On a mission to get lost: Dylan Nord's six commuter essentials

I’ve been emailing with Dylan Nord for five years, though we’ve never actually met. So I know him, but not really. I think we crossed paths while writing for AskMen (me, not him). I’d convinced the site to take on more cycling coverage, and after going to the Giro, we connected for a piece on cycling and style.

At the time, his side-hustle - Deux North - was just getting off the ground. A project about abandon, exploration and the pursuit of smooth tarmac beyond your regular 120km Butter Finger (which is awesome, but in a different way).

They’d made some nice-looking kit, probably to fund more rides, and I got some. Soon Hunt videos followed featuring Nord, his bro James (with whom he co-founded DN) and some other folks whose names were familiar. California, Spain - the trips exhibited the exoticism of riding with no set destination. The corporate partnerships - everyone was on Specialized bikes - were also noticeable and impressive. While continuing to write about cycling and lifestyle stuff, we kept in touch.

Fast forward a couple years, Nord had moved to California, working as a brand director for athleisure company, Oliver’s Apparel. We’ve kept in touch since. I’ve worn a bunch of the clothes they’re making for commuting and in life. I reach for them on repeat. They’re well made and they hold up to abuse, which I value. Merino henley t’s, shorts and most recently their passage pants (which were outstanding on a trans-Atlantic to Toronto).

He travels in interesting cycling circles so I figured a short profile was overdue. His current role - marketing lightweight, comfortable clothing - has made him a minor connoisseur on commuting essentials. So here are his. Stuff he’s picked out to make commuting in LA fun, or at the very least, manageable.

Brooks - Pickwick Backpack 12LT “Brooks has been at it since 1866, and in that time they’ve learned a thing or two. This bag is timeless. Simple touches like vegetable tanned leather and cotton canvas lend it a classic look, while features like a padded laptop sleeve and secret compartment make it perfect for everyday commuting.” 

Rapha - Merino Socks “It’s rare to find socks that look good on and off the bike,” says Nord. “But these Merino Socks from Rapha are just that.” Boasting an athletic fit that feels right inside a cycling or dress shoe and won’t fall down on your calf. Above all, Merino wool is antimicrobial, so no need to worry about a sweaty foot smell ruining your 10 o’clock meeting.

Specialized - Stix Elite Light Don’t let the size fool you. these little guys could bring a ship in to shore. Large or poorly mounted lights are never a good look. These lights look and work great, are easy to mount, and simply slide off the mount and plug into a USB port to charge--no cords or fumbling with tiny components to adjust or remove.

Olivers - Passage Pant “Four way stretch, moisture wicking, water-repellant, and made with a durable CORDURA Nylon, these are my go to commuter pants. They fit like a pair of jeans, but are as comfortable as a pair of sweatpants. The stretch and gusseted crotch mean swinging your leg over the seat and pedaling is effortless.” (Editor’s note: these are also outstanding for travel. Deep pocketed for stuff you need and made for all-day comfort.)

West Skincare - Cleanser “If you’re going to be riding to work you might consider packing a little something to clean the sweat and grime of the city away after getting to the office. It’s 2019 and you’re an adult - get it together. The greasy, unkempt look is no longer acceptable.” Check it out here.

Thousand - Heritage Collection Helmet “Safety first, right? Yes, but also looking good is a close second. This helmet is hands-down the best looking commuter helmet on the market and with a variety of colors to choose from it’s easy to find something that feels perfect for you. Plus, the clever “poplock” makes locking the helmet with your bike a synch.” 

Safe travels, readers.

One Way Ticket: The many sides of Jonathan Vaughters

Manager. CEO. Ex-pro. Ventoux time-trial winner. Doper. Family man. Visionary. Leader. You can slap a bunch of labels on the paradoxical figure that is Jonathan Vaughters. All are partly true.

In his recently penned “One Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels” - cataloging the most quotable character in cycling of the last decade, you get all sides. In great and humorous detail, he gets into the perils of owning a pro team; the pressure - riding for US Postal Service - to be one of the boys; the challenge, isolation and commitment required to chase a dream, finally landing as a professional in Europe.

While much of JV’s modern history is known - the founding of Slipstream Sports, his co-operation with USADA, his musings on a sustainable future for the sport, One Way Ticket illuminates on how he went tête-à-tête with cycling heavyweights, detailing a struggle to punch above his weight and the ensuing tumult that struck him personally as a result.

The most insightful content is on the business of cycling itself: how to start a pro team; how budgets are put together; cycling’s house-of-cards operating model. All this is told from an insider perspective, from an outspoken individual who has worn many different and enviable hats.

If you read Draft Animals - another look at the less glamorous side of being a pro - Phil Gaimon paints a different picture of dealing with JV - as talent. He is cunning and tactful, able to shine a light on desired riders, and under the gun of fickle sponsors, capable of ghosting and stringing others along masterfully.

JV details all of this, in what is very much a reconciliation of the decisions one makes in life, particularly ones that make you sound like a d*ck. Maybe that is part of JV’s secret sauce? A largess made even larger by an inability to nail his persona down completely; to delve deeply into what drives someone to compete - as David - on a stage dominated by Goliaths?

If this is the JV you want, you’ll find it in here. If you’re pressed for time, skip ahead to the book’s best parts. From “Going Postal,” (pg.164), where Vaughter’s details life with USPS, up to present day.

“Lance was going through his bedtime routine, shaving his legs, brushing his teeth, and the like. While I was mid-sentence writing home, he popped out of the bathroom, pulled a vial of EPO from his thermos and filled a syringe with its contents. He jabbed himself while humming some Pearl Jam tune. He spat in the sink, finished the syringe and turned to me. “You’re one of us now, JV.” Yikes.

Cycling in the modern era is shown from this point on, warts are all. The conflict of cheating. How difficult it is managing a team on scraps. These themes are illustrated beautifully in stories about negotiations with Rigo after a 2017 Tour podium (how do you keep a potential GC winner on a team with no money?); telling and entertaining anecdotes, “revealing a romance between a deeply flawed human and a deeply flawed sport.”

Yes there are lulls in the book, and in his character. The entirety however paints a picture of a personality enmeshed in cycling’s major headlines of the last 20 years. It is revealing in the level of detail, particularly on issues of instability, the chasm between the deep-pocketed teams and the rest and on racing clean -- while describing what it takes to compete and ultimately, succeed.

“Plainly, I wrote this book because I was in the fog of a divorce, in pain, and looking back through the dusty, tattered books of my memories. I realized cycling had defined every fiber of my being, for better or for worse, and this book is part of that. I just felt that there were stories that needed to be told in a gritty and human light, without any spin. You can’t give people texture on Twitter.”

One Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels is available from Penguin Random House here.

JV started competitive cycling in the 1980’s. He’s the founder of the US-based EF Education First Pro Cycling and he’s one of the sport’s most towering figures.

That’s what his book jacket says at least. But I think it’s pretty hard to argue with most of it.

The Manhattan Project: how SAS built a brand and a brigade.

When Search and State announced a ride across the US in 2017, it was with no set format. Not much by way of plans at all, really. Just an unstructured ride for strangers. A chance for SAS super-fans and cyclists to ride a bunch of b-roads. Looking back on the initial planning, Daniel Golden - owner and founder of SAS - describes it as a gamble.

While interest was growing in gravel riding, and bikepacking became a sub-segment in the cycling industry, SAS wasn’t sure people would show up. It wasn’t a European-style brevet, but then again, it wasn’t meant to be. The vision was to put together a cross-country ride with no set format powered by blind courage in an effort to grow a cycling community closely associated with riding, just because. “We thought that if we set this thing in motion that some people would be inspired to jump in with us and give it a go,“ he explains.

Golden has been inspired by the people who have since turned up for the different iterations of the Search Brigade. Some have said the challenge of riding a multi-day event forever changed their lives. Meanwhile, “the Brigade” as it’s come to be known, has grown in numbers and notoriety, as has the SAS community and the company itself. Rides rolled through Tasmania in 2019; new US routes are expected in 2020.

Interest in the kit coming out of NYC has never been bigger. Seven years after they started, SAS has found footing in a community looking for quality kit, local manufacture and a bit of irreverence. In the mid-town Manhattan-based kit company, most cyclists find all three.

Search and State’s S1 riding jersey in grey: a perfectly built, five-pocket jersey that IMHO stands-up to repeated abuse.

I got my hands on my first bit of SAS kit 2015. At the time, the company was growing but not well-known. A couple guys wore it on local club rides, but that was it. It embodied a race persona sometimes, a clean, singular aesthetic always, and a version of cycling that didn’t take itself too seriously. They made simple, monochrome kit, sewing all of it in New York’s garment district - a rarity in an industry centered around Italian and Chinese manufacturing. The S1 bibs and jersey reeked of quality and the durability was legendary. (I came down in their S1 riding jacket; I’m convinced the jacket’s construction saved a lot of my skin.)

In the four years since, the company has grown steadily, focusing on sustainability, small-batch kit production and expanding their kit collection (which now includes staples like their S1 riding jacket and gilet - probably the best quality packables you can take with you into the mountains). They’ve continually invested in cycling through the Brigade and the ensuing interactions that have come from it.

Before SAS, Golden did a degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology, then built a 20-year career apprenticing for some “serious New York design houses.” In 2013, the kit biz called and he started Search and State.

Today, (rightly or wrongly) Golden says a lot kit and brands can be built without ever setting foot in a sewing room. All you need is to drop colors into a template and some good credit. Kit comes a couple weeks later, ready to sell. SAS however doesn’t do it that way. They make their own patterns, develop their own fabrics (when they can't find what they want), and manage a transparent supply chain. There is no substitute for being able to manage and control production.

“You have to have great sewers, suppliers and mills to work with. And you have to stand there and watch it being sewn to preserve kit quality.” Anyone who has ridden in SAS kit will corroborate that ethos; the craftsmanship of their garments is meticulous.

“It would be hard for me to have a personal design aesthetic if I were looking around all the time and reacting to the market,” he says about a market that has become highly saturated by choice, colorways, fabrics and brands. “I make what I want when I want and that alone has inherently set me apart.

A Field Shirt - just released in September in limited numbers - is good example of where the apparel company sits currently and perhaps wants to head next. It is part of an expanding cross-over collection, an homage to the many diverging directions cycling itself is headed. The flannel is a nice-to-have in the pack to wear at night or whatever on multi-day rides.

(I’m waiting on a bit of kit from SAS including the Field shirt and will post something on that separately.)

As for other bits of kit the company is releasing in Autumn, it would be tough to iterate on a near-perfect batch of kit, save for perhaps more for deep winter. SAS hopes cycling kit will continue to evolve in a meaningful way - more design, better quality and more sustainable operations from manufacturers who value quality over quantity and build things to last.

“I keep pushing our community initiatives and our sustainability ethos and I just hope to keep the whole thing moving forward.”

Ironically, despite being sold on Cycling Tip’s Emporium and other niche third-parties, Golden says he still feels the brand is a relative unknown. They don’t do much advertising or marketing; most of their growth is organic. Similarly they don’t value scale much, just working to make gear better, plan more rides, meet more people, and just do more. “That's the goal pretty much. To just keep on keeping on.”

Much like the ride it has started, SAS will wake up every morning, as planned, and keep moving forward. The people who ride in their kit will be pretty happy about that.

For 2020, SAS will be doing the full cross-country Brigade again after taking a year off to see some other parts of the world. Route will be announced soon.

Damn, I look good in this kit.

Cali-based Brandt-Sorenson calls out "creative theft" in the cycling kit industry

I scrolled through an angry post from Brandt-Sorenson - an LA-based collective designing cycling kit and athletic apparel - on Instagram last week and thought it might be interesting to find out what’s gotten them so fired-up.

Before I publish this one though, I should say one or two things about some of the comments. First off, go on their Instagram and read them yourselves. I’d encourage you to. They call into question issues facing the cycling kit industry which need more sunshine. What is creativity versus copying? How does apparel become more sustainable? Is the market hyper-saturated? Has kit taken on the traits of fast fashion? It goes on and on. These are issues that need to be discussed. Things I’m sure we all think about, and issues (myself included) that need to be considered more closely.

Secondly, through writing on this site and others, I’ve received my fare share of kit samples. For free. I value the relationships with the brands who’ve supported me over the years. This post is not meant to call anyone out or to discredit. Just raise some questions - in Q&A format - about kit. What is quality? How long should kit last? What are you actually buying? What are the true costs? Those kinds of things.

Anyway, on with the show. I’ve never talked with Cecilia from BS before but I reached out and did the following interview over Gmail. The questions expanded on their initial post, which singled out the ethical practices of industry. Where logical, I reached out for responses from all sides. Specially I contacted PNS twice, but nothing. (PasNormalStudios has sent me kit in past; I’ve reviewed it favorably. I think they’ve built a unique and interesting brand and I like riding in their stuff).

I value these relationships and perspectives and wish for them to continue. Moreover, I’ve never worn Brandt-Sorenson’s product. This article isn’t a review. Cecilia and her partner Nick are two people trying to grow a business in a space increasingly plagued with homogeneity, and I think theirs in an interesting perspective. I’m not pointing fingers, either, but some images they sent my way for the site bare similarities worth pointing out.

Now Brandt-Sorenson’s co-owner is no stranger to controversy. Read this 2016 CyclingTips article for more on that. But we all need to look more closely at the quality of the kit we buy, so we can enjoy riding it, but also decide what is the watermark for creativity. Quality, too. Anyway, leave a comment if you read to the end or think this is BS. Would love to hear it.

---

HNH: For people unfamiliar with your kits and company, give us some background on the brand and the people behind it.

BS: Brandt-Sorenson is an established made-to-measure fashion brand, collected by endurance athletes who place a high value on their time and chose to invest in quality American contemporary sportswear. We are a leader in fashion integrity, offering world-class sustainability to cyclists and runners. Basically, its a two-person team operating out of a small workshop in downtown Los Angeles for over a decade. Cecilia Brandt is the co-owner and brand director. She also co-ordinates a global client list and manages our MTM direct to athlete model. Nick designs, cuts and sews every garment to the athlete's measurements. Since starting, he's handcrafted nearly $1million in sportswear, with a return, refund or sizing exchange rate of about 0.1%. That's absolutely unheard of. There are no other brands out there who can match those numbers. Nobody is making sportswear like this.

HNH: Fiery post on creative integrity and kit design on Instagram. Can you give us some context? Enough is enough? Or was there some sort of trigger?

BS: Here's the thing, we are not here to be the creative fashion directors for the cycling apparel industry. Our made-to-measure collection is not some free mood board for a wealthy Danish businessman to mimic into a ready-to-wear bulk production line. This is our intellectual property. Nobody has the right to use it without our permission. Our name is trademarked, and our brand identity is protected under Federal trade dress laws. Yes, we are an authentic, small brand with limited legal resources. Pretty safe bet that you won't get sued unless we choose to crowdsource a legal fund.

Brandt-Sorenson offered up these images, which show resemblances in creative design between kit.

HNH: Calling out kit companies and their owners directly is full on...What did you mean by this one: "NO you may not use our made-to-measure designs and trade dress for your bulk production. Peter and Karl, STOP. NO means NO." Context?

BS: Unfortunately, some believe that if they have more wealth, that they can take the property of creatives for free. That's not ethical, but its the way the world works sometimes. We are not Nike Lab who has access to the best attorneys to enforce their intellectual property ( Jun Takahashi Gyakusou NikeLab vs. PNS example). People have eyeballs, they know what's just, and ethical. Consumers shouldn't need a federal judge to tell them when something has been copied. It's not flattery or homage. It’s theft. Sustainable design is much more than BlueSign certified fabrics, it's about paying artists, designers, and craftsmen a living wage.

We are putting 100% sweat equity into this boot-straped brand. We started with about $300 and have been based in downtown Los Angeles for over a decade. We have no investors, loans or debts. Los Angeles, while one of the most dominant creative hubs in the USA, is also the most unaffordable city in the USA. We have over a hundred thousand dollars worth of arts and fashion education behind our designs, and a ton of invaluable life experience in art, fashion and endurance sports. Nick started competing athletically and sewing MTM sportswear at the age of ten.

HNH: "Giving stolen designs to IG influencers without disclosure violates USA Federal Trade Commission laws." - Are there incidences of this happening that you can cite? Does this happen often in the apparel game?

BS: Yes, we've had a few messages about this practice. Some influencers were given PNS items upfront and then asked to purchase more down the road. We haven't found any IG posts selling PNS (copies of our designs) that are disclosed as actual advertisements.

HNH: Fast fashion is unsustainable - full stop. Why are you calling it out now? Why has it crept up on cyclists (and cycling) so quickly?

BS: Design copying in fashion is actually creating an environmental crisis. The fashion industry is the second-largest polluter globally. Fast fashion profits by appropriating intellectual property from creatives, devaluing them to common use trends, and flooding the market with cheap replicas. Whoever floods a trend the fastest with the most volume is going to make the most money for corporate executives and shareholders. Sadly, 95% of imported clothing into the USA is tainted by human trafficking and forced labor. Americans are discarding on average 80 lbs of clothing a year into landfills, and most of these garments are plastic polyester. We believe that the current profit/power structure in apparel is flawed, and that our made-to-measure direct to client model is the best way forward.

HNH: Three things you want to see change in the kit biz right now - go.

BS: Verified for zero human trafficking, use of sustainable fabrics, a perfect fit.

HNH: Complete this sentence: "Brandt Sorenson wants the next kit you buy to be...."

Authentic.

Go West: Matt Ankeny wants you to look better on the bike and go faster, too.

I met Matthew Ankeny when he was working as a pitch-man for Rapha - a job he took for a year or thereabouts, previously (currently?) working as contributing writer, editor and producer in the cycling biz, in addition to being an all-round bon vivant.

He dropped an email late last year, saying hey friends, “I’m moving on to do my own thing” before going dark and turning into a skin care CEO. There’s a gap in cycling that was wide open: skin care + recovery post rides, he said. He set out to go after it.

The world’s harsh. Sun. Sweat. Pollution. All that sticks to your skin and breaks it down. Reality is, after a long ride most of us kick-up our feet, sip a coffee and watch stages of the La Vuelta, quite literally hanging our skin out to dry. Not cool, man. Not cool.

Through the magic of the internet, we reconnected to chat about his new venture, CBD chamois cream (bliss!) and why most cyclists eschew skin care. He’s an interesting personality in the cycling world. You can check him out here and West product here.

You worked in the cycling biz for years. Why West now? How'd you spot the opportunity?

Well, I moved in with my girlfriend and we shared a bathroom. I started stealing her products and she used some quality, expensive stuff. She didn't love the stealing, but I quickly noticed a difference in my skin. It literally started to look and feel much better. Less dry. Less red. Less irritated. It was something I had not experienced with the cheaper products I'd half-heartedly used before.

So I started researching it — I even took a continuing education class at UCLA — and there is a pretty clear difference between the good stuff and the mediocre stuff in skincare. And the good stuff includes certain ingredients that are proven to work. But all the brands at that level were focused on women, and nothing spoke to the cyclists or runners or men. And those are the people who tend to need it the most — the people who are outside, sweating, getting sun-exposure and windburn and environmental debris on their face. A four-hour ride does not do good things for the surface of your skin. 

Unfortunately. I think the traditional skincare brands aren't talking to the people who are living the most active lifestyles. And I think those people need quality skincare more than most. So, West was born to speak to those people and give them top-quality products.

Describe your recommended skin care routine. 

It's a pretty simple daily practice — like brushing your teeth. Every morning and night, cleanse and then moisturize. I keep our Cleanser in the shower, so it's at hand and easy to remember. I then use our lighter Moisturizer in the morning and our Recovery Cream at night, which I keep next to my bed. Since our products are pretty potent, with lots of active ingredients — hyaluronic acid, beta-glucans, AHAs, liposomes — just doing those steps is about 90% of the way to good skin health. Just cleanse then moisturizer, morning and night. Or, obviously, you can get more advanced (and if you have a persistent skin condition, you should talk to a dermatologist). 

After a big ride, I use our Scrub and Mask. The Scrub is a hybrid exfoliant, so it works physically to remove debris and also chemically to clear out pores. It's a skin saver, for sure. And then the Mask is a super booster of nutrients. I use it after I shave. Or in dry weather. Or at altitude. It's a solid reset button.

Why do most cyclists ignore skincare?

Skincare is an oddly taboo topic for a lot of athletes, cyclists included. Which is weird. Like, we shave our legs. We wear lycra. We endure long bouts of suffering together, but talking about our skin just doesn't come up, especially among men. I've had the conversation more than most in the recent past, and almost everyone I've talked to is 100% aware that they should care for their skin better than they do. But they don't know where to start or what products to use. I think the more that people discuss it, the less odd it becomes. That's part of the mission here. We're hoping to bring up that conversation more and more. Someday, I hope it'll be cool to say, "Hey man, your skin looks good, what's your routine?"

What’s recovery cream?

It's the secret weapon. The fountain of youth. It's a super-rich cream that stimulates the skin cells to building up the cell walls. That comes from the beta-glucans and lipid-rich oils in the formula. Basically, your skin cells can't retain water without strong cell walls. That's why skin droops and sags and wrinkles and looks tired. This cream stimulates the skin to build up those walls while simultaneously hydrating the skin. It is also a skin soother, so that slight dry burn you may feel after a ride goes away instantly. It's a lot of product and it's not cheap, but it works. Applying after a ride or overnight (I use it every night), the results are very impressive. Your skin will feel and look a lot better.

This is a skin-soother. Make friends with it.

What's in West product? Nothing gross, right?

So, our main focus is on active ingredients. We use proven ingredients at proven levels. That's not a given for all products and brands. Each of our formulas has its hero ingredients, and these are the best stuff for your skin. What is in a product is as essential as what's not in it. A lot of brands live by "No Lists" — which we're keen for, but I don't only want to know what's not in your product. I want to know what's in your product that works.

And no, there's nothing gross in our products. We're vegan and primarily plant and mineral derived. No parabens, phthalates, petrolatum, lanolin, mineral oil, propelyne glycol, sulfates (SLS, SLES), artificial dyes or synthetic fragrances — which are kind of the main culprits of consumer fear. That's more common today than some headlines may make you believe. At some supermarket levels, there is some drying and irritating ingredients, but once you're in the higher price range, most people steer clear of these ingredients. It's a fundamental piece. So, make sure your products are at least at that level of compliance, then look at things like active ingredients and pH levels for better insight into if the product works, rather than is simply benign.

Do posh skincare products make a cyclist faster?

Definitely. Fresh is faster. Healthy skin adds watts. It all comes down to this: you only get one face. Your face is getting hit with everything you throw at it during a ride, which is a lot. Do it some good and take care of it. Your skin will feel better. Your skin will look better. And to borrow a line from Neon Deion Sanders, "If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. If you play good, they pay good."

What's in the cards beyond 2019? Some chamois butter, perhaps?

CBD chamois butter is in full development. I'm testing it daily and experiencing a new type of bliss. Ha! No, we're looking to launch a few potent vitamin serums soon — retinol (Vitamin A) and triple Vitamin C&E serum. These ingredients are the best of the best for your skin, but they're not cheap to do right in a formula. I wanted to start with an approachable line before dropping the heavy hitters. But I've been using versions of both serums for a bit now, and the results are pretty impressive. I'm PR-ing tons of segments on Strava. It's like I'm on an e-bike. It's skincare doping, and there's no way to test for it.