“You should buy this kit; it’s called Fat Lad at the Back”
“These shorts would be great for you; they are called Fat Lass at the Back”
“This top would suit you; you can buy it from Fat Lad at the Back”
People of all shapes and sizes often ask me for kit recommendations, but I am not sure if I can say any of those sentences out loud without losing friends, clients or offending someone!
Fat Lad at The Back was the nickname of Richard Bye, the founder of the company, and is a term of endearment. The company admit it is a touchy subject having the marmite effect – either you love it or hate it, but they bravely persevered.
Fat Lad at the Back (FLAB) is a sportswear brand born in Yorkshire, with the clothing manufactured by a family-run company in Italy. The Fat Lad brand was originally created for what their website calls “Mr Averages, MAMIL’s with a 44” chest and a 38” waist”, but it quickly became apparent that there were bigger cyclists so it introduced larger sizes including a Spare Tyre range for the larger build. A women’s range was soon created, which took into consideration women’s curves and comfort.
A Twitter conversation the morning of The London Bike Show suggested I should speak to FLAB at the show after a discussion about the lack of kit for women who are not “a flat chested size 8-12” with one rider asking “how can these new brands be “women’s” when the biggest chest size they do it a 14” and another saying “it is a huge barrier to women coming into the sport”.
I spoke to several designers of women’s cycling clothing at the show and did indeed find the largest size, called XL, was only a UK14-16. One designer I spoke with said unfortunately they just can justify the additional expenses needed to design, produce and hold stock of the larger sizes which are less popular.
Instead of just sizing up the clothing the FLAB garments have been redesigned so they properly fit and flatter different sizes of rider. Some items state the name boldly in large text across the garments, other are more subtle with just a small logo. I have to confess that having ‘Fat Lass at the Back’ across my bottom was a great training inspiration as I pedalled furiously to disprove the label!
I tried the Flabularse Shorts (RRP £49.99) and the short sleeved ladies Lanterne Rouge Jersey (RRP 49.99) both available from size 8 to size 26.
The shorts fitted well and had some nice details including a draw string for the waist and a soft stretchy panel across the tummy allowing you to pull them right up over the belly area. I normally wear bib shorts and think generally bibs are more flattering with smoother lines, but agree shorts certainly make toilet stops easier and mean there is no need to remove a jersey, which some riders may feel self-conscious about, especially if having to go al fresco! Unfortunately as there was no knot tied in the draw string it had been lost in the waistband prior to me wearing, but with a bit of fiddling I retrieved it. The shorts are black with flattering seams, a large logo on the leg and across the lower back. The pad was comfortable on long road rides, the mountain bike and on the turbo.
The jersey is noticeably longer than my other jerseys, this is great for us ladies who like to pull things down over our hips and bottom and there is certainly no chance of any bare flesh when standing upright. The colour changes gradually down the top with the darker, more flattering colours over the lower torso and brighter colours across the bust and shoulders drawing the eye away from the areas we are usually more self conscious about. The sleeves are loose and long with no restrictive bands. A zipped pocket is handy for your valuables and a full length zip is always a plus in jerseys of this price range.
Both items washed well and I would happily recommend them if I could find a polite way of doing so!
Fat Lad at The Back has become a community, not just a brand, with riders involved in the development of new products and social media filled with riders’ photos, comments and inspirational rides. The company encourages everyone to have a go, have fun and enjoy their sport.
When former rugby player Alastair Little was forced to cut his 25-year career short after a life-changing neck injury, he was devastated and soon piled on weight as his life spiralled towards depression. He managed to turn his life around after discovering a love for cycling. Riding with friends at Fat Lad at the Back, Alastair took to the road and after a few months he started to see the results, losing more than five stone and dramatically boosting his confidence.
Alastair said: “It was the motivation and help I received from the guys at FLAB which really inspired me to stick at it and lose the weight and not only that, I enjoyed the social aspect to cycling, and suddenly sport was bringing me back to life again.”
FLAB introduced Alastair to other, likeminded riders who taught him that he wasn’t alone.
FLAB Sportive – 8th May 2016
In a bid to further welcome novice cyclists, FLAB has introduced a new 25-mile event alongside its 50 and 75-mile distance sportives, taking place on the Yorkshire roads in May and in the Chiltern Hills in October. Looking after riders will be experienced FLAMbassadors riding in the sportives to encourage and support riders on the journey.
Fat Lad in Charge Richard Bye, who has 20 years’ experience cycling many of Yorkshire’s most recognised routes, said: “This year we have added a 25 miler as we hope to inspire some new riders who may fancy a sportive, but have never thought they could!”
“The food stops are also legendary and include black pudding scotch eggs and lots of other stuff which our fat Lads and Lasses like, as well as the usual fruit and flapjack based options. We also have a BBQ afterwards which went down really well last year, this means people hang about and chat and share rather than just getting in their cars and leaving.”
Richard went on to say “Since founding FLAB we have been overwhelmed by how many people have come to us saying how much confidence they’ve gained with our support”
Lewis Stewart and Jessica Roberts secure the Hoy Future Star Titles 2016, whilst Team WIGGINS claim the Season Thirteen Elite Championship.
A full house greeted the final session of the Revolution Series, Season Thirteen at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. Sir Chris Hoy led the Hoy Future Stars around the circuit as the final evening of racing got underway. Sir Chris was there at the end to present all the winners, celebrating their achievements with a huge cloud-burst of glittering foil over the heads of the podium winners.
Jessica Roberts, Team USN led the series from start to finish, going two-up from last years season. Starting the day with a significant lead, Jessica rode a controlled race, her highest place was finishing third in the twenty-lap scratch race.
Sophie Williams, Orica GreenEdge rode herself into second position, winning the twenty-lap Points Race on the way.
Third place went to Scotland’s Rhona Callander with team-mate Jenny Holl close behind.
Anna Docherty, Maloja Pushbikers RT finished off the top five wining the Scratch Race on the night.
A sneaky win for Amber Joseph, Team Pedalsure halfway through the night, saw her finish with-in the top ten.
Scotland’s Lewis Stewart wasn’t going to lose the Hoy Future Star title at the last hurdle, finishing down the bottom in the final race-the Scratch Race, but had done enough by winning the Six Lap Dash earlier on in the night.
Lewis took over the Series lead after a strong top five finish at round one in Manchester. He extended his lead and maintained it through-out the remaining rounds fending off a late challenge from the side-lined Fred Wright, Telegraph Allstars and Jim Brown, ONE Pro Cycling.
Fred Wright set-off strong winning the first race of the evening-the Points Race, whilst Jim Brown won the final race of the evening-the Scratch Race, sealing his third slot in the Championship.
Alistair Fielding, Orica GreedEdge and Hamish Turnbull, Maloja Pushbikers RT finish off the top five in the Championship scoring high in the three final races of the season.
It was Team WIGGINS that stole the show, riding a commanding performance and into the Revolution history books. Owain Doull and Jon Dibben joined forces once more winning the Revolution favourite, the One-Kilometre Madison Time Trial setting blistering time of 00:54.852, just 300ths shy of the record. They went on to win the one-hundred and twenty lap UCI Points Race, lapping the majority of the field three times. Scotland’s Mark Stewart and Team Sky-and current World Time Trial Champion Vasil Kiryienka were the only riders to put up a challenge with a defiant Andy Tennant that crossed the finish line first.
Ex GB Sprint School man Kian Emadi started the day off setting the quickest Championship Flying Lap with a time of 13.097, Dibben came home second. Emadi backed-up his win in the Championship Longest Lap before Dibben sealed the sixty-lap UCI Scratch Race win. The duo went on to win a controversial Team Elimination Race, where Team Pedalsure resigned to a second place finish.
This was enough to win the days highest points tally, and the overall Revolution Series Championship 2015/16.
Returning to the boards for the first time since the Olympics in London, Theo Bos showed his time on the road as a World Class Sprinter had not hampered his desire to return to the track, and possibly Rio later in the Summer.
Bos showed his prowess in the Keirin and the Sprint heats fending of the likes of Robert Fӧrstemann and Lewis Oliva. Oliva set the quickest two-hundred meter qualifying flying lap almost touching the sub ten-second barrier earlier in the day, but lost out to Bos in both heats of the Sprint Finals in the evening session.
Local man Matt Rotherham couldn’t contain his enthusiasm at winning several of his races though-out the night, riding around the boards arms aloft, encouraging the crowd to cheer on rapturously.
There’s no stopping golden girl Laura Trott, Matrix Fitness, or is there? Preparing herself for the upcoming World Track Championships in London, Laura showed her good form continues riding a commanding performance in the eighty-lap UCI Points Race, lapping the field three times no-less.
Newly formed Team Breeze member Emily Nelson managed to gain a lap also, showing her good form on the back of the recent UCI Track World Cup in Hong Kong where she debuted in the Team Pursuit, finishing second in that event. Poland’s Malgorzata Wojtyra finished third and will be facing Laura at the Worlds too.
The answer to the question above is yes. Beating Laura is no mean feat, but Emily put her good condition to the test in the twenty-lap Elimination-Scratch Race setting off with a couple of laps remaining, gaining half a lap, and that was good enough to see Laura’s last minute dash for the glory, dashed.
The queen of the track returned to claim her signature race victory in the Elimination Race. Second went to Nelson once more, and Wojtyra third.
The final race of the Revolution for this season finished with the Women’s UCI Scratch Race. There was no doubt who the dominant force was, Laura set off midway through the race with nine-laps remaining and took a lap with ease, whilst the rest just looked on in amazement.
Ev1 UCI Sprint – Qualification 200m Time Trial Men
Ryan Owens, Matt Rotherham, Lewis Oliva, Thomis Copponi
Ev13 UCI Sprint – Minor Finals Men
Robert Fӧrstemann won the Sprint Minor Final
Ev14 HOY Future Stars Points Race (5km)Boys
1: Fred Wright
2: Matthew Shaw
3: Rhys Britton
4: Chris Heaton
5: Lewis Stewart
6: Jim Brown
7: Charles Page
8: Alistair Fielding
9: Theo Hartley
10: Hamish Turnbull
Ev15 UCI Sprint – Finals Match A Men
Theo Bos beat Lewis Oliva in the finals
Matthew Rotterham beat Sandor Szalontay for third place.
Ev17 Revolution Longest Lap Men
Kian Emadi, Reece Wood, Marc Hester, Mark Stewart
Ev19 HOY Future Stars Points Race (5km)Girls
1: Sophie Williams
2: Emily Tillett
3: Jenny Holl
4: Amber Joseph
5: Jessica Roberts
6: Rhona Callender
7: Ellie Russell
8: Elizabeth Bennett
9: Rachel Jary
10: Samantha Verrill
Ev21 Elite Championship – Scratch Race (15km) Men
1: Jon Dibben
2: Chris Latham
3: Mark Stewart
4: Dvid Muntaner
5: Felix English
6: Alistair Rutherford
7: Reece Wood
8: Anders Oddli
9: Ethan Hayter
10: Vasil Kiryienka
Ev23 Elimination Race Women
1: Laura Trott
2: Emily Nelson
3: Malgorzata Wojtyra
4: Annasley Park
5: Abbie Dentus
6: Neah Evans
7: Lydia Gurley
8: Manon Lloyd
9: Charline Joiner
10: Laura Basso
Ev24 HOY Future Stars 6 Lap Dash (1.5km) Boys
1: Lewis Stewart
2: Hamish Turnbull
3: Rhys Britton
4: Fred Wright
5: Alistair Fielding
6: Anthony Anderson
7: Joe Nally
8: Chris Heaton
9: Jake Stewart
10: Matthew Burke
Ev25/27 Elite Championship 1Km Madison Time Trial – Men
1: Team Wiggins 00.54:852
2: Team Pedalsure 00.55.252
3: ONE Pro Cycling 00.56.565
4: Maloja Pushbikers RT
5: Telegraph Allstars
6: Team USN
7: The Nab Racing
8: Scotland Burness Paull
9: Orica GreenEdge
10: VCUK-Champion Systems
11: JLT Condor p/b Mavic
Ev28 HOY Future Stars 6 Lap Dash Girls
1: Amber Joseph
2: Ellie Russell
3: Anna Docherty
4: Elizabeth Bennett
5: Rhona Callender
6: Georgia Ashworth
7: Samantha Verrill
8: Jenny Holl
9: Sophie Williams
10: Georgia Hilliard
Ev29 Elite Championship – Team Elimination Men
1: Team Wiggins
2: Team Pedalsure
3: ONE Pro Cycling
4: Maloja Pushbikers RT
5: Telegraph Allstars
6: Team USN
7: The Nab Racing
8: Scotland Burness Paull
9: Orica GreenEdge
10: VCUK-Champion Systems
11: JLT Condor p/b Mavic
Ev30 UCI Keirin Final Men
Theo Bos, Thomas Coppini, Matt Rotherham, Lewis OLiva
Ev31 Presentation – Elite Championship
Winning Team on Night & Winning Team Overall
2015/16 Champions are Team WIGGINS
Ev32 HOY Future Stars Scratch Race (5km)Boys
1: Jim Brown
2: Fred Wright
3: Alistair Fielding
4: Hamish Turnbull
5: Joe Nally
6: Jamie Ridehalgh
7: Rhys Britton
8: Anthony Anderson
9: Jake Stewart
10: Jacob Vaughan
Ev33 HOY Future Stars Scratch Race (5km)Girls
1: Anna Docherty
2: Sophie Williams
3: Jessica Roberts
4: Jenny Holl
5: Samantha Verrill
6: Jayati Hine
7: Lauren Bate-Lowe
8: Amber Joseph
9: Rachel Jary
10: Elizabeth Bennett
Ev34 UCI Scratch Race (10km)Women
1: Laura Trott +1
2: Rebecca Raybould
3: Emily Nelson
4: Megan Barker
5: Laura Basso
6: Malgorzata Wojtyra
7: Ellie Coster
8: Charline Joiner
9: Verena Eberhardt
10: Neah Evans
Revolution 57
Elite Championship Table after round six
HOY Future Star Boys Table after round five
HOY Future Star Girls Table after round five
That concludes our Revolution Series for this season, but we’ll be back for the next Revolution at a track near you. In the mean time, we have the Worlds, then Rio to look forward to, then back for the Nats before we resume once more. Good luck to all our cycling athletes, both track and road, whoever gets selected.
The Future’s Bright for Fred Wright! Hoy Future Star Fred Wright – Telegraph Allstars, returned to the boards and a triple victory in Manchester..
Hoy Future Star Fred Wright returned to the boards of Manchester for the penultimate round of Series Thirteen of the Revolution Series. Wright had been sidelined in an incident at the London Round, and has watched his lead after London slip, trailing the new leader Lewis Stewart (Scotland) by seventy-six points.
Fred came out all guns blazing to win all three races, and has reduced his deficite to forty-three points behind Lewis, and tall order going into the final round if he is to steal the overall title. He showed his determination going for a solo-break towards the end of the twenty-lap Scratch Race that looked quite impressive gaining just over half a lap on the field. As the front runners were all swept-up in the closing lap, Wright burst out of the pack once more and over the line for his third podium.
The Scottish pairing of Stewart and Nally proved an winning combination in the Madison, collecting points in both sprints and finishing across the line in first position.
Jessica Roberts (Team USN) retained the overall Future Star Girls title going into the final round. She holds the lead by Sixty-two points. Things weren’t as easy this time around for Roberts as the Scottish girl Jenny Holl took the Points Race victory and the Scratch Race victory.
Roberts pairing with Elizabeth Bennett proved a successful combination in the Madison, beating Holl and Rhona Callander by one point, evening up the victories on the day to two win each.
It was all change at the top of the Elite Championship as Team WIGGINS climb up the leader board before the final battle later in January as the series concludes. They now lead Team Pedalsure by twenty-nine points who had a poor night in Manchester.
Laura Trott, Matrix Pro Cycling dominated the Elite Women’s UCI race events once more. Fending off stiff competition, this time from the Netherlands Kristen Wild. Fighting back after a tumble with Leire Olaberria and Henrietta Colbourne, Trott wearing her new National Champions skin suit went on to take the Points Race podium.
It didn’t all go Trotts way though. Emily Nelson had enough pace to steal the final race of the evening, the Women’s UCI Scratch Race, with Trott settling for second position.
The Elite Sprinters put on a show to a packed National Cycling Centre audience here in Manchester too. German rider Robert Fӧrstemann ensured our top lads were pushed to their limits.
Setting the quickest Sprint Qualifier, Matt Rotherham was very enthusiastic throughout the whole event thrilling the crowd with some quick racing. Winning the Longest Lap & Sprint Competitions, Rotherham rode around the boards, arms aloft, much to the delight of the crowd. Rotherham beat Oliva in the finals in two straight heats.
Lewis Oliva took the Keirin competition podium, coming second in the first race to Rotherham, but Matt finished further down in the second race losing by a few points, with Oliva winning the second heat.
Revolution 56 – Round 5 Penultimate Round Manchester 02nd January 2016
SATURDAY AFTERNOON SESSION:
Doors open at 12:00. Racing from 13:00 to 16:30
Ev1 UCI Sprint – Qualification 200m Time Trial Men
A nice short film from the guys at Diagonal View with 2 time World Champion and Olympic Medal Winner Shane Perkins, he talks through the intense physical preparation that track cyclists go through to compete, and win at the top level.
Forget the fireworks bringing in the New Year. The real fireworks begin this weekend on the boards at the penultimate round of the #RevolutionSeries.
Revolution 56 in the National Cycling Centre at Manchester will set the scene for the final push to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Big names are beginning show their intent to get on the long-list of potential athletes that will be in with a look at boarding that plane to Rio this Summer, but who will going?
Before we can answer that question, we need to tie up the Revolution Elite Championship.
Team Pedalsure top the table with the final round only a couple of weeks or so away, also in Manchester.
Andrew Tennant and Chris Latham will be defending their lead, but Official TEAMIES Jon Dibben and Owain Doull are hot on their wheels for Team WIGGINS.
Joining the party are last years Champions Christian Grasmann and David Muntaner for Maloja Pushbikers RT sitting in third position at the moment.
Mark Cavendish makes a return to the track for Telegraph Allstars bolstering up his desire to represent Team GB at Rio. He along with Wood, Gibson and Latham will race against Team WIGGINS Tennant, Burke, Doull and Dibben in a special Team Pursuit Challenge.
Fred Wright returns to take up the HOY Future Star Boys competition challenge for the Telegraph Allstars, but he’s going to find it hard to catch series leader Lewis Stewart from Team Scotland who has an eight-two point lead over him.
Meanwhile in the Girls competition, Jessica Roberts, Team USN still holds a comfortable forty-one point lead with two rounds remaining.
Big names in the men’s Sprint competition are set to grace the boards in Manchester once more, none bigger than Robert Fӧrstemann. Joining him to push our lads to their limits are American Dominic Suozzie, Netherland’s Sam Ligtlee and Alex Joliffe.
Pushing our best female Olympic Hero Laura Trott in the Elite Women’s events this time round is no other than the current Scratch Race World Champion Kirsten Wild. Wild finished third place behind Trott’s Silver in the Omnium Event at the Worlds, to be held in two months time in London, and she is joined by Poland’s Gosia Wrotya along with regulars Leire Olaberria, Emily Kay and Elinor Barker.
Another big name for Rio 2016, in attendance at the #RevolutionSeries riding for Team Sky is Italy’s Elia Viviani. We spoke to Elia back at the first stage of the Aviva TOB after beating Cavendish and Griepel. Check out what he said after the win and what his plans where for in 2016, here.
Cycling Shorts unleashes Santa’s Little Helpers.
Yes the panic is setting in, so much to get organised and so little time, so we’ve all got together to give you a list of gift ideas that won’t disappoint the fussiest cyclist or cycling fan in your life.
We’ve split our choices into four perfect price packages, click on the images to be taken to the retailers website.
Wishing you a Merry Festivemas from all at CyclingShorts.cc!
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People of all shapes and sizes often ask me for kit recommendations, but I am not sure if I can say any of those sentences out loud without losing friends, clients or offending someone!
I tried the Flabularse Shorts (RRP £49.99) and the short sleeved ladies Lanterne Rouge Jersey (RRP 49.99) both available from size 8 to size 26.
FLAB Sportive – 8th May 2016
Fat Lad in Charge Richard Bye, who has 20 years’ experience cycling many of Yorkshire’s most recognised routes, said: “This year we have added a 25 miler as we hope to inspire some new riders who may fancy a sportive, but have never thought they could!”
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