THEATRE OF OPERATIONS

The sewing machine needle is a blur, its jackhammer motion simply too fast for the human eye to track.

Dexterous fingers with nails painted and manicured guide panels of fabric beneath its relentless action with practiced ease. One false move could bring the process to a painful halt, but such is the skill of the machinist that pain is avoided and perfection achieved.

For Endura, the custom clothing division represents the soul of the company: passionate individuals making garments in Scotland, by hand, to the highest possible standard...

It’s a mesmerising image, even if not the first that springs to mind in any typical reflection on cycling. But if custom clothing made from the same fabrics, and by the same people, as those supplied to Movistar Team or Cervélo Bigla is your thing, then the skill of the garment technicians at work in Endura’s vast headquarters near Edinburgh cannot be overlooked.

The sewing room is a veritable hive of activity. A blaring radio ups the ante, and a sense of purpose pervades the room. For all the wind tunnel testing, the relationships with professional athletes from Nairo Quintana to Danny MacAskill, and the welcome extended by Endura to tribes as diverse as trail riders and triathletes, this is where the magic happens.

Endura, in the final analysis, is a clothing company, and its custom division represents something of a jewel in the crown. Whether you’re Lotta Lepistö or a Sunday rider, the fabrics, personnel and service are the same. Nearly 50,000 garments are made in this room each year, with skill and experience distributed evenly between professionals and amateurs.

ALISON AND THE COLOMBIANS

When Alison Moodie, Endura’s Operations Manager, visited Paris to check out the Tour de France for the first time, she went looking for the Colombians, concluding that cycling’s most passionate fans would provide her with a new perspective on clothing the man they were cheering - Movistar Team’s Nairo Quintana.

On a giant stage erected on the Champs Élysées, with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, the first three riders on the final general classification were presented to the vast crowds. After three weeks of racing, Quintana had finished second. Judged by the number and enthusiasm of those carrying flags of yellow, blue and red, he had just been installed as champion for life.

In Livingston, the mantra is that the clothing must be of a standard to satisfy those spending their hard-earned money. Please them and the professional will also be happy. The shift in emphasis is subtle, but significant...

Moodie relates the story from a tiny office facing out onto the large and energetic sewing room at Endura’s capacious headquarters. She smiles as she remembers her experience in Paris, perhaps reminded by the similar hive of activity before her.

“When Nairo was up on the podium, the noise that the Colombians made was amazing! It meant a lot to me, too. We were talking to these Colombian guys, but obviously they didn’t know that I made the kit.”

Obviously? Wasn’t she tempted to tell any of her new South American compadres that her day job is literally to clothe the man they had travelled thousands of miles to cheer?

“No!” she replies, with a horrified laugh. “It was a personal thing, and nothing to do with work.”

“I guess you want to blend in with the crowd to get the whole atmosphere. They were so passionate, especially for Nairo. Even when I got into the corner where they pull out the podium, it was just full of Colombians, climbing up lampposts! It was great to see.”

“It was a case of, ‘Wow! I actually ended up with all the Colombians!’ For them, Nairo is something else; like the Scots with their footballers. It was good to get in among all those guys, who were absolutely fanatical about him.”

The thrill of recognising her clients had begun even before the men rolled into town. Cervélo Bigla, Endura’s presence in the Women’s WorldTour, had just finished La Course, a circuit race on the Champs Élysées, in which Lepistö had finished second.

Custom clothing straddles the distinction between essential item and luxury, and is a pleasure shared by cyclists of every standard, whether WorldTour professional or passionate amateur...

The Finnish champion’s blue and white jersey – a garment cut, stitched and printed under Moodie’s auspices - would have been more than familiar, even if the team’s presence in Paris caught her by surprise.

“I didn’t even know they were going to be there,” she remembers. “We were walking from the hotel to the Champs Élysées, and I was like, ‘Wow! Cervélo Bigla are here!’”

BUSINESS AND PLEASURE

It helps when you love your job, Moodie admits, but do not think that clothing two professional cycling teams, as well as running the custom clothing division at Endura, is an easy occupation.

She is responsible for a team of around 65 people: coordinating the professional lives of each to ensure that the likes of Quintana and his colleagues roll into Paris immaculate after three weeks of racing, and, more importantly, that Endura’s paying customers receive the same service.

“The worst thing in the world is not to try something. The worst that can happen is that it doesn’t work, but you’ll never know if you don’t try” - Alison Moodie, Operations Manager

When we finish our chat, towards the end of March, her next task is to despatch nine boxes - each containing 45 items, from bibshorts to overshoes - to Pamplona, for distribution to the riders selected by Movistar Team for the hundredth edition of the Giro d’Italia.

If this by itself seems like a task of some responsibility, bear in mind that Moodie is not responsible for clothing a wildcard team, honoured even to be there, but the team of the pre-race favourite and the man himself. Many of the roads from Endura’s custom division, it seems, lead to Nairo.

“They get jerseys, bibshorts, summer jerseys, summer bibshorts, gilets, speed suit, aero overshoes and a couple of other bits and pieces, like socks and mitts. I just pack that up at the end when it’s all made, so each rider gets his own box.

“We have a list up front of what we need for a given race. So normally, just now, I’ll start planning for the whole team to be there, and then closer to the time, we’ll find out who has been selected. That’s how we work it. If Movistar doesn’t announce the team until a week before the Giro, that’s too tight to make the kit for each rider, so we start planning now.”

CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR MOVISTAR

Endura’s annual trip to northern Spain, made each November, generates one of the tightest deadlines of the year for Moodie and her team. Christmas hasn’t yet been cancelled, but it’s imperative that the new kit is despatched to Movistar Team before the doors of Endura’s cavernous facility close for the festive break. The vast amount of kit required by the world’s first-ranked professional cycling team is no easy turnaround.

“We have about three or four weeks, so it’s a very, very tight deadline. We make around a couple of thousand garments, so there is quite a lot of pressure. That’s probably our busiest time of the year. It must leave here in time to get to Movistar Team for January 1.

In Endura, Movistar Team has found a partner with the same restless desire for improvement and thirst for excellence. Neither party is content to rest upon laurels...

Moodie’s role offers a window on the logistical realities of Endura’s commitment to Movistar Team. January 1 is the date on which rider contracts take effect, and social media suddenly becomes awash with selfies from new recruits showing off their new kit - valuable commercial collateral both to Movistar Team and Endura, who will have invested heavily in securing their services.

The idea of a marquee signing missing out on this vital window of pre-season publicity by not having their new kit simply does not bear thinking about. It’s a responsibility that many might struggle to bear, but Moodie welcomes the pressure. Deadlines are an integral part of her professional life.

She remembers clearly the day in 2013 that managing director Jim McFarlane told her that Endura would be supplying the world’s best cycling team. The meeting of worlds represented by the agreement - “Renegade Scots strike up partnership with Spanish grandees” - is sufficient material for an article by itself, but Moodie’s unflappable demeanour goes a long way to explaining why the partnership has been so successful.

“I knew we were capable, I knew we had a long way to go to get there, and I knew that it would be a lot of hard work. At the same time, it’s nice to have something that’s always pushing you to be better. It’s been a steep learning curve.”

BETTER TODAY THAN YESTERDAY

For those intent on perfection, learning curves never plateau, but Endura’s has become shallower as the relationship with Movistar Team has blossomed. The Spanish outfit been ranked world number in one in every year of their partnership thus far (2014, 2015, 2016).

Neither party, however, is content to rest upon laurels. In Endura, Movistar Team has found a partner with the same restless desire for improvement. The ceaseless development of the Encapsulator time-trial suit might be taken as Exhibit A. Countless iterations, made in response to insights from aerodynamicist Simon Smart, have made an already ‘fast’ suit the fastest in the peloton.

“We have a really good product, which makes it easier. We’re not blagging it. We’re giving Movistar Team the service they want, at the end of the day” - Stuart Kirk, Graphic Designer

Endura’s exclusive Silicone Surface Topography lies at the heart of this matchless performance. The commercial sensitivities that surround any proprietary technology mean that we cannot say more on these pages; suffice to say that the process of creating such groundbreaking garments pushed Moodie are her team to new heights.

“The worst thing in the world is not to try something,” she says. “For me, as long as I’m open-minded and willing to try something, it’s very rare that it doesn’t work. There’s probably an element of experience involved, but there’s also an element of being open-minded and thinking that the worst thing that can happen is that something doesn’t work, but you’ll never know if you don’t try it.”

Her passion for Movistar Team and for Formula One sometimes turns the family home into a mini multiplex, on weekends when Grand Tours vie with Grand Prix for her attention. Family members are accustomed to the process.

“I have everybody in my house watching. Sometimes, I’ll have Formula One on one telly and I’ll be watching the racing on another. My family just puts up with it. My husband says, “What are we watching today?’ And I’ll say, ‘We need to have the computer set up for the cycling, so I can watch the Formula One on the television at the same time.’”

A LITHUANIAN ABROAD

“Everything is possible. Nothing is hard as long as we’re working together. I’ve had that feeling since I came here.”

Our interviewee has changed, but the attitude remains the same. Asta Sarockiene, a Lithuanian who moved to Scotland 10 years ago, might be expected to have a different view from Moodie, but Endura’s culture is a binding force.

Sarockiene is a Sample Machinist, charged with producing some of Endura’s most advanced prototypes, including the QDC triathlon range and garments for Movistar Team.

Like a blues guitarist mining some new riff from the most time-honoured scale, each season Endura creates original designs among Movistar Team's tightly-defined parameters...

She wears a blue tabard decorated with a tiny Movistar logo. It is more discrete than the giant green ‘M’ splashed across the back and chest panels of the garments she sews for Anacona, Carapaz, Castroviejo et al, but even so small a detail can be revealing.

All of those who wear the Movistar Team colours are world class operators, who, in their separate ways, have dedicated a lifetime to honing their skill. The riders would simply not be as fast, were it not for Sarockiene’s dexterity.

Team work is another synergy. Sarockiene works closely with colleagues from other departments. The combination of her skill and positive attitude means that she now works on some of the most advanced prototypes.

She smiles a tolerant smile: “In Scotland, they don’t have cold winters.”

Visitors to a country identified as often by its unforgiving climate as the rugged beauty of its countryside or the grandeur of its capital city might take issue with Sarockiene, but she hails from the Baltic and knows a thing or two about cold weather.

“In Lithuania, we have very cold winters: minus 25 in December, January and February,” she explains. “But we have beautiful summers. It gets up to 30 degrees in June, July and August.”

Sarockiene has an easy laugh and a ready smile. She came to Scotland, with her husband Rimantas, intending to stay only for six months. Ten years later, and with her son Tadas, once a worker in Endura’s print shop, now married to former colleague Katie, another Endura employee, she is settled in Livingston.

“It was a big change,” Sarockiene says of relocating to a country more than a thousand miles from her home. Then comes the smile, and the laugh. “Especially the language!”

When work is your passion, it can be difficult to step away from the day job, but this is not an unusual condition at Endura, where cycling is a way of life for many of the staff...

It’s a skill she’s mastered, even if her accent is not that of a Pathé news reel. Instead, it is coloured by local influence; more Livingston than London.

For eight of her 10 years in Scotland, Sarockiene has worked at Endura, where her skill and experience are valued. After beginning her career in Moodie’s workroom by sewing zips, she is now tasked with much of the prototyping work for Movistar Team and Cervélo Bigla.

Watching her even for a minute at her machine, it’s easy to see why. She steers the fabric beneath the needle of her machine with impressive dexterity. Lesser talents might as easily stitch their fingers to the fabric, but after nearly 30 years as a seamstress, Sarockiene is in little danger.

DESIGNER THREADS

Stuart Kirk walks from the production room to his desk among the graphics team. It’s a short journey to a different world. The noise of the machines is replaced by the near-silence in which Kirk and his colleagues on the graphics team manipulate logos and images to realise the design ambitions of hundreds of amateur clubs.

Additionally, Kirk is responsible for the highest profile of all Endura’s custom commissions - the design of the Movistar Team jersey. The navy blue tunic with giant Movistar ‘M’ writ large across the chest and back in distinctive green is among the most recognisable in the peloton (and recently voted the classiest by readers of Cycling Weekly).

“Everything is possible. Nothing is hard as long as we’re working together. I’ve had that feeling since I came here” - Asta Sarockiene, Sample Machinist

Continuity is key to establishing a corporate identity, and while the parameters defined by Movistar are tight, each season Kirk creates original designs from established themes, like a blues guitarist honing some new riff from the most time-honoured scale.

“Every year we come up with a handful of designs to present to them. Last year, four or five of the designs we presented were shortlisted, but ultimately it’s the sponsors who decide what they want. But it’s positive: the design has a classic look to it, which year-on-year becomes more recognisable.”

“Year-on-year” is a phrase that crops up again, this time when Kirk describes the growing trust placed in his skill and ideas by the giant Spanish communications company and its parent, Telefónica. Endura’s relationship with Movistar Team is now in its fourth season, and a confidence in the quality of the garments now extends to the design.

“It started off with quite strict guidelines: they were asking for logos to be moved or rotated even by a couple of millimetres, but a good relationship has developed from giving them kit that looks good, and year-on-year they’ve taken more advice. They’re good people to work with.”

Kirk is calm and personable - two qualities that make him an ideal if not obvious candidate to assist each year with the Movistar Team fitting session in Pamplona. His colleague Michelle O’Connor, Endura’s head of garment technology, led the most recent session, and as a graduate of the London College of Fashion was well-qualified to do so.

Kirk’s background, by contrast, lies in graphic design, and while O’Connor is very definitely in charge of the measuring of Bennati, Sutherland, Sütterlin et al, her colleague must call upon his natural sangfroid  to cope with the business of fitting some of the world’s best cyclists. It’s a task that few would volunteer to perform, but Kirk adopts his role with characteristic calm.

“People say that,” he says, laughing when I mention his relaxed manner with the riders. “It’s based on the belief that we have a really good product, which makes it easier. We’re not blagging it. We’re giving them the service they want at the end of the day, so in that sense, it’s quite easy.

“In terms of being relaxed, I don’t get too starstruck, and having been to the Pamplona camp now for a couple of years has helped me to get quite comfortable. At meal times, you’re made to feel like part of the Movistar Team family, which helps.”

It helps also that he has a passion both for cycling and for design. He confesses to following Instagram channels dedicated to cycle clothing, and to following hashtags from a natural interest in creative developments in the cycling sphere. “It’s a bit of a curse,” he says with a smile. When work is your passion, it can be difficult to step away from the day job, but this is not an unusual condition at Endura, where, for many, cycling is a way of life.

Like Moodie, Kirk is a pro cycling devotee. His professional duties mean that even if he misses a race report, he is brought up to date by his ‘to do’ list.

“It’s quite hard not to follow the sport, when you hear about a Movistar Team rider who has crashed, and needs new kit! You get updated that way, even if you haven’t seen the race.”

DESIGNER THREADS

Stuart Kirk walks from the production room to his desk among the graphics team. It’s a short journey to a different world. The noise of the machines is replaced by the near-silence in which Kirk and his colleagues on the graphics team manipulate logos and images to realise the design ambitions of hundreds of amateur clubs.

Additionally, Kirk is responsible for the highest profile of all Endura’s custom commissions - the design of the Movistar Team jersey. The navy blue tunic with giant Movistar ‘M’ writ large across the chest and back in distinctive green is among the most recognisable in the peloton (and recently voted the classiest by readers of Cycling Weekly).

“Everything is possible. Nothing is hard as long as we’re working together. I’ve had that feeling since I came here” - Asta Sarockiene, Sample Machinist

Continuity is key to establishing a corporate identity, and while the parameters defined by Movistar are tight, each season Kirk creates original designs from established themes, like a blues guitarist honing some new riff from the most time-honoured scale.

“Every year we come up with a handful of designs to present to them. Last year, four or five of the designs we presented were shortlisted, but ultimately it’s the sponsors who decide what they want. But it’s positive: the design has a classic look to it, which year-on-year becomes more recognisable.”

“Year-on-year” is a phrase that crops up again, this time when Kirk describes the growing trust placed in his skill and ideas by the giant Spanish communications company and its parent, Telefónica. Endura’s relationship with Movistar Team is now in its fourth season, and a confidence in the quality of the garments now extends to the design.

“It started off with quite strict guidelines: they were asking for logos to be moved or rotated even by a couple of millimetres, but a good relationship has developed from giving them kit that looks good, and year-on-year they’ve taken more advice. They’re good people to work with.”

Kirk is calm and personable - two qualities that make him an ideal if not obvious candidate to assist each year with the Movistar Team fitting session in Pamplona. His colleague Michelle O’Connor, Endura’s head of garment technology, led the most recent session, and as a graduate of the London College of Fashion was well-qualified to do so.

Kirk’s background, by contrast, lies in graphic design, and while O’Connor is very definitely in charge of the measuring of Bennati, Sutherland, Sütterlin et al, her colleague must call upon his natural sangfroid to cope with the business of fitting some of the world’s best cyclists. It’s a task that few would volunteer to perform, but Kirk adopts his role with characteristic calm.

“People say that,” he says, laughing when I mention his relaxed manner with the riders. “It’s based on the belief that we have a really good product, which makes it easier. We’re not blagging it. We’re giving them the service they want at the end of the day, so in that sense, it’s quite easy.

“In terms of being relaxed, I don’t get too starstruck, and having been to the Pamplona camp now for a couple of years has helped me to get quite comfortable. At meal times, you’re made to feel like part of the Movistar Team family, which helps.”

It helps also that he has a passion both for cycling and for design. He confesses to following Instagram channels dedicated to cycle clothing, and to following hashtags from a natural interest in creative developments in the cycling sphere. “It’s a bit of a curse,” he says with a smile. When work is your passion, it can be difficult to step away from the day job, but this is not an unusual condition at Endura, where, for many, cycling is a way of life.

Like Moodie, Kirk is a pro cycling devotee. His professional duties mean that even if he misses a race report, he is brought up to date by his ‘to do’ list.

“It’s quite hard not to follow the sport, when you hear about a Movistar Team rider who has crashed, and needs new kit! You get updated that way, even if you haven’t seen the race.”

PERFORMANCE ENHANCING GARMENTS

There are few pleasures more satisfying than owning an item that has been made by hand and with care.

It's a pleasure shared among cyclists of all standards, whether WorldTour professionals or passionate amateurs. Bespoke garments straddle the distinction between essential item and luxury. Certainly, Endura’s off-the-peg garments have been carefully designed and manufacturing tolerances closely inspected, but custom clothing is a more personal proposition.

For the amateur, seeing a design realised has a magical air. Riding in club colours gives an enormous sense of belonging. For customers who opt for their own, bespoke design - often submitted via the powerful endura.ME website - custom clothing offers the gratifying sense of individuality: the certainty that you will not encounter another rider in the same outfit.

Whether you’re Lotta Lepistö or a Sunday rider, the fabrics, personnel and service are the same. Skill and experience are shared evenly between professional and amateur...

For the professional, racing in tailored clothing is an aid to performance. While the Encapsulator time-trial suit with Endura’s proprietary Silicone Surface Topography is an obvious example, the more fundamental advantages of garments that do not irritate or chafe is another advantage. Little wonder that Movistar Team’s annual fitting session in Pamplona is so well attended.

For Endura, the custom clothing division represents the soul of the company: passionate individuals making garments by hand in Scotland, to the highest possible standard. It’s tempting to say that if their work is good enough to satisfy Nairo Quintana, it’s good enough for the paying customer, but even this is too simplistic.

Maverick to the core, Endura has turned the priority traditionally afforded the paid professional over paying customer on its head. In Livingston, the mantra is that the clothing must be of a standard to satisfy those spending their hard-earned money. Please them and the professional will also be happy. The difference in emphasis is subtle, but significant.

From the bustle and energy of the sewing room to the tranquility of the graphics department, Endura’s custom clothing division is a sight to behold. Glimpses are offered by the riders of Movistar Team and Cervélo Bigla as they compete in the most prestigious races in professional cycling, but there is no need to be content with a glance when the same clothing, made by the same people, in any design, is available to own.

When Movistar Team rolls into Paris this July, expect the Colombians out in force. So too might be the individuals who clothe them.

FOOTNOTES Words by Timothy John. Images by Sean Hardy. Image of Nairo Quintana by BrakeThrough Media

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