Outside Tracksmith Article

The author is a woke white male which means he has white guilt. He can’t square his love for a brand that caters to the wealthy.

Yes sire wrote:

Whats wrong with Tracksmith appealing to rich amateur runners?

Maybe I am missing something here or I am too close to the product, but I have never seen or read anything from Tracksmith that would suggest they are trying to posit themselves as a working class product. Every photo,, video, and ad from them is elitist and thats exactly what they are trying to portray. A weekend at a cabin in Vermont isn't "amateur" thats a 1% thing to do.

Do other people think that Tracksmith is pretending to be the brand of the amateur runners of old?

https://www.outsideonline.com/2420163/tracksmith-running-brand-business-profile

I bought a TS singlet for like $35 on eBay to wear when I run unattached. Not sure why anyone would race in that brand. The whole idea of a heavy mesh tank top that's too long isn't exactly the best performer on race day, and it also screams "I'm a rich douchebag!" I much prefer my $12 Asics singlet I got on Amazon

woke wrote:

The author is a woke white male which means he has white guilt. He can’t square his love for a brand that caters to the wealthy.

^^^^^^^^^^^ Letsrun needs a thumbs up. Yours should be post of the week.

High quality at a reasonable price will always be the long term factor for success when selling any type of goods. Tracksmith appears to be fixated on image and fashion.

"Vanishing notions of bliss on a September afternoon, when the light reminds you of cross-country practice from lost years."

As those notions vanish and the remaining years grow short, your cartilage wears down and you have less need for running apparel.

I wanna know about the track and field arcade game in the background of that photo.

This is a good crossroads for LRC -- tracksmith's elitism mixed with their aid of amateur running, their callback to running history, and their equity/inclusion practices.

IMO that "article" was super snarky and the author went after super low hanging fruit without making a point. Of course Tracksmith is elitist. Are they the thing we need to gang up on in our sport right now? No.

They also work in good running themes into their products. They sponsor athletes. They feature non-white runners pretty heavily in marketing. They also use manufacturers with strong labor practices which how many clothing companies commit to?

This article felt like one long cheap jab. Buy it or don't. I'm cool with rich folks spending their money here & then Tracksmith sponsoring everyone at the Trials. Also, FWIW, Nike's newest singlets and shorts cost the exact same. They're just big enough you can find super discounted past seasons so they're not elitist or whatever. Go buy the Aeroswift singlet, shorts, and a pair of Vaporfly's, and then convince me who the elitist brand is. Tell me who the elitist brand is when Nike reduces contracts left and right.

I'm not here to take a strong stance on Tracksmith. I just don't think they're the villain we need to be going after. They're way down on my list of priorities.

people like to bag on TS because of the prices but really if you compare the products its not super outrageous

50-80 bucks for shorts is on par with the "higher end" line of shorts from nike/brooks/adidas/etc. The difference is that TS does not have the $20 option and at the end of the day those $60 shorts are far better than the $20 shorts. maybe not for a single run but in terms of durability and comfort after 2 years

Other types of clothes are the same, I just think there is the most value in spending more on shorts than a tee shirt personally

I wear an Under Armour jacket that I found alongside the road while running and brought home and cleaned up. I also wear a wool half-zip pullover that I found at the track and brought home after a week of it going unclaimed. I often take left behind clothes home from the track, wash them, and donate them to the local Salvation Army thrift store. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

You wearing unmistakably garish $250 racing Nikes to the "East Bumfukk 5K for Cat Diabetes" to grab that runner up spot in 18:55 screams "I'm a rich douchebag" more than anything else you might choose to wear.

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. This is really for people who aren't stuck using the microwave exclusively in cooking meals. I'm sure you look adorable in your ratty nylon gear when you show up at the Friday backyard rasslin' party.

What the f*ck did you just f*cking say about me, you little b*tch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Le Cordon Bleu, and I've been involved in numerous secret kitchen pop ups in France, and I have over 300 confirmed ortolans served. I am trained in reverse searing and I'm the top tenderizer in the entire US kitchen services. You are nothing to me but just another sous chef. I will wipe you the f*ck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my f*cking words. You think you can get away with saying that s*it to me over the Internet? Think again, f*cker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of chefs across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You're f*cking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can chiffonade in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in knife sharpening, but I have access to the entire arsenal of MAC kitchen knives and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable *ss off the face of the continent, you little sh*t. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your f*cking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will sh*t fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're f*cking dead, kiddo.

Joking aside. I use my microwave about once a month and love to cook. Sure, I have fancy clothes that I air dry and take good care of. But spending that time on running clothes isn't worth it to me. They're going to wear down eventually when you run almost every day and even twice a day.

Blue Ribbon Sports wrote:

ou wearing unmistakably garish $250 racing Nikes to the "East Bumfukk 5K for Cat Diabetes" to grab that runner up spot in 18:55 screams "I'm a rich douchebag" more than anything else you might choose to wear.

I'm surprised to see so many getting so defensive about Tracksmith. You run for them or something?

Everybody on LetsRun "I HATE Nike! They're the evil empire!! Addidas is just as bad!"

Tracksmith "Hey you can buy shorts n stuff here."

Everybody on Letsrun "OMG You guys are such douchebags! No way!"

I run in a straw hat I weave by hand, some sunglasses made of two beer bottles I duct taped together, a half burned Harley Davidson tank top I found in a trash can on I-70, some pants I saw fall off a dog in a nearby park, and a pair of VFs which I replace every 80 miles.

I am the one true runner in this thread.

Everyone on this thread wishes they were as clever as this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf7hL0XyS7E

Tracksmith Of My Tears wrote:

I run in a straw hat I weave by hand, some sunglasses made of two beer bottles I duct taped together, a half burned Harley Davidson tank top I found in a trash can on I-70, some pants I saw fall off a dog in a nearby park, and a pair of VFs which I replace every 80 miles.

I am the one true runner in this thread.

Respect.

Blue Ribbon Sports wrote:

random HSer wrote:

I bought a TS singlet for like $35 on eBay to wear when I run unattached. Not sure why anyone would race in that brand. The whole idea of a heavy mesh tank top that's too long isn't exactly the best performer on race day, and it also screams "I'm a rich douchebag!" I much prefer my $12 Asics singlet I got on Amazon

You wearing unmistakably garish $250 racing Nikes to the "East Bumfukk 5K for Cat Diabetes" to grab that runner up spot in 18:55 screams "I'm a rich douchebag" more than anything else you might choose to wear.

I'll take the bait. My racing/workout flats were $36 and my spikes always either come from eBay, an off price clearance store, or some other sale. And my PR is just a wee bit faster than that by about 3 minutes. I'm also in HS so not much point in buying Vaporflys for a track 3200m. Cue the responses on how I'm sad for defending myself and engaging with strangers on the internet. I deserve them.

I really like the vast majority of their stuff. The VC singlet is a bit too heavy for me but their wool pieces are my go to for winter running along with SmartWool which was actually the more expensive brand.

Their stuff lasts but you do need to wash it right, especially the wool.

runn3er5 wrote:

people like to bag on TS because of the prices but really if you compare the products its not super outrageous

50-80 bucks for shorts is on par with the "higher end" line of shorts from nike/brooks/adidas/etc. The difference is that TS does not have the $20 option and at the end of the day those $60 shorts are far better than the $20 shorts. maybe not for a single run but in terms of durability and comfort after 2 years

Other types of clothes are the same, I just think there is the most value in spending more on shorts than a tee shirt personally

Yep. They have a different business model from the big brands. With limited supply, the demand and price stay high. They aren't marketing to the masses and they never pretended to. I wear both the big brands and Tracksmith, but feel a closer connection to the Tracksmith "brand" because it's small, catered to competitive runners, and the founder knows my name and is connected to LetsRun. Anyone who assumes someone is elitist just because they grew up in NE and went to an Ivy League school needs to get out more.