People of all shapes and sizes have the right to cycle in their own terms. But, when the cycling culture and cycling industry stubbornly remains narrow-minded and limit imposing, almost no one in either of them listens to larger riders. Nevertheless there are rebels, exceptions - and they are surprisingly good!
VÄSTERÅS 2021-02-16
It's time to introduce one of our partners for 2021. You will find them all the way up in Umeå, Sweden. Their name is Sigr, a truly Scandinavian cycling clothes brand.
Victory - Seger (Sigr)
I can still remember the very first days of XL Biking. I had decided to begin cycling more seriously and try to improve my health this way - easier said than done! Not because it was hard to cycle, cycling has always been a passion of mine, and it was the first thing I thought about when the need came to exercise more. Despite all that it was almost impossible to find cycling clothes with good designs in larger sizes. I come from a family that had a finger or two in the fashion business (mother had a store back in the day) and I ventured out at 17 with my own T-shirt designs for a small company, besides some gigs as a cartoon artist for a local paper. That is to say that I don't appreciate poor design, and having studied communication in university I understand the role design has in well being and self-actualisation, so the standards are pretty high. Why shouldn't large people have a piece of the pie?
Before I write any further allow me to state that Sigr does not pay me to write this. I'm doing it because all large riders have the right to know the brands that care enough to include them in their product lineup. So, I've contacted Sigr several times and have followed their growth closely. I took the time to make the long trip to Northern Sweden to visit them and they're a brand I'm proud of. To my surprise, they answered quite positively to our inquiries, and some year later came up with the idea of catering for larger riders with the "Explorer" collection boasting sizes up to 5XL (close enough to american sizing). They might be named Sigr, but this felt like a great victory for us larger people!
The Word "Sigr" means "victory" in older swedish, and it is a great victory for all riders to be seen, heard and taken seriously by this innovative brand.
Mind readers?
Almost 4 years have gone by since I sat at home and read about the Sigr revolution on their website. There they described how they wanted to work for a more democratic and equal cycling culture, and also their ambition (which now is real) to work with better sustainable design and production. Moreover, they aimed to work hard to spread the joy of cycling to the four corners of the Earth, and to innovate with clothing inspired by the exotic Scandinavian nature - shut up and take my money, was my first reaction! Were they mind readers? Had they mastered some ancient Viking art of entering people's subconscious and making wishes come true? I mean, think of a cycling world in which larger cyclists are seen by other cyclists as just cyclists (allow me the repetition)! Think of a fellowship of passionate athletes who didn't judge others by their size nor any other stigma. Was Sigr for real or was all of this just part of a well-thought strategic marketing plan cooked at Umeå University to manipulate us? Time to put them to the test, I thought. And the results were no other than amazing! No, they don't read minds, they're still learning to include larger people in their commercial, for instance, but they have a very special ability that gives them a great and honest shot at the future: they listen to riders and customers!
XL Sigr? Had me at hello!
We communicated intensively with Sigr, bought some clothes, tested different collaborations (some didn't work at all!) and they were always willing to step to the challenges and innovate creating value every step of the way. No matter how things went, I found in Sigr people who burn for cycling and also for design, just as much as our XL Biking community does. Then came the inevitable: would they dare to research, develop and produce larger cycling clothes so all cyclists can feel included? Was it too much to ask from a brand that, at the time, was just starting to take off? Wasn't that what they wanted to achieve as well, equality, integration, democracy? You already know the answer, but it came in a typically Scandinavian organised manner with a request for our community to take part in the endeavour - wow! Take a moment and let it sink in: a brand that no only listens to larger riders, but also invites them to be part of such an intricate process? A brand that is part of a culture that has been so harsh on larger people as the cycling culture did, actually turning to us for collaboration! Nothing short of amazing! These rebel pioneers caught our attention and our hearts! No wonder they had me at hello!
"See me, feel me, touch me, heal me...
Listening to you I get the music Gazing at you I get the heat Following you I climb the mountain I get excitement at your feet
Right behind you I see the millions On you I see the glory From you I get opinions From you I get the story"
(Tommy - The Who - )
Avatar - let's get to it!
Nu var frågan omvänt, som ett seriöst märke ville Sigr satsa ordentligt och lämna godtyckligheten åt andra som endast eskalerar upp befintliga klädesplagg utan hänsyn till cyklisternas riktiga behov, då var det min och XL Biking communtyns tur att besvara på flera mejl och frågor. Kollaboration på allvar! Sigr forskade, testade, skapade prototyper och jag fick även en Avatar! Snacka om att minska klimatpåverkan!
You don't mess with the Swedes! Have they said they will do it you can expect no less than quality! Leaving all guesswork behind, they went beyond what other brands do when they just scale up some existing product and launch them at outrageous prices just because they're "larger". No ma'am, the vikings of Sigr wanted to know exactly what larger riders needed, and created everything from scratch! It was then our turn, as XL Biking Community to answer, send in measures, test prototypes, and Sigr even created an Avatar to 3D the entire process. Are you proud yet? This is how it's supposed to be done, and these are the people who did it!
Vad What does Sigr mean to you?
Think about a bridge to unimagined possibilities. That's what Sigr means to me. A powerful statement meaning that there is still hope for the cycling industry, people who care for all cyclists not only the elite ones. These rebels hold the key to a better existence for all who cycle, they refuse to dictate and instead lead by example. Take them as Omens, light bearers that show the path to a possible life and better cycling culture. Never underestimate the biopsychosocial impact of good design, it matters! As mentioned before, not everything is flowers. Sigr is still learning to include larger riders in their commercial campaigns and also still preparing to introduce the rest of their clothing lineup in larger sizes. But, one thing is for sure: expect great results! Sigrs real victory, in my opinion, is that they say who they are and they are who they say! Furthermore, they have a wonderful ability to connect people around important issues and also fun times within cycling.
We're glad to cooperate with Sigr and cannot stress enough how proud we are of them! We want to show more of them to our community and the cycling industry, both here and on social media. We hope that as more people discover their products even more will rediscover the joy of cycling just like we do when wearing Sigr clothes.
Ebbe Silva
XL Biking - Heavy and rolling Sigr's biggest ambassador (pun intended).
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