Remap Clothing: Unique Cycle Gear from Jersey, the Channel Islands

For quite some time now, our UK Editor has been testing Remap’s lairy looking bib shorts with fantastic results. So during our recent visit over to Jersey in the Channel islands the guys from Remap were our guide for some great days riding. Whilst over on the sunny isle we also sat down with them to find out what exactly makes Remap so different from all the other cycle clothes out on the current market.

One-half of the business is Richard Payne, a Jersey resident who races internationally in the EWS circuit in the elite category, riding for the Chemical Bikes/Remap team. We ventured over to a modest housing estate, with Richard, where business partner Mark Evans lives. With young family having just settled into this modest family home it was not the usual setting for a product interview, but that is one of the things most unique about this small brand from the tiny Island just off the coasts of France and England. These guys are modest, this is no corporate-owned super company and the clothing is all about quality, not quantity, slowly being built up from the start to the present day. We sat down with a pre-ride brew and the questions started to flow.

So what and when was the start for Remap and how did you two guys hook up to get things going?

(Rich) We’ve been friends for a while.

(Mark) Rich basically had the idea and I’d had the ambition to design a bike, which just wasn’t going to happen. So this seemed far more realistic and achievable.

(Rich) Yeah, it just came from all the boring clothes out there!

When was this?

(Rich) The initial idea was two years ago, it took five months to actually get clothing samples.

Do you have any role model companies out there that you have looked up to in the past?

(Rich) We try and be as unique as possible I think.

(Mark) Yeah, I mean there are other good companies out there.

(Rich) There are some guys that make cool clothes for sure.

(Mark) It was just a case of being different really.

So how much of the operation is Jersey based, are you doing the designs and where are the materials coming from?

(Mark) All the designs are from ourselves, with some inspiration from friends, which has been amazing. We run the business from Jersey, manufacturing of the actual clothing is done in Italy, that’s where we found the best manufacturers for cycle clothing.

(Rich) We looked into China, but the quality was really hit and miss, you might get some good bits or you might get some terrible bits.

Whom would you say were your main customers, XC riders or more along the lines of trail riders?

(Mark) I think we are definitely hitting the enduro scene, we’re jumping on that bandwagon, but I think that’s the route we would have gone even if that scene didn’t exist.

(Rich) I wouldn’t really call it the enduro scene really, it’s more just like you say over here really, trail riding, the weekend warrior, the guy or girl that just likes to go out riding. A lot of companies will just put an “E” or enduro in the name, really it’s just a mountain bike top.

So what is both your riding backgrounds to date?

(Mark) The last race I did was Megavalanche, but due to child commitments that isn’t happening anymore. I still race locally, but it’s just purely for fun. I’m not in it to win it, unlike Rich!

(Rich) Yeah he tries to win it (laughter) I race competitively for the Chemical Bikes/Remap team; I still race elite enduro, but not full time. With our collaboration with the Chemical Bikes (review here http://enduro-mtb.com/en/chemical-adrenal-review-affordable-vpp-enduro-bike/) team, it’s given us another platform for testing out our clothes, getting our clothes out there, feedback from other riders and also just how long our gear lasts. There’s no better way of testing your kit than just chucking it in at the deep end of full-on racing!

So how are things going right now in the form of business success?

(Rich) Well, it started slow, as you would expect from any small business.

(Mark) I think it’s also fair to say it’s been harder than we thought it was going to be, a lot harder!

(Rich) We both run businesses before this, so we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I think sometimes you go into these things with a great idea, thinking this is bound to work, why wouldn’t you sell millions, but when you actually think about it, you get this finished product and you are a bit like, shit what do I do with it now?

So I guess that’s where Mark’s marketing experience came into play then?

(Mark) Well, I’d say it helped, but nowhere near as much as I thought it would. The difficulty is that Rich does an amazing job with our social media and that’s definitely what drives a lot of our sales, but we’ve also taken the view that we have grown this business organically. We didn’t fund this with loads of cash, we haven’t taken a loan or anything, we’ve put the money in from our own earnings and it’s a case of everything we are making at the moment goes back into the business to help grow it and we don’t see that changing.

Currently you are direct sales, would you consider the likes of a distributor or even selling to one of the big online shops?

(Rich) We don’t really like the idea of the big online shops, but we are talking to some shops at the moment, so what we will probably end up doing is dealing with the great enquiries we have had from some very niche shops and local bike stores who love the product.

So after our chat, some great riding in and around Jersey with these guys, we came away from there hopeful and with a lot of optimism that these guys can really make things work with their unique little brand from their unique little country. The quality of their clothing is noticeably impeccable and the styling certainly is niche, so we wish them all the best for Remap’s future in this big world of clothing giants of the MTB community.

Website: www.remapclothing.com