Super Rookie’s World

On Saturday night I met up with local blogger and sideshow freak Tuffy to have a few beers. Before the end of the night we found ourselves discussing the uniforms of the ProTour cycling teams. We both wrote down the 20 teams in rank order and we were unanimous on a few, but we both agreed on the worst and best kits on the pro scene.

We also took a stab on the local racing scene and some of those tidbits will be sprinkled in. Naturally some people might take offense to how I view their uniforms, but in the end the truth is that the kits say a lot about your team. So without further ado check out the official Super-Rookie.com Pro Tour Uniform Rankings:

h/t to Tuffy for providing the pictures of the kits. You can also see his rankings here.

Sorry about the awesome formatting issues!

20. Discovery

Like: Nothing

Dislike: Everything, but especially the upside down ‘Discovery’ on the back of the kit. This kit is worse than the Gopher Wheelman’s kits. Sorry GW, but it is the truth.

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19. Bouygues Telecom

Like: The logo is unique, but still crappy.

Dislike: The shade of blue irks me. I wish it was a dark royal blue ala Fassa Bortola. Oh well. It is a French team and they are supposed to know fashion so who am I to judge?

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18. Lampre

Like: It is the Little Guy special. I could imagine my wee little messenger friend wearing this kit while delivering packages and everyone totally impressed with his color choice. Why would they be impressed? Because he normally sports ugly color combinations. Much like Lampre.

Dislike: The dual colors. Go either hot pink or dark blue. None of this crap. It makes Cunego look like a dweeb. This kit is just ugly.

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17. Milram

Like: I kind of dig the color with the single red stripe across the front, but for the most part this kit makes me want to puke.
Dislike: I don’t like the vertical stripe. Just like the local Grand Performance kit it just doesn’t work for me.
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16. Rabbobank

Like: I like the branding. The kit has been the same color for a while and it is easy to spot which is nice.

Dislike: I am not a fan of blue and orange (once again my apologies to Gopher Wheelman). The busy striping and blue swoosh is kind of corny.

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15. Liquigas

Like: Making the best of bad colors. It is a little flashy in the grand Italian fashion and super easy to spot. I like how the kit isn’t littered with the Bianchi color. Since this is my favorite team for 2007 I couldn’t rank it last!

Dislike: The stripes onto the shorts is rather dumb.

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14. Euskatel-Euskadi

Like: It is classic. The only team in the professional and amateur ranks that should be allowed to Blaze Orange. The best part about the uniform isn’t the design or the team, it is the thousands of Basques that litter the Pyranees in the Blaze every year during tour.

Dislike: The orange and black shorts. Its all or nothing in my book. You are either with us or you are against us! None of this half-ass jumping on the black short bandwagon.

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13. AG2R

Like: My second choice team in the pro-tour comes in with a festive kit. The yellow is nice when used with the blue. It is the perfect amount of yellow and blue. Not an obscene amount like they use over at Loon State (rumor has it that National Chump James Tainter left because of the ugly kits).

Dislike: There are 12 better uniforms in the pro ranks.

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12. QuickStep

Like: A classic kit. I dig the white stripe across the front telling the world who sponsors the team.

Dislike: It is just another solid kit that doesn’t do much for me. It is nice, but there are better ones out there. Kind of like the Kenwood kits of old. Simple and nice.

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11. Caisse d’Espagne

Like: I am a super fan of black and red color schemes. The textured graphics are insanely awesome.

Dislike: Like Tuffy I don’t dig the red triangles. I also don’t like the white collars. Not much else that I don’t like, but just not insanely awesome. Kind of like Cat6. It is just there.

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10. Predictor

Like: PINK! Although it totally isn’t pink it is at least pink enough that this team has to have “balls” to sport this out on the road. I love it. I also love that their sponsor is a pregnancy test. Nothing like having the results right at your hands.

Dislike: Not a bold enough pink. Make it bright and proud! Birchwood made a huge mistake going to blue. They should have stuck with the pink and been unique.

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9. Astana

Like: I love the blue as it is the Kazakstan flag colors. I like how the national chump gets to wear this kit with the yellow stripe rather than the white. I also like how they kept a little bit of the Liberty Seguros theme.

Dislike: I don’t like the solid black letters. Yeah it makes it stick out and all, but visually it is disturbing.

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8. Gerolsteiner

Like: I love the tiny bubbles in the field of blue. Makes me want to go and open a fresh bottle of mineral-wasser.

Dislike: Not much. A little to much white, but for the most part a very solid kit.
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7. Unibet

Like: Green and White combo always works. I also love the “alternate” question mark kit that they sport on French soil.

Dislike: The fade reminds me to much of that ugly, as Tuffy mentioned, Birchwood fade.

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6. T-Mobile

Like: It is the kit of Jan Ullrich. Three Stripes. Magenta Reign. Classic.

Dislike: It has been the same kit for years now.

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5. Cofidis

Like: RED! This color was available for the past two years and teams went into an era of ‘blue.’ Why did it take so long for someone to jump on this?

Dislike: It is a little to busy for me and red doesn’t work for everyone, just ask Silver Cycling who now have the sick Black and White kits.

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4. Saunier Duval

Like: I am a huge fan of the yellow look. The best part is that some people think you might be the leader of the road ride you are on if you got a replica jersey on. In my mind you just cant go wrong with this white, yellow and red.

Dislike: The grey stripe. WTF?

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3. CSC

Like: The feathered shoulders and ab graphics.

Dislike: Kind of getting to busy on the sponsor front.

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2. F D Juex

Like: They are white and the cloverleaf is out of this world awesome.

Dislike: There is still one more team in the pro ranks.
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1. Credit Agricole

Likes: All of it.

Dislike: Nothing.

……

The local rankings.

1. Grumpy’s/LGR- Stars. Baby. Stars.
2. Grandstay- Irish Fo’ Real.
3. Hollywood/Silver- Black and White. Silky Smooth.
4. Kenwood- Miller High Life.
5. Alan- Amazingly not to European.
6. Cat 6- Great Scheme.
7. Vella Bella- Pretty fashionable.
8. Grand Performance/SPBRC- I like the white. Just not the stripe.
9. Tonka- I actually like how the blue goes with the black. I can’t say anything mean. The Red Lantern is hibernating.
10. The Hub- I went to Como Park so I like Black and Gold. That is about it.
11. Nature Valley- Looks like a granola bar. I guess that is the point.
12. Chippewa Valley- Looks like Leinie’s Honey Weiss. Sweet eh?
13. Loon State- Blue and Yellow bad. Actual Loon riding a bicycle logo is insanely awesome!
14. Birchwood- Going from Pink to Blue is like going from Mayslack’s to Arby’s. You just don’t do it.
15. Lake Superior- I think their kit is green. Don’t know really. Either way it is better than the rest.
16. Great Plains- Orange, Blue and White. Not the best but better than the next two.
17. Athletes Under Construction- Red, White and Blue. I just swell with pride when thinking of those kits.
18. Gopher Wheelman- While they had a little redesign done this year it still has a long way to go.