The Big Africa Cycle charity cycling jerseys

Now when you or I talk about going on a long ride, we might mean 150k and we would feel quite pleased with ouselves when we get home and put the kettle on. Some worthy souls might take it to the next level and perhaps try Land’s End to John O’Groats. Well Peter Gostelow is putting us all to shame – 25,000 kms London to Cape Town, unassisted and on his own. He is raising money for the Against Malaria Foundation.

You can imagine that as custom cycling jersey suppliers we get a lot of requests for free or cut price jerseys for charity rides. We would like to help them all, but as we get requests pretty much every day, we just cannot do it!

big africa cycle jerseys

Peter’s effort was just so monumental that we decided to help him out in a very small way and here he is on some God-foresaken track in the arse end of nowhere with paniers stuck all over his bike and a look of grim determination plastered over his face.

If you are doing a charity cycling ride we have found a way to help you reduce your costs, whilst helping us to do a bit of advertising. The way it works is that you produce your design on our semi-custom cycling jersey template and put in an order with us. You then post the design on our Carvalho Custom facebook page and then tell all your mates to comment on the picture. For each comment you get, we reduce the design fee (normally €90) by one euro. So if you get 90 comments, you get the design for free and just pay the cost of the kit.

It helps us bring a bit of traffic to our facebook site and saves you some money, so everyone’s a winner!

Wight Tri custom tri kit

We were very pleased to supply Wight Tri with kit this year, which they designed using our semi-custom tri kit option (as you can see in the photo they have semi-custom tri and cycling kit).

wight tri semi custom tri kit

They have been a pleasure to work with and anyone who lives on the Isle of Wight and is thinking about getting involved with triathlon needs to get involved with a club whose motto is “The body is bad and must be punished” as well as organising the regular “splash and dash” events (don’t ask, they do things differently on the Isle of Wight).

We are very proud to say that we are now one of the largest supplier of club tri kit to the combined Irish and UK markets, supplying over 100 triathlon clubs in these countries. It has been a lot of hard work and the biggest lesson for us is that for triathletes product quality is absolutely everything. When we first started selling tri kit a few years ago, we did not have the cut of our kit quite right and we did not invest enough in the top drawer fabrics, but we found that triathletes just wanted the best. So we redeveloped our range and we have had a lot of success with it, although unfortunately for us, there is no time to rest on our laurels as tri clothing technology is just moving on so fast, we are constantly having to reassess things.

Eigen ontwerp en design wielershirts en triathlonkleding

Carvalho Custom werkt samen met Cofides, de belangrijkste Portugese fabrikant van wielershirts en triatlonpakken naar eigen ontwerp. Ons doel is onze klanten van over de hele wereld te voorzien van sportkleding van topkwaliteit, met designs die exact voldoen aan hun specifieke wensen.

In Nederland dragen onder anderen de toptriatleten Job en Kars Eijsink onze triatlonkleding naar eigen ontwerp, net als de leden van Vahalis. Verder voorzien wij in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Ierland meer dan 200 winkels en verenigingen van wieler- en triatlonkleding. Ook voorzien wij diverse professionele Portugese wielerploegen van hun tenue, naast een aantal grote clubs in andere landen, terwijl onze prijzen gemiddeld 30% lager zijn dan in de rest van Europa. Dit komt omdat wij direct vanuit Portugal leveren en niet via dure distributienetwerken opereren.

davilex team

Wij maken gebruik van full sublimation printing en zorgen ervoor dat uw wielerkleding en triatlonkleding met eigen design er precies zo uitziet als u wilt en gemaakt is van het beste materiaal. Op onze website kunt u via de online design tool uw eigen wielertenue ontwerpen, net als andere wieler- en triatlonkleding. Hebt u liever een geheel eigen design, dan kan dat natuurlijk ook. Wij kunnen uw ontwerp baseren op uw schetsen of bestaande designs kopiëren.

Het minimum aantal exemplaren voor een item met een bepaald design is 5, waarbij verschillende maten natuurlijk mogelijk zijn. Wij bezorgen binnen vier weken nadat u het ontwerp heeft goedgekeurd plus de tijd die het verzenden kost. De prijzen zijn exclusief BTW (23%). Als uw bedrijf, club of vereniging bij de Kamer van Koophandel is geregistreerd, hoeft u die niet te betalen, aangezien de kleding vanuit Portugal wordt geëxporteerd.

Verder bieden wij u de volgende kortingen aan op uw totale bestelling:
€ 1.500+ = 5%
€ 2.500+ = 7%
€ 5.000+ = 10%

Wij produceren ook specifieke dameskleding voor wielrennen en triatlon naar uw eigen ontwerp en kunnen bovendien aan al uw specifieke wensen wat betreft pasvorm voldoen. Laat het ons weten als u nog meer informatie nodig heeft en wij horen het graag als u een aantal voorbeelden wilt zien.

Voor contact in het Nederlands kunt u terecht bij Natalie via: natalie@carvalhocustom.com
Carvalho Custom werkt samen met Cofides, de belangrijkste Portugese fabrikant van wielershirts en triatlonpakken naar eigen ontwerp. Ons doel is onze klanten van over de hele wereld te voorzien van sportkleding van topkwaliteit, met designs die exact voldoen aan hun specifieke wensen.
In Nederland dragen onder anderen de toptriatleten Job en Kars Eijsink onze triatlonkleding naar eigen ontwerp, net als de leden van Vahalis. Verder voorzien wij in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Ierland meer dan 200 winkels en verenigingen van wieler- en triatlonkleding. Ook voorzien wij diverse professionele Portugese wielerploegen van hun tenue, naast een aantal grote clubs in andere landen, terwijl onze prijzen gemiddeld 30% lager zijn dan in de rest van Europa. Dit komt omdat wij direct vanuit Portugal leveren en niet via dure distributienetwerken opereren.

davilex team

Wij maken gebruik van full sublimation printing en zorgen ervoor dat uw wielerkleding en triatlonkleding met eigen design er precies zo uitziet als u wilt en gemaakt is van het beste materiaal. Op onze website kunt u via de online design tool uw eigen wielertenue ontwerpen, net als andere wieler- en triatlonkleding. Hebt u liever een geheel eigen design, dan kan dat natuurlijk ook. Wij kunnen uw ontwerp baseren op uw schetsen of bestaande designs kopiëren.

Het minimum aantal exemplaren voor een item met een bepaald design is 5, waarbij verschillende maten natuurlijk mogelijk zijn. Wij bezorgen binnen vier weken nadat u het ontwerp heeft goedgekeurd plus de tijd die het verzenden kost. De prijzen zijn exclusief BTW (23%). Als uw bedrijf, club of vereniging bij de Kamer van Koophandel is geregistreerd, hoeft u die niet te betalen, aangezien de kleding vanuit Portugal wordt geëxporteerd.

Verder bieden wij u de volgende kortingen aan op uw totale bestelling:
€ 1.500+ = 5%
€ 2.500+ = 7%
€ 5.000+ = 10%

Wij produceren ook specifieke dameskleding voor wielrennen en triatlon naar uw eigen ontwerp en kunnen bovendien aan al uw specifieke wensen wat betreft pasvorm voldoen. Laat het ons weten als u nog meer informatie nodig heeft en wij horen het graag als u een aantal voorbeelden wilt zien.

Voor contact in het Nederlands kunt u terecht bij Natalie via: natalie@carvalhocustom.com

Tour de France Preview

While half the world still holds its breath for the World Cup, sports fans in England, Portugal, Italy and France, as well as cycling fanatics anywhere else, are ready for the biggest race of the year: the Tour de France. And what a Tour this will be. Not only have the organisers picked out a terrific stage plan, but on top of that a lot of riders seem very keen on making a splash this year in the Tour.

tour de france yellow jersey girl

First, of course, there is the most successful Tour de France rider of all times, Lance Armstrong, who has left Team Astana and together with his excellent domestiques Klöden and Leipheimer joined Team Radioshack. Lance has promised that this is his last Tour de France ever, and he had a much better preparation than last year (he still came in third), a second place in the Tour de Suisse confirming his top shape.

Then there is 2007 and 2009 winner Alberto Contador, the talented Spaniard who has focused on nothing but the Tour this year. Contador has one new vulnerability, though: Alexandre Vinokourov. The Kazak is having a pretty good season and it is not sure whether he is willing to step aside and help Alberto wherever he can. As sponsor Astana is a Kazak city, a new schism within the team might just prevent Contador from winning this year. A similar conflict with Armstrong did not stop him last year, so he is still top favourite by a pretty wide margin.

Another major contender will be the younger of the Schleck brothers, Andy. The young Luxembourger who finished second last year, is not only a top climber, but has also improved his time trial abilities a lot. With a strong team by his side, including his own brother Fränk, Andy seems more than ever ready to go for gold. Or yellow, actually.

Those three being the top favourites, a lot of others will want to disturb their supremacy. Among them are Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso, world champion Cadel Evans, England’s Bradley Wiggins, Russian crack Denis Mecnhov, 2008 winner Carlos Sastre and Dutch prodigy Robert Gesink. Enough to provide for a very interesting Tour for 2010.

The first week will traditionally be for the sprinters. Last year the mass sprints were completely dominated by Manx Marc Cavendish. He won six stages, but this year he has not demonstrated such an outstanding form as he did then. This gives Tyler Farrar, the American who has already won stages in both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España, a possibility to complete the treble. German Gerald Ciolek and Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen are outsiders, while household names Alessandro Petacchi, Thor Hushovd and Oscar Freire will want to prove that they are not over the hill yet. They are not of course, as some sprinters always leave the race as soon as any hills come in sight, as all sprinters are essentially lazy show ponies

That will be in stage 7, when the Alps are reached. The riders will have taken the first truly difficult hurdle already then, which is stage 3. This stage will lead the peloton over some bits of the Paris-Roubaix course. More than 13 kilometres of cobbled sections will challenge even the most hardened classics expert.

tour de france mountains girl

This year the decisive moments will probably arise in the last week of the Tour. Apart from today’s prologue, there is only one time trial, which is scheduled on July the 24th (stage 19). Two days before that, the last Pyrenean stage will finish on top of the famous Col du Tourmalet, giving climb specialists their last chance of many to gain enough buffer time to survive the time trial.

If you are going to make some custom cycling kit made and you like the look of one of the team strips riding, you can always ask us to adapt it to your team/club. We often work from photos of existing team kits and then just change colours, text and logos where necessary.

First things first though, today our eyes are on Rotterdam, where the 97th Tour de France will have its Grand Depart. Bonne chance à tous!

Carvalho Custom Favourites

*****
Contador (Spain)

****
Armstrong (USA), Andy Schleck (Luxembourg)
***
Basso (Italy), Wiggins (Great Britain), Sastre (Spain)
**
Evans (Australia), Menchov (Russia), Vandevelde (USA), Vinokourov (Kazachstan)
*
Gesink (Holland), Fränk Schleck (Luxembourg), Leipheimer (USA), Klöden (Germany), Kreuziger (Czech Republic)

Written by leading cycling pundit, Frank Tieskens

SBDN Davilex Triatlonteam kit

We have just supplied Holland’s top triathlon team, SBDN Davilex Triatlonteam with new kit. They have racing for them many of Holland’s top triathletes, including Mirjam Weerd, pictured here winning the Amsterdam Olympic distance triathlon on 13th of July, wearing our custom female tri suit.

mirjam female custom tri suit

I can’t quite believe she is smiling for the camera, given the amount of pain she should be in. Anyway, best of luck for the whole team this season.

triathlon team kit

Falling euro means you pay less from the UK

In these times of economic gloom there is a bright side if you are buying our kit from the UK. The value of the euro has been tumbling in in recent months, from 1.05 to the pound to 1.20 at the moment – that means that for UK customers our prices are now 14% cheaper than they were!

Combine this with the fact that we work in a low cost economy, Portugal, selling directly to the UK and elsewhere from there. For example the minimum wage in Portugal is €475/£395 a month, but we pay our seamstresses around €700/£585 a month, as working with lycra requires highly skilled workers. That is still a lot less than a skilled seamstress receives in the UK however (around €1560/£1300 a month) and that, combined with the fact that we run a very lean business, is why our prices are so competitive.

pound euro

The reason that our prices are not even lower than they are is because we use the very best fabrics available, which are extremely expensive for us to buy. The difference in price between a square metre of a basic microfibre and our new Bio-Cerâmica fabric is two to three times for example. We are commited to producing pro quality custom cycling kit and medium range prices, we we just have to bite the bullet on the cost of our raw materials.

We are never going to chase the cheap and cheerful end of the custom cycling and triathlon clothing market, because we think that anyone who takes their sport at all seriously wants to ride in the best quality kit possible. Our philosophy is just that you shouldn’t have to pay the earth to ride, swim or run in the same quality kit as the pros wear.

Help for Heroes Charity cycling jerseys

We have just supplied Help for Heroes for the third year with custom cycling jerseys for their Battlefield ride round northern France.

help for heroes charity cycling jerseys

You can find out more about this ride here. The Help for Heroes charity is an extraordinary organisation that raises money to help injured soldiers. The popularity of the organisation is testament to the heartfelt support that the British people have for their soldiers and we are very proud to supply their cycling kit.

We have some stock of Help for Heroes cycling jerseys priced at 15 euros + VAT each – please click here to buy online or contact us if you are interested.

We supply a lot of cycling clothing for charity rides and we do our best to help out, so if you need some custom cycling kit, you can get some semi-custom cycling clothing made up with no design fee if you take up our facebook offer. Click the link above or go to our Carvalho Custom Cycling & Triathlon facebook page. We have just supplied Help for Heroes for the third year with custom cycling jerseys for their Battlefield ride round northern France.

help for heroes charity cycling jerseys

You can find out more about this ride here. The Help for Heroes charity is an extraordinary organisation that raises money to help injured soldiers. The popularity of the organisation is testament to the heartfelt support that the British people have for their soldiers and we are very proud to supply their cycling kit.

We supply a lot of cycling clothing for charity rides and we do our best to help out, so if you need some custom cycling kit, you can get some semi-custom cycling clothing made up with no design fee if you take up our facebook offer. Click the link above or go to our Carvalho Custom Cycling & Triathlon facebook page.

Giro d’Italia – race preview & predictions

On Saturday, the 93rd Tour of Italy (Giro d’Italia) will start in, of all places, Amsterdam. Luckily, your reporter is based in the Dutch capital, where he has an ideal position to monitor the preparations of the riders closely. This year’s Giro is planned in such a way, that the race will probably be decided in the last three stages, as the 19th and the 20th stage are the most mountainous of the complete race and the final stage is a short time trial in Verona. Be sure to cancel all your appointments on May 28th, 29th and 30th, because if you have half a cycling fan’s heart, you will be watching Eurosport on the edge of your seat. Among other difficult climbs, the infamous Gavia is on the menu on saturday the 29th.

Other highlights include an uphill finish on Mount Terminillo (May 16th), a mountain individual time trial (May 25th) and three stages on Dutch territory (this weekend, but no mountains here!). On top of that, two great champions of the past are honoured by special finishing locations. Stage 13 ends in Cesenatico (home of Marco Pantani) while stage 5 takes the riders to Novi Ligure, where the Fausto Coppi memorial museum is located.

Last year’s winner Denis Menchov is focusing on the Tour de France this time, and will not appear at the start in Amsterdam. Therefore, world champion Cadel Evans is top favourite for finishing in Verona wearing the pink jersey of the general classification (and of the leading Italian sports paper La Gazetta dello Sport). Evans has demonstrated in the Spring classics that he is in top shape, and is determined on adding the second most important cycling race of the year to his record. He doesn’t really have a change of gear, which doesn’t make him one of the most exciting riders and is politely referred to as having a diesel engine.

cadel evans

There are some tough competitors out there, however. Britain’s Bradley Wiggins is definetely among them, as he made clear that he does not consider this Giro to be merely a preparation for the Tour de France. Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Alexander Vinokourov is also among the contenders for a high classification, as is 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre.

How about the Italians, then? From 1997 to 2007, the Giro had an Italian winner, but the last two editions were won by foreigners. 2006 winner Ivan Basso has returned to defend the red, white and green, after he was suspended for two years, Former enemies Gilberto Simoni (winner 2001 and 2003) and Damiano Cunego (winner in 2004) are reunited in team Lampre. Will they work together as a team? Good old Stefano Garzelli (winner in 2000) will also represent Italy, as will Vincenzo Nibali, Marzio Bruseghin, (3rd in 2008) Domenico Pozzovivo and Michele Scarponi.

Carvalho Custom Favourites:

*****
Evans (Australia)
****
Wiggins (Great Britain), Sastre (Spain)
***
Basso (Italy), Cunego (Italy), Nibali (Italy)
**
Simoni (Italy), Pozzovivo (Italy), Vinokourov (Kazachstan), Vandevelde (USA)
*
Garzelli (Italy), Bruseghin (Italy), Scarponi (Italy), Karpets (Russia), Mollema (Holland)

Written by Carvalho Custom’s Dutch correspondent, Frank Tieskens

Wyndy Milla new website

We have been working with Henry Furniss from Wyndy Milla for a several years now, from when he was an elite rider at the Bike and Run team to now, where he runs his own cycling hub (shop, bike fitting and cycling club near Farnham in Surrey). Here is Nasima looking particularly hot in our tri top and bib shorts:

wyndy milla custom cycling kit

We have made a lot of kit for them over the years and they currently have versions of our kit in pink, blue, black and white (just to make sure that everyone can find something they like). We owe a lot to Henry and Nasima because over the years they have tested custom kit out for us and helped us to develop our range. Anyway, check out their new look website – www.wyndymilla.com – to find out more!

Mirjam gets 4th in Ironman South Africa

An unbelievable race by Mirjam Weerd, one of the triathletes whose clothing we sponsor, to come 4th in Ironman South Africa.

mirjam south africa ironman

Here she is crossing the finish line looking fresh as a daisy wearing our female tri top and tri shorts and you can see some more photos here. We are very proud to be associated with her and we look forward to seeing some more fantastic results to get Carvalho Custom kit on the podium!

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