Have you ever wondered what happens to the secondhand gear we get sent that’s not quite up to sellable standard? We put it to excellent use in Latvia.
Thanks to our close relationship with Latvian #1 and familiar face on the Girona cycle scene, Trek-Segafredo’s Toms Skujins, we’re officially collaborating with the Latvian Federation Junior team. And, in March 2022, we launched the collaboration with the team in person, here in Girona.
Taking a morning out of their training camp, coach Gatis Smukulis and the 20-strong team wheeled up to the Pro Cycling Outlet warehouse with little idea of what was to come.
Cycling is a sport in which success is closely tied to the equipment and the kit. But it’s also one with a lot of waste. Top of the line pro kit with a few scuffs or loose threads sitting around unsold in a warehouse was a problem crying out for a solution so, as we crank up the gears on the secondhand selling side of the business, this collaboration has come at the perfect time.
We knew that the Latvian Cycling Federation seeks to promote the growth of achievements in youth cycling and fill the gap between youth and adult sports. And key to bridging that gap is ensuring young athletes have the inventory to participate in international events.
Secondhand pro gear will help the Junior team train and compete at a high level. For Skujins, the project strikes a nostalgic chord. “When I started cycling at the age of 15,” he says, “my first bike kit was a hand-me-down as was the first bike I rode at a road race. Steel frame, very yellow, very heavy, but I enjoyed every moment of it. For these kids to get some pro kit will make it even more special. I would never have dreamed of having kit that I had seen on TV ridden up the highest mountains in France.”
We were short on heavy steel frame bikes but we laid out a mountain of kit and invited the visiting riders to help themselves. “Kids in a candy store” is nothing compared to cyclists of any age or wealth level let loose in our warehouse. We’ve even had cycle enthusiast millionaires rifling through boxes of pro kit unable to believe their luck.
So, as you can imagine, (or see for yourselves in this time-lapse video) a table full of helmets, shoes, sunglasses, jerseys, tools, gloves and warmers found new owners within 90 minutes.
Newly-shod Rihards was thrilled with his CCC shoe covers when we caught up with him a couple of weeks later, “They look and feel amazing. I have used them multiple times already because they're easy to put on and, during rain, they keep your feet dry and warm.”
His teammate, Kārlis, shows how much difference the right kit has made to his ability to train. "Getting this kit means that I can train in any conditions since I got a warm waterproof thermo jacket,” he said “It has already saved me in the mountains when it started to rain on top of a long climb."
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