Outside Tracksmith Article

I think what rubs people the wrong way is that they DON’T pretend to be an elitist brand. Rather, they market themselves as the everyday runner’s choice of apparel. They make singlets that are inspired by famous articles of clothing found in the trash can, or track spike bags made out of discarded pieces of clothing in a factory, and yet they jack up their prices to a sum that less than 1% of people can afford. DESPITE marketing themselves as an “amateur”, “rags to rags” brand. Kinda a crappy way to play on people’s emotions. If they just admitted they were in fact an elitist brand, with their 200 dollar shirts and 70 dollar shorts, there would be no problem.

I guess that's the beauty of capitalism. You can get suckers to buy any crap you want if you market it right. Cue credits.

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.

I have no problems with Tracksmith - I have probably $700 of TS stuff and it's first in the rotation. Great fabrics, seems to fit better than others, and looks good too.

The marketing is weird tho, yeah.

I think it's meant to appeal to wealthy people who like to think they are keeping in touch with their hard-working youth via running and fashion.

Or new-rich people who want to grab for a little of the glamor of old money college sports.

Something like that.

No, you are wrong. Their aesthetic is 100% Ivy League. That is their position in the market. By "amateur," they are referring to the competitive status of the runner. It is a distinct marketing position that differs to Nike. Nike is the Lebron James professional, Tracksmith is the Harvard alum trying to hit the OT standard.

Their "remnants" spike bag was a temporary attempt to appeal to the environmentally conscious upper class. It wasn't some kind of "used" bag. They no longer sell that to my knowledge.

I own no Tracksmith gear and do not plan to buy any, but just needed to point out that you are wrong.

You don't have to be wealthy to buy Tracksmith, is the thing. I own several pairs of their stuff because its super comfortable and lasts a long time, and I make $30,000 a year. I used to buy BOA shorts on sale, or similar brands for $19 a pair, but they would literally fall apart after two years. I've been rotating two pairs of Tracksmith shorts for the past five years and they look basically brand new. You get what you pay for.

Also - when you look at what is charged by companies like Nike for their apparel, its really quite similar. I was looking at new running tights - Tracksmith has some $100 ones, which is the going rate for a pair of Nike or Brooks tights these days.

I don't think TS prices are really that far out of line with Nike, Saucony, Lululemon, etc. A Twilight longsleeve is $65. That seems pretty normal.

Even their "regular" clothes are in line with normal prices. A TS hoodie is $100. A similar one from J. Crew is $90. Nike hoodies range from $65-140.

I don't understand why people have a problem with them.

Tracksmith is the trust fund amateur. The rich guy who doesn't have to work after graduating from an elite private northeast school, ivy league or otherwise (Tufts, NYU, Hopkins, etc. grads fit the bill too).

The true amateur, the guy running post collegiately while working a full time job is wearing $30 nike fast shorts and whatever is on sale at running warehouse. He may have spent $250 on super shoes, but his running wardrobe doesn't match.

The first one has an "instagramable style" while the second does not.

LRC braintrust: traditionally, amauter MEANS wealthy. Have none of you watched "Chariots of Fire"? Anyway, Tracksmith's pricing isn't really out of line with brands like Nike, Brooks, Lululemon, Vuori, whatever. That's MSRP, not outlet store or online clearance markdown. Besides, the true "working class runner" doesn't wear those brands either, it's C9 and other brands you find in discount retailers like Walmart or Amazon. You'd know that if you actually knew any true working class runners, rather than just guessing like this. And you certainly can afford TS prices, you just pretend otherwise in fighting your online culture wars. But keep giving them free brand marketing like starting threads like this, you might as well be a TS intern the way you let them live in your head rent free.

Kvothe wrote:

Tracksmith is the trust fund amateur. The rich guy who doesn't have to work after graduating from an elite private northeast school, ivy league or otherwise (Tufts, NYU, Hopkins, etc. grads fit the bill too).

The true amateur, the guy running post collegiately while working a full time job is wearing $30 nike fast shorts and whatever is on sale at running warehouse. He may have spent $250 on super shoes, but his running wardrobe doesn't match.

The first one has an "instagramable style" while the second does not.

I agree.

Sounds like clever marketing, and apparently their gear is high quality.

The guys I trained with would wear the grubbiest sweats and shoes we could to open meets and to road races. We even wore caps long before that was fashionable, just to look out-of-place.

We were counter-culture at that time, expensive running gear was just hitting the market. People thought we were joggers until we took the sweats off and they could see the shape we were in, and then we put on either spikes or racing flats.

I think they're mostly trying to capture the aesthetic of old timey runners in their designs. I like the way their stuff looks and the photography and videos in meter magazine and on their site. That being said, I think it also is kind of TOO nice and TOO expensive to actually train hard in. Some of their gear I would rather wear as casual wear.

I ain't poor but I ain't rich either. I like getting value out of older running clothes as long as they are still serviceable. I do fine wearing old team gear from college and race shirts mostly. Plus I sweat a lot and get pretty dirty running often, so i'm not gonna drop $50 on a shirt that's just gonna get smelly and sweaty.

does tracksmith offer any sponsorships?

Comeon wrote:

Also - when you look at what is charged by companies like Nike for their apparel, its really quite similar. I was looking at new running tights - Tracksmith has some $100 ones, which is the going rate for a pair of Nike or Brooks tights these days.

This is exactly right. They have a few items that are pretty expensive, but most of their stuff is in line with other brands. It's interesting that Taylor was actually pressured to go at a much more premium price point, and he resisted.

There are plenty of other boutique brands out there that are equally or more expensive. On, Iffley Road, Soar, Ashmei, just to name a few.

Juice Springsteen wrote:Some of their gear I would rather wear as casual wear.

Agreed. I like a lot of their stuff for bumming around in. I guess their tights are pretty good too.

That said, I don't wear a shirt half the year, so "running clothing" just means a pair of split shorts. And I still think NB and Nike team uniform shorts are better (not to mention cheaper) than anything TS makes.

Yes they do, if you are around OTQ type fast:

https://www.tracksmith.com/pages/amateur-support-program

and

https://www.tracksmith.com/pages/otq

I give Tracksmith's marketing department a lot of credit for getting this article in Outside magazine. That's some very valuable free advertising. Tracksmith also had a front page article on Hodinkee a website about really expensive watches like Rolex. Tracksmith seems to know its target audience ($$$) and gives really good pitches to magazines/webzines for articles about them.

Juice Springsteen wrote:

I think they're mostly trying to capture the aesthetic of old timey runners in their designs. I like the way their stuff looks and the photography and videos in meter magazine and on their site. That being said, I think it also is kind of TOO nice and TOO expensive to actually train hard in. Some of their gear I would rather wear as casual wear.

I ain't poor but I ain't rich either. I like getting value out of older running clothes as long as they are still serviceable. I do fine wearing old team gear from college and race shirts mostly. Plus I sweat a lot and get pretty dirty running often, so i'm not gonna drop $50 on a shirt that's just gonna get smelly and sweaty.

Their look books are really cool. Other running companies should take note because with a day long photo shoot they could be generating tons of revenue.

I do wonder how the brand works outside the Northeast.

While preppy old school college sports means one thing in Boston...it might mean something different in the Sunbelt.

Just curious. I have no idea.

I'd love to see their sales broken up geographically.

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.

This is fair, but you are appealing to the children of the 1%. They may not be rich now but will be in a few years. Its the woman in her med school residency, the lawyer who is about to become a junior partner. The account who just passed their CPA exams.

I think they make a fine product thats maybe 5% overpriced. And maybe its the way I interpret their ads or just the people I know who wear their stuff, but to me their ads target a specific runner: rich, dedicated, bougie.

I feel like most of their prices are fair compared to other brands (Nike). I have 3 pairs of their lined half tights vs. 1 pair of the aeroswift (which for some reason the liner chaffs) and 2 shirts. Nike has $80 singlets and T shirts why cant Tracksmith? Tracksmith's merino wool T shirts are very comfortable and worth the price to me.

Now yea I wont be buying $200 run commute pants, $200 run commute jacket, $200 run commute backpack, or these lifestyle items.