Ex-D1 P5 wrote:
It's no surprise that this would be super confusing for LRBF, but us adults have an easy time selecting the "cold" setting on the washer and air drying any and all run gear.
You mean you don't just jump in the shower with your running shorts on? :)
Looks like theres a consensus. Tracksmith is mostly a gimmick aspirational brand, with a few items offering decent quality-for-money.
I remember I had some great laughs with friends when they first came out with that 65 dollar cotton t-shirt. Still makes me chuckle.
But, they know that once they get in a circle of runners, other people will pony up the dough to keep up with the joneses. Most runners dont front gear like cyclists and skiers. Who hasnt run with socks on their hands for gloves, or tights with a hole in them, or a nasty old bandana? Theres a reason noah droddy has a following.
It's an interesting brand experience question.
To my mind, this is how it works:
Wear Lulu: You are vicariously a wealthy californian doing yoga on the porch of her house overlooking LA
Ride a Peleton? You are a wealthy person in a large house with glass windows opened to the forest. Or in a glassed in skyscraper.
Wear Nike or Adidas: You are a 110 pound kenyan loping down the road, or Michael Jordan or something
Wear Hoka: You are a bearded ultra guy running through dry gulches for 24 hours at 7 min/mile
Wear Tracksmith: Are TS owners vicariously a Cornell distance runner from 1950? A 25 year old Quenton Cassidy type living in a cabin and running all day?
Seems to be a hole there for TS...people might like the clothes but dont' buy the brand image for themselves. Not sure how that will resolve.
Probably what's happening is that the giant sash will disappear because it just doesn't make much sense to most people.
You can get a nice, sashless singlet. It's the Twilight singlet, very comfortable.
As for consensus, threads like this are always free marketing, despite any opinions contained within.
agip wrote:
It's an interesting brand experience question.
To my mind, this is how it works:
Wear Lulu: You are vicariously a wealthy californian doing yoga on the porch of her house overlooking LA
Ride a Peleton? You are a wealthy person in a large house with glass windows opened to the forest. Or in a glassed in skyscraper.
Wear Nike or Adidas: You are a 110 pound kenyan loping down the road, or Michael Jordan or something
Wear Hoka: You are a bearded ultra guy running through dry gulches for 24 hours at 7 min/mile
Wear Tracksmith: Are TS owners vicariously a Cornell distance runner from 1950? A 25 year old Quenton Cassidy type living in a cabin and running all day?
Seems to be a hole there for TS...people might like the clothes but dont' buy the brand image for themselves. Not sure how that will resolve.
Probably what's happening is that the giant sash will disappear because it just doesn't make much sense to most people.
I wear all of these brands and am none of the above.
Runsplit wrote:
I prefer the Patagonia trail running stuff to any of the boutique running brands. Patagonia stuff lats forever, they have a lifetime guarantee, and all their stuff is recycled. Outdoor brands make stuff that is a lot more durable I have found. Also, their high endurance kit stuff is incredible.
^This. If you want the best running apparel in terms of price/performance you should check out outdoor/XC ski brands like Odlo, Salomon, The North Face, Under Armour, Craft etc. Resonably priced and very high quality. I also have a lot of Gore Wear stuff. Very expensive, but super high quality and by far the most innovative brand on the market. You can often find their stuff on sale.
txRUNNERgirl wrote:
Ex-D1 P5 wrote:
It's no surprise that this would be super confusing for LRBF, but us adults have an easy time selecting the "cold" setting on the washer and air drying any and all run gear.
You mean you don't just jump in the shower with your running shorts on? :)
Yeah, but only in summer. I sure hope you don't, but maybe Dave doesn't mind.
well in any case, one thing TS does really well...is to stay relevant.
They are doing an amazing job getting articles about them and getting people on message boards to talk about them.
What other brand gets this kind of attention? Lulu I suppose. I mean the brand messaging...not just the clothing.
Good on 'em.
Business school case study, no doubt.
I'd love to see someone wear one of those stupid-arse gangbanger relay tanks irl. I'd get a kick out of it.
https://www.tracksmith.com/products/m-ekiden-singlet
However other than sh!ts n' giggles I like their stuff. Too bad it's trust fund expensive. I make lots of money and can afford their stuff but I can't see myself paying $300 for a jacket when I can use that $300 for a pair of PR bustin' super shoes.
I've bought some clothes that have been great (mostly short), and some that have been terrible (t-shirts that are always wrinkly). My kids like seeing the rabbit logo so I tend to wear them but there are clearly lots of other great and more reasonably priced stuff out there.
I just brought out a sugoi jacket that I purchased in around 2010 that's seen 10 winters. There are some threads pulling and stuff but that's what makes running clothes.
So TLDR: Tracksmith clothes are like "finisher" clothes for rich or more competitive runners. You have to have some balls to wear it and cash to buy it.
If someone wants to send me a NDO jacket to replace my 10 year old Sugoi lmk.
You somehow missed the Michigan Pro Ekiden then, moran. Good luck breaking 18 for 5K with your rich boy kicks.
deranged dad wrote:
I'd love to see someone wear one of those stupid-arse gangbanger relay tanks irl. I'd get a kick out of it.
https://www.tracksmith.com/products/m-ekiden-singletHowever other than sh!ts n' giggles I like their stuff. Too bad it's trust fund expensive. I make lots of money and can afford their stuff but I can't see myself paying $300 for a jacket when I can use that $300 for a pair of PR bustin' super shoes.
I've bought some clothes that have been great (mostly short), and some that have been terrible (t-shirts that are always wrinkly). My kids like seeing the rabbit logo so I tend to wear them but there are clearly lots of other great and more reasonably priced stuff out there.
I just brought out a sugoi jacket that I purchased in around 2010 that's seen 10 winters. There are some threads pulling and stuff but that's what makes running clothes.
So TLDR: Tracksmith clothes are like "finisher" clothes for rich or more competitive runners. You have to have some balls to wear it and cash to buy it.
If someone wants to send me a NDO jacket to replace my 10 year old Sugoi lmk.
yeah it's kinda funny how rich we all say we are on this site and how we hate expensive gear with a passion. is there overlap between the guys who post this stuff?
i was kinda in the "i just need a tshirt and shorts in 35 degree weather" camp in the past. it wasnt comfortable but it worked. and i didnt have money at the time.
at some point i thought about how much money i've spent on snowboard equipment which i use for 3-5 days a year. it was a lot more than i spend on running stuff.
im now a lululemon mens diehard and generally a lot more comfortable
flvmmox wrote:
yeah it's kinda funny how rich we all say we are on this site and how we hate expensive gear with a passion. is there overlap between the guys who post this stuff?
i was kinda in the "i just need a tshirt and shorts in 35 degree weather" camp in the past. it wasnt comfortable but it worked. and i didnt have money at the time.
at some point i thought about how much money i've spent on snowboard equipment which i use for 3-5 days a year. it was a lot more than i spend on running stuff.
im now a lululemon mens diehard and generally a lot more comfortable
Exactly, the typical complainers who criticize TS pricing have wasted way more of their money on crap they don't care to admit to. If you dislike the look then ignore threads about it.
Ho Hum wrote:
I think it's funny that their branding is "aspiring to be rich, late 20s guys pretending to be Ivy league runners." Like, a weekend cabin in Vermont sounds fancy, but it's probably cheaper than most hotels. And they project a luxury vibe, but charge about the same as any other active-fashion brands.
I mean, it's fine, they can do whatever they want. It's not for me, but it's not like they're charging $500 for a singlet.
As someone who lives in a cabin in Vermont, way out in the boonies, I can attest that this ain't the place for luxury goods or name brands unless they work exceptionally well. Apart from Carhartt and Muck boots, anyway. I wear an ancient Barbour and my wife hates it, but I think it's great. Starting to reconsider after seeing Steve Bannon so much in the news lately. Back to Filson, I guess?
I've sampled most of the expensive running brands (Satisfy is truly insane thing to spend money on and antithetical to the mindset of any real runner) but District Vision, Tracksmith, Bandit, Nike, Adidas, and a few others have all fallen short. Would rather buy BOA, Champion, or old Nike/Adidas stuff from a decade+ into the past. Tracksmith's stuff, at least below their new elite-ish race-oriented gear, all feels heavy and stodgy with half-ass ergonomics and fit. You're paying $70+ for shorts we would've gotten for phys ed back in the 90s, and imo they don't even look.... that cool. And they lack some functional features that I've grown accustomed to. Not worth the $$$ on multiple fronts.
If you really want to look ivy-league-cool on your runs, wear black or navy split shorts and a gray cotton top. Gildan, Champion, Jansport, League, or Comfort Colors etc with your alma mater's logo, or something like that. Cotton ballcaps or sometimes tech running caps. Usually white sneakers, white or gray socks of your choice. I know a lot of these folks and they're dressing for runs like they did in prep school or college, not like Tracksmith models.
Its kinda funny that this thread is already up to 4 pages. There is something about TRacksmith that seems to really get under certain LetRunner's skins.
Look, I get it, their adoption of the "old skool" aesthetic when not even being old school seems to really rub some people the wrong way. Those of us who lived through bad nylon shorts and cotton t-shirts and an early version of a Nike Windrunner jacket as cold weather/snow wear (combined with a crappy cotton sweatshirt) find the idea of expensive gear that "harkens back to the old days" either fun or offensive. I think its kinda fun.
Look, runners are the cheapest bastards on the sporting planet. They complain aobut shoe prices and clothing prices for a sport that they can usually do 365 days a year, and that amount of $$ is maybe $1-2K a year. That's a two or three day skiing trip once a year for most people if they have some gear. Cycling? Forget it.
And there are so many choices now even outside of Nike, Adidas and Asics and, yes, even Tracksmith: where are the articles of people unhappy with Craft? or Solomon? or Saysky? or Soar (whose stuff is freaking top notch btw)? or Karhu?
The days of crap nylon shorts and crap "rain" jackets that were just nylon and crap no wicking cotton t-shirts and crap tube socks can be long gone if you want them to. And I'm very, very happy that they are gone.
charlesyo wrote:
Its kinda funny that this thread is already up to 4 pages. There is something about TRacksmith that seems to really get under certain LetRunner's skins.
Look, I get it, their adoption of the "old skool" aesthetic when not even being old school seems to really rub some people the wrong way. Those of us who lived through bad nylon shorts and cotton t-shirts and an early version of a Nike Windrunner jacket as cold weather/snow wear (combined with a crappy cotton sweatshirt) find the idea of expensive gear that "harkens back to the old days" either fun or offensive. I think its kinda fun.
Look, runners are the cheapest bastards on the sporting planet. They complain aobut shoe prices and clothing prices for a sport that they can usually do 365 days a year, and that amount of $ is maybe $1-2K a year. That's a two or three day skiing trip once a year for most people if they have some gear. Cycling? Forget it.
And there are so many choices now even outside of Nike, Adidas and Asics and, yes, even Tracksmith: where are the articles of people unhappy with Craft? or Solomon? or Saysky? or Soar (whose stuff is freaking top notch btw)? or Karhu?
The days of crap nylon shorts and crap "rain" jackets that were just nylon and crap no wicking cotton t-shirts and crap tube socks can be long gone if you want them to. And I'm very, very happy that they are gone.
Tracksmith gets more attention because of their obnoxious marketing. All those other companies you list just make good gear. Tracksmith makes gear that looks like bad gear (the cheap stuff you'd find in the 1980s), but then turns around and tries to convince everyone that its top quality gear. They also have an in your face style to their advertising - no days off, pretending to be amateurs who live in a cheap cabin, but ignoring that cabins in the primo destinations they profile cost hundreds a night, etc.
Plus tracksmith pays people to wear tshirts that say "amateur". Its the most annoying marketing ever. The sepia tone photos all over their site would be cool if they were either real people or pros they admitted were pros, not pros pretending to be amateurs all while training in primo destinations and racing top meets.
Its a brand for ivy league trust fund kids and those who want to look like them.