ENCINITAS, Calif. (BRAIN) — A startup cycling clothing company is benefitting from its own California-based factory, which produces custom and inline items for its Eliel road bike clothing and Wattie Ink triathlon clothing.
The company was founded by Derek Wiback and Ryan Cady. Cady is a former co-owner of Sock Guy; Wiback is a former national sales manager at the sock company, which manufactures in the U.S.
In preparing to launch the new clothing company, Cady said he toured factories in China, Taiwan and Eastern Europe, ultimately deciding that owning its own factory in the States was the best route. The factory began delivering custom orders last year; this summer Eliel has taken the next step forward, turning on a website offering its first lines of stock road clothing. The Eliel Summer Collections include several designs of jerseys and bibs for men and women.
Eliel's 6,000-square-foot Vista, Calif.-factory employs about 22 people. Using Swiss and Italian fabrics, it has in-house sublimation machines and a laser fabric cutter, which reduces labor costs and aids in factory flow and organization, Cady said.
"We didn't know how to have control and innovation without doing it ourselves," he said. "We decided that if we really want to do this thing, we could get cheap pricing from overseas but if want to do quality gear we're going to have to do everything under one roof."
By all accounts, the market for custom cyclewear is strong in the U.S., with more and more companies jumping in to offer custom programs for teams, clubs, shops, events and other buyers. Cady said having a stock line of clothing complements the custom program.
"Didn't want to be just manufacturers (of custom clothing). We wanted to do design and push the design edge," he told BRAIN. "We'll do whatever (custom buyers) want to do, but we want to show them what we can do."
Cady said Eleil is targeting the higher end of the custom road clothing market.
"We are a little bit more expensive than some of the other custom options, but we think when people see the quality of our products, they see it as worthwhile. These are the people who are putting the most miles on their bikes so they are willing to pay more for quality," he said.
Eleil is providing gear for Huntington Beach, Calif.'s Surf City masters team and for the nearby retailer Ride Cyclery.
The factory also produces clothing for the triathlon brand Wattie Ink in a partnership with Wattie Ink's owners, Sean Watkins and Heather Jackson.
More information: elielcycling.com.
