Club kit order - deadline 31 March

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laurence_cooley
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Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by laurence_cooley » 21 Mar 2018 19:23

For those of you who weren't able to make the kit evening last night, or who were there but didn't place orders, here is the link to order online: http://www.bodhicycling.cc/en/team/beacon. So as to get the best prices, individual orders will be grouped together into a bulk order. The Bodhi club shop will be open until 31 March. The kit will then be manufactured and delivered within six weeks from that date.

The timing of future bulk orders is still to be decided, but please note that Bodhi offer a 50 per cent discount on replacement kit in the event of crash damage, and this service is available outside of ordering windows. We also have some Bodhi kit in stock from our first order with them, as well as some remaining Giordana kit in the same design (hopefully Steve/Stuart can update us with a stock list).

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George
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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by George » 24 Mar 2018 14:38

I know that a number of people have worked very hard on the whole kit business, and that it's a thankless task, because everyone wants something different. I'm very appreciative of their efforts and don't enjoy sounding like an ungrateful moaner. All the same, I'm a little disappointed with this whole Bodhi thing, and I feel that if I don't say so (and especially if others feel the same as I do), the committee has no opportunity to make changes going forwards.

First, Bodhi's website isn't very good. There's a general lack of detail about products and ordering methods, and the site structure makes it necessary to repeatedly click through and click back to browse. I'll keep my pedantic linguist's appraisal of their English to myself.

Second, more importantly, the range of products listed in 'Teamshop Beacon' is disappointing. In particular, there's very little for anyone of a fuller figure, shallower pockets or more traditional kit preferences.

Third, more importantly still, the prices seem unjustifiably high. To me, if a product costs more than rival products, it has to have an obvious advantage over those products, or buying it can't be justified. While the Bodhi jersey shown to Audax riders looked very good, it didn't look better than what we were getting from Giordana for a fraction of the cost, or better than the stuff I've seen from other suppliers. At the time, I said to myself, "the product itself may not be better, but the facility for people to order as and when they like, without the club investing huge amounts of time and money, probably justifies the price." However, unless I misunderstand things, the system is actually going to be based around periodic bulk orders anyway. So, I have to say, I'm left scratching my head as to what we get from Bodhi that makes them attractive.

Sorry. I'll go away and moan somewhere else now.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by laurence_cooley » 24 Mar 2018 17:24

I was initially sceptical about switching to Bodhi, as I like the Giordana kit, but in the end the possibility of placing individual orders online sold it to me. So I agree that it's a bit disappointing that we can't actually place one-off orders. My sense from talking to people at the kit evening was that others preferred the Bodhi offering, though.

Bodhi do offer a bigger range of items than is available to us, but the rep's suggestion was to offer a more limited selection of items so that we don't end up with an order made up of lots of single items.

The idea behind both the grouped order and the relatively limited selection of items was to keep costs down. The "black eye" jerseys are a similar price to the Giordana FRC range, but Giordana's cheaper range of jerseys were a fair bit cheaper, from what I remember.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by laurence_cooley » 25 Mar 2018 12:01

Just a few more thoughts that occurred to me while chatting to Gavin and John about kit today:

While I think it's disappointing that we can't place individual orders whenever we want, as was initially anticipated, the fact that Bodhi take the payments does reduce the amount of admin that the treasurer and kit secretary have to do.

Also, it was maybe unfair of me to compare the prices of the cheaper of the two Bodhi jerseys with the cheaper of the Giordana ones. Having seen the samples, I reckon there's a much smaller gap between the quality of the two Bodhi jerseys, whereas the one short-sleeve Giordana Pro-fit jersey I have is noticeably lower quality than the FRC ones. Bodhi do offer a cheaper "Red Eye" range, so it might be worth us investigating that if people wanted a cheaper option.

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George
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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by George » 25 Mar 2018 18:24

Those are all reasonable points, Laurence. As I said, I think the individual ordering aspect would have swung it for me too, but we don't seem to be getting quite what many of us imagined.

As regards price, Bodhi list their Black Eye jersey at £75-ish. My recollection is that I paid £50-odd for My FRC jerseys; does my memory deceive me? Also, the reality is that, for many members, club kit is competing with off-the-peg kit from Wiggle or wherever, and you can certainly get something pretty good on line for £50 if you shop around a bit... and send it back if it isn't a good fit.

Price aside, I would be just as happy to wear a Bodhi Black Eye as a Giordana FRC. However, I'm reasonably lean, and if I narrow my eyes and try my jersey on after a pint of beer, I can still kid myself that racing kit looks okay on me. And you, John and Gavin will obviously be very very comfortable in racing kit too. By contrast, lots of our members are, well... shall we say, 'a little more manly' in stature. My understanding is that at least some of them thought the Golden Eye less than generous in its cut, and pretty flimsy to boot (the bigger you are, the more resilient your kit needs to be: if the the seams are under stress and the fabric is gossamer, your jersey isn't going to last long).

So, while I see the logic of restricting the offering, restricting it in a way that effectively excludes a significant slice of the membership is maybe going too far. Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree here, and the great majority are considerably more satisfied that I imagine. However, I think it would have been good to canvass opinion on what was wanted and what people regarded as a price they were prepared to pay before decisions were made.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by laurence_cooley » 25 Mar 2018 19:22

Some of the post has become garbled in the upgrade to the message board, but it looks from this post that FRC jerseys were £68.40.

I don't disagree about the need to ask members for their views, although it had been quite a long time since the last kit order and some people (particularly those of us who have been crashing a lot recently!) are running short, so there was a trade-off between that and the urgency of placing an order. Helen did also ask for feedback on the first order, from what I recall.

Anyway, as I said above, I liked the Giordana kit, but don't want to impose my views on everyone and more than anything just want to get my hands on some new kit, so that's my last comment on the issue - I'll leave it to others to discuss whether we need to make changes in future.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by BenC » 25 Mar 2018 19:55

I was out of the country last week and missed the chance to try the kit on. How does it compare size-wise to Giodana kit or other brands say Castelli? It was mentioned on the ride today that the 'gold' kit is comparable to Castelli, would you agree?

Is the club planning to buy some stock with this order? I'm wondering if I ordered a jersey and shorts and decided they were too small/large upon receiving them would there be scope to swap for the next size up/down?

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by David Cole » 26 Mar 2018 10:48

Hi Ben
My own experience in trying on the golden eye kit is that sizes are comparable with Giordana. Unfortunately the club cannot agree to swap kit, sorry

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by David Cole » 26 Mar 2018 11:01

I have to support Laurence's comments about the Bodhi kit. The committee was in a difficult position, there were problems with deliveries of kit from Giordana and so an alternate supplier had to be found. Bodhi responded to the complaints about the original order from them and we we under pressure from the members to get another order in as soon as possible. The kit evening gave members an opportunity to check the garments and see if they fitted. So before looking at other suppliers, I think we need to see whether Bodhi deliver on time and also see how the garments perform

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by BenC » 26 Mar 2018 12:55

Hi Dave, thanks for the reply. Can you/anyone confirm whether the club is planning to buy any stock this time around? I don't mind risking an ill fitting jersey but don't want to order shorts if there's chance they won't fit. For those I'd rather buy from stock later or wait until next year/order.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by David Cole » 26 Mar 2018 16:21

Ben
I don't think we will be buying any shorts for at present only short sleeved jerseys.
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George
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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by George » 27 Mar 2018 10:54

David Cole wrote:
26 Mar 2018 11:01
I have to support Laurence's comments about the Bodhi kit. The committee was in a difficult position
Dave, I don't mean to take issue with anything Laurence has said; he's provided a perfectly reasonable explanation for the committee's decision-making. When the club's last Clothing Rep left, the committee inherited a stalled supplier-switch process, and had to do something to get the clothing supply moving again quickly. Pressing on with the switch was the obvious thing to do. I also accept that a) the price gap isn't nearly as big as I originally thought (my recollection of Giordana's prices was probably based on an earlier order), and b) Bodhi have responded well to earlier grumbles, and may yet respond well to current grumbles.

However, none of that invalidates the two observations at the root of my original post:
1. The protracted, inconveniencing supplier switch seems to have gained us little or nothing. The merit of sticking with Bodhi for the long term is therefore debatable.
2. Club members looking for generously cut, robust and sensibly priced clothing don't have access to anything that meets their needs.

I'm sorry about being a 'difficult customer'. It's not my intention to create problems for the committee. I'm just trying to articulate my reservations about the status quo, because I suspect that other, less gobby members may quietly be thinking much the same, and because I believe that the committee should consider the full breadth of the membership in its future decision-making.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by petemarshall » 27 Mar 2018 11:23

I can assure you George that your two final points are shared by at least one committee member, me.😊
There is presently a large stock of items on our accounts and at the same time we had members wishing to race in our colours last season who were unable to find items in their size quickly. It was with these problems in mind that we had to act quickly and these problems should have now been resolved. Stuart White is busy selling the old kit at every opportunity and the Bohdi website plugs the racers gap.
This is not a final solution. The provision of affordable jerseys in normal person size is close to my heart. I have two short sleeve and a long sleeve jersey from the previous suppliers none of which cost over£50 and all of which fit my porky frame. Hopefully Bohdi will also be able to supply such items or we will find someone who will.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by Tim » 27 Mar 2018 20:29

Also from kids kit point of view, Giordano long sleeve jersey zips seem to have all bust (on last batch) leaving us bit out of pocket and bhodi say they can do kids sizes once the good giordana kit is sold. Although I'd echo the concerns over cost, especially for kids kit, at these prices people will only buy if really needed and new members or newer cyclists I think just want a beacon jersey, I was delighted when I got the endura kit when I first joined. Thanks to everyone who's put the effort in on this.

BTW anyone who wants to relieve my under stairs cupboard of the bag of kids kit and be the contact for that please shout!!
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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by CakeStop » 29 Mar 2018 17:37

It's really not clear on the Bodhi web site and, being confused myself and thinking that the golden eye wasn't the most relaxed fit of the range (red eye is described as "QUALITY AND COMFORT" whereas golden eye as "PERFECT FIT FOR EVERY BODY") I queried why the most relaxed fit was not being offered. Tom from Bodhi has confirmed that Golden Eye is the most relaxed fit of the three ranges.
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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by Lee_spiers1 » 07 May 2018 22:47

Any news on the bulk order devivery date please? I was told on the night this was being sent to somone at the club for distribution.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by Philip Whiteman » 08 May 2018 09:00

I would be very surprised to see a delivery quite so soon as most manufacturers have a lead time of three months.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by laurence_cooley » 08 May 2018 11:11

It was supposed to be six weeks from the closing of the order, which would be by this coming weekend, but Dave Cole should know more as I think he has been dealing with Bodhi.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by David Cole » 09 May 2018 14:55

Message from Tom Mellor at Bodhi

Hi Dave,

I have had plenty of questions as well.

The kit should be with you by the latest of 29th May. Hopefully the week earlier. That will make it just over 7 weeks after the webshop shut, so hopefully everyone is happy :-)


Thanks
Tom
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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by Lapin » 23 May 2018 11:37

I'm hearing that kit is starting to turn up with people who ordered it through the web portal, should be any day now for whoever is taking charge of distribution.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by Will.i.ams » 23 May 2018 17:16

I have received my order from Bodhi but it incorrect. I have received a windbreaker instead of a medium short sleeved short. I have e-mailed Tom at Bodhi but on the off chance there is an order mix up, has anyone received a short sleeved shirt instead of a windbreaker.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by David Cole » 23 May 2018 23:16

Tom posted the kit on Tuesday
so I should receive it tomorrow
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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by David Cole » 25 May 2018 14:30

I'm afraid I still haven't received the kit order I was hoping to have it before the weekend.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by Lapin » 31 May 2018 11:38

Did Tom Mellor provide tracking information? I assume with such an expensive box of kit the club would have been given a fully tracked and insured service?

Hope you're not getting too many impatient messages Dave! Fingers crossed it'll turn up soon.

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by Omar Khaled-Smith » 02 Jun 2018 15:57

Hello Dave,
Can you provide an update on the kit pls?
Thanks, Omar

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by David Cole » 02 Jun 2018 17:34

Unfortunately the kit order was sent to the wrong address, so it has now been re-posted. I have asked about tracking the delivery, but did not get a response. Tom the Bodhi rep is on holiday this week and so I have only had one message from him.
I have sent PMs to Omar and Lapin

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Re: Club kit order - deadline 31 March

Post by Hels147 » 05 Jun 2018 21:14

Hi Dave, any news on the kit order? I’m really hoping it arrives before the 9up TTT a week Friday!
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