revchuck 

This is my first year racing as part of a team. It's time to buy kits. There's no mandatory minimum we need to have/buy. It looks like I'll be wearing it once or twice a week either at races (weekend stage races) or team rides. Two jerseys, two bib shorts, two pairs of socks and one pair of gloves is what I was thinking. I'll just go with plain black leg and arm warmers. Does this sound about right, or is there stuff I'm forgetting?

gsteinb

Depends. I've got a vest I wear all the time. Windbreaker. Winter jacket. Skin suits. Ten or so jerseys ( at each house ). Arm, knee, leg warmers. Five pairs of gloves. You can never have enough shorts. It's like the half of the bun that disappears faster.

revchuck 

Gary - Thanks, but I'm trying to keep expenses down, not drop a grand or so. I need wheels more than a skinsuit.

gsteinb

Keep in mind it's a decade worth of stuff.

Racer Ex 

3 minimum.

furiousferret

I just got one jersey / shorts; don't remember the cost but it was well over $100. I'll get my second kit when next years model comes out.

Besides, as a 5 I'll mostly be riding solo.

YMCA

at least get a vest

Ygduf

new team this year, I went for 5 kits, skinsuit, warmers, gloves, socks, shoe covers, vest, skinsuit... an I think that's it.

Cleave

Hi revchuck, if you're going to wear the team kit during team training rides, then 3 jerseys and 3 bibs. If you're going to do TTs then a skinsuit and shoe covers. The skinsuit could replace one of the kits if you're going to do crits regularly. Since Louisiana is generally warm, your plan for arm and leg warmers sounds good. The vest might be a good idea regardless.

Hope this helps.

zitter

I usually only wear cat team kits for races/team events, all other times I prefer blank/collegiate kits. Therefore: 1 skinsuit, 1-2 kits + 1 vest/arm warmers/socks/maybe gloves. If you're doing mostly crits/tt, then 1 skinsuit and 1 kit is fine, but if mostly road races, then 2 kits and no skinsuit is better. If you're on a tighter budget, then 2 jerseys and 1 pair of bibs will do it (just in case of a crash, you can do jersey + blank bibs, just wear neutral socks/gloves/etc.)

revchuck 

All - I need a TT bike before I get a skinsuit. I'm Merckxing it this year.

thechemist

I'll agree to all that jazz

carpediemracing 

3 jerseys, 3 bib shorts (sub skinsuit for one if you want).

Wind vest. Any time the temps gets below 70-ish I'll wear one, unzipped, for visibility (flapping fabric is great for visibility). I'll actually zip it in the 50-55 degree range.

Lots of socks. They're cheap, relatively speaking. I have maybe 10 pairs?

Long finger gloves, if you type with more than just your index fingers and thumbs. It takes one light fall where you skin your fingertips to learn this lesson. I use some black CamelBak gloves, they're really comfy in warm weather, thin, etc.

Black knickers for 40-55 degree days. Or a pair of thermal shorts and thermal knee warmers.

Booties for 55 degrees or lower.

A cap or something for less than hot days.

Sixty Fiver

I thought you said kilts...

Carry on.

Beaker

A big +1 for adding a wind vest to your list. Not only are they very versatile, having one allows you to give visibility to your teams sponsors during colder rides when you'd be covering your kit up with some generic jacket or vest instead.

Ygduf

it's too bad our team vest is garbage. it has the cut of a potato sack.

shovelhd

Agreed. I currently have two and would welcome two more. Our sponsors prefer matching kits, completely matching, so add arm, leg, and knee warmers for all conditions. When it's stupid cold I'll wear thermal tights because my pee pee doesn't give a crap about sponsors at that point. Matching gloves are also part of the picture as are matching helmets. I opted for the thermal jacket, and man, was that a good idea. I use it for warmups on the trainer, walking around the race venue, and I give it to the kid when they are taking pictures and they put the lenses in the back pockets. What I wish I had was a wind vest (I use a plastic bag instead) and a couple of short sleeve base layers for the summer.

gsteinb

I hear the windbreaker is nice. Plan on getting that this year.

tetonrider

how committed do you plan to be to this team?

how frequently do they change designs (and when they do, are the new kits 'modular' in the sense that you can mix and match pieces from prior and current kits?)

how frequently do you want to do laundry?

how much does the team care about you being fully decked out?

how much other (basic black) stuff do you already own?

if you want to save $$$ (guessing so based on you saying you have other competing priorities), i'd say you could get by with 2 kits...maybe even 1.5. you could probably do many rides with plain black bibs (or whatever you happen to have). for stuff like socks and warmers you'd probably be fine with black. a clear vest or rain jacket can also be versatile.

i travel for stage races a bunch (some are 5 days of racing) and i don't love to do laundry on the road, so that's my own minimum. if a team requires me to have that many kits, though, it better be heavily subsidized, otherwise i'd use some combination of new kits, old kits, black shorts, etc.

merlinextraligh

This stuff does get expensive. 2 jerseys, 2 bibs is pretty much the minimum, particularly if you're going to stage races/omniums with multiple races in a weekend.

You can pretty much get by with 2 kits, supplementing with plain black shorts you alread have, and other jerseys for training, particularly if you're not required to wear the team kit every time you ride.

ovoleg

2 pairs of bibs, 2 pairs of jerseys, leg warmers, arm warmers, 1 long sleeve jersey.

I wear my team kit on every ride, wash everything after every ride unless you want saddle sores/smelly clothing.

I am picky about my socks and cap so not going to wear the team ones.