.
@JMR1976 , Oneal has some very plain MTB pants and I think FOX does too. I have a few pair of these Wrangler outdoor stretch pants with zipper pockets for the mountain bike and wear an athletic long-sleeve shirt with them. They do really well in hot and cold weather and they cost less than $30 a pair. There are no big logos, they're surprisingly tough and they don't get caught in my chain. I do around 1500 miles of hardcore single-track and downhill in a year in all weather conditions.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wrangler-Men-s-and-Big-Men-s-Outdoor-Perform…
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Eeehhhh... I like gear that's more "Racey" looking ? that gear looks like pajamas 😄
Billboard Bob . . . 🤩
Yep. It’s so damn lame.
Add to that the logos are getting all their character taken out in favour of mobile phone legibility. It’s lame.
See. FLY and THOR (Thors new logo is particularly depressing)
It’s all Simplified nothingness designed by guys more influenced by tech bro design philosophy than anything else.
At least Astar is still smashing out cool designs.
With options like Canvas, I have a hard time seeing any incentive to pay for the right to advertise a brand. There is nothing overly unique or performance enhancing with gear nowadays.
It’s like walking around with a Nike t shirt on when you could rock your buddy’s company T. Or bring your own creativity into the game.
If you’re gonna brand/express yourself, do it wisely.
Back when I raced BMX....the gear had the team name on the jersey and leathers...
Tyler!!!! Hope all is well dude!
I get what you are saying. That Thor stuff Webb wore this weekend, I wasn't a big big fan of it. Between price and style of new gear, I'm sticking with all of my old stuff for a while.
The graphic designers for most of these brands are just mailing it in these days, for most part. And that’s alright. As I get older, I prefer more plain, simple gear… stuff I would’ve scoffed at in my younger years. The big logos ruin it for me, though.
I like the Troy Lee GP Mono pants. I just wish the GP Mono jersey was available in more colors. I feel like that would be a huge hit with the vet crowd, at least.
Check out aotracing.com
They have some really cool color ways and designs. If you can't find something you like there, you're SOL.
I completely understand the OP’s point: I’m not a fan of the giant logos. So, I wear some rather old-school looking plain black pants at the track & on the trail. The TLD Scout pants have vents and a pocket that fits my large iPhone.
Both of these pants, GP and Scout GP are on sale for $89.40 Scout GP Black or $81 Scout GP colors & $71.40 for GP in solids and all sorts of crazy color/graphic combos.
Scout GP with zippered vents and pocket.
The TLD Scout line is a bit tougher for off-road use. I wear their Scout SE pant for my long ADV rides and Baja races where cactus and other gnarly crap is involved. They have 2 pockets (L&R) and vents in the front and rear of the pant…great air-flow on those hot desert days.
I too prefer all black or nearly black gear with minimal logos. I fell in love with my Fox Ranger pants that have pockets and big air vents. I'd prefer traditional venting but the pockets were awesome for trail riding in the mtns. The standard jersey isn't vented enough but thankfully I have an all black Fox Airline jersey from years ago and it still is in great shape.
MOOSE has some good looking gear that the logos are pretty tame, so does MSR. But those brands aren't real popular with MX, both are mainly known with woods guys.
I miss the late 2000’s/early 2010s gear. Shit was way more wild and cool.
GDFR it’s a billboard and thank god people want to buy space on it.
I’ll give them a little bit of a pass as they’re designing this stuff two years ahead of time but I do agree, interesting designs have gone away and traditional colors/styles have taken over. I wasn’t impressed by any of the stuff released this year tbh.
You have to think though that this isn’t just “mailing it in” and more of a business decision. The crazy designs most likely don’t sell as well so the regular stuff gets green lighted more often, at least in recent years. I remember Thor taking a leap with that cat gear and old school brown Hallman gear. Both flopped 😂
Pit Row
I can't speak for other brands - but are you suggesting that the past two years we spent updating to the newest THOR icon identity, the countless hours in the design studio, infighting, disagreements with our legal team (we are a global brand and need all assets registered as such), along with the blessing of our departing design director who had been with the company since 1986 and created the half mask icon logo - was all done "in favour of mobile phone legibility"? You are more than just a little far off base.
Does it really matter that much?
He's always more than just a little far off base.
You are spot on, we design 2-3-4 years out, depending on the product(s).
THOR's "cat gear" sold completely out in less than 90 days (we were going to run a concept ad with Musquin as "crazy cat lady", but shelved it since no one could buy the gear anymore) and we are continually reordering the brown (tan) Hallman pants to restock, so I don't know what you consider "flopped".
FWIW the Hallman retro stuff was super sick.
And hey, I suspect that most people on here don't work at a gear brand, so I get the lack of perspective - but we are some hard working, passionate people who bust our asses season in and season out and when our work can be dismissed on a whim, I get a little defensive 😆
Thanks very much for that, I am a huge fan, but admittedly it has gotten a little long in tooth and we've got some fresh stuff in the pipeline. I'm a bit more old-school myself, but when the last gen of Prime (now SPORTMODE) came out, I never looked back.
I say “flopped” based on the general reaction to both of those styles in comments on socials, remarks from media/team personnel and general banter between local riders at the track.
Ya’ll are taking chances which I can certainly appreciate and gotta respect that you’re even responding to these comments from old washed up vet riders 😂
HEY...I resemble that remark 😆😆 No you're spot on, the scene hasn't really paid attention to THOR much in recent years, and that's ok, there's a sh@tload to look at out there. To your point, we can just have fun taking these chances and just really enjoy what we do.
Is the team working hard on rebranding the reason AP has been in the same gear for three years?
I always assumed this was a factory KTM thing. Kinda like when they never do themed bikes, they really stick to the factory colors. Sexton’s astars stuff has been pretty low key and I don’t think I ever saw Webb out of orange and blues when he rode for them 😂
Even better question why does an xl jersey fit like a medium? I’m 6’1 215 and my arms aren’t even big 15” with a pump maybe and the jersey is so tight it restricts movement to where my shoulders ache. The designs are lame too I agree. Want an og no fear jersey but hard to find them in good condition.
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