Until this June, Gobik had submitted more than 2,000 graphic proposals. That's in half a year. In all of the previous 2017, some 3,500 in total had taken shape.
That entails a brutal production effort, because 180,000 customized garments came out of our factory, a figure that is divided among the more than 6,000 customers who did some project with the brand last year.
These customers include clubs, groups, groupsets and all kinds of "cycling associations" that like to wear uniforms. Because customization is in the very DNA of the brand. Gobikfrom the moment of its birth, and more and more present among the average cyclist.
It all arose from the need to be identified, to be uniform by a club of Yecla.
Thus began Gobik. Year 2010. José Ramón Ortín and Alberto García received a request from a local club: they needed a common equipment to ride and compete.
"Passionate about cycling", but also cyclists, that's how José Ramón and Alberto define themselves. The two creators of Gobik were unknowingly taking the first steps towards the creation of the brand. They know what each piece needs and what it lacks, added to an interesting design proposal.
What they proposed was indeed attractive. Thus, they came out with 150 outfits that took the area by storm. In fact, today, going around the place, you can still see them on the roads around Yecla, which are not few.
That success was like an oil stain on the map, a stain that became thicker and bigger: more and more people asked for the authors of those garments. An interest that came from different clubs, in unison: gradually new orders were entering the mails of José Ramón and Alberto.
That began to take a volume that pushed to give a radical turn in the life of these two Yeclanos. From the first print run of jerseys personalized was born Gobik.
In the cyclist's skin
For the design of any cycling garment, it is worth asking yourself what you would like to have in your closet to go out on a beautiful bike ride. So the most important thing is to be rigorous in the materials and fabrics and be aware of how to combine them.
The first step is to check the functionality of the garment: who wears it, why do you wear it, how does it combine with other accessories? Simple questions that are not always answered by the creators. Something as simple as making the piece from the cyclist, from his own skin, the same skin where the fabric of the garment will rest and will be jousting with the fabric. Gobik.
A model is never finished
When the model goes out the door of the store, there comes out a piece that has not reached the ceiling, because internally the wheel does not stop turning, it does not stop turning to its confection, to its design, to the improvement of its performance. The next model has to improve on the first.
Because the story has changed a lot since it was born GobikThe story has changed and the demands have grown exponentially. Not only at a technological level, in concepts such as sublimation, tailoring and finishing, but also at the level of the public, the cyclist who wants unique products tailored to his tastes.
The textile is the extension of the cyclist's soul, the way to express the feeling that the cyclist lives with respect to his sport. And it's not about dressing everyone the same, it's about being different, marking your personality on the machine, expressing yourself... clothing speaks of the person who wears it and of his or her belonging to a group.
See Gobik wherever you go
Being personal, concrete, but different, is a fine but constant rain that allows you to open markets and business windows. First, because it establishes a bidirectional communication with the user that can later be used in the collections, the basic collection.
But there is another component, and it is a sentimental one, because companies, however powerful they may seem to us, are people, and the creators of the brand are thrilled to see their designs catch on like wildfire among cyclists.
"My entire closet is Gobik”
"I no longer buy anything that is not yours."
These expressions are comforting, because they are proof that the job is well done. A job that is not uniform, for it takes the best of up to 300 materials to confer flexibility, compression, breathability, thermal insulation, waterproofing and other values that define the performance of a jersey.
Because 40% of the customization is carried out by the jerseythe cyclist's business card. And of the total production, three-quarters is customized. In the beginning, everything was customized.
That is to say, in Gobik collections came later.
And where does this path lead to?
"The cuts are becoming more and more "aero", with very close fits in the jerseys. In terms of bib shorts, for example, a few extra centimeters of length have been added to the leg. And, of course, we will see more and more garments with a cycling personality, but which will be adapted to an urban lifestyle to be worn even when we get off the bike," says Alberto García, sketching a scenario of a full-time cycling aesthetic. Getting off the bike no longer means that you don't want to "look like a cyclist".
The Custom Wear Company
That the tagline of Gobik tagline was not a coincidence. It is to establish the brand on the roots and make it grow. Personalization as a hallmark of identity with a very marked and well developed process.
A sample shipment opens the process for those who do not know the brand. It is the first point of contact, before the client explains himself and outlines what he needs and what he has in mind. Sketches are used to capture inspirations, unconnected ideas that outline the first design.
The knowledge of the materials, their performance and other experiences, confer to Gobik an active role in the design, both in form and substance, because the cut of the part and its materials are key to performance,
With the sending of the size kit, the club specifies its needs and the administrative gear is activated, a gear that culminates in a production of at least ten units for a minimum of ten years. jerseys or culottes, twenty-five for socks, which will be delivered within 45 to 60 days of the order.
And the wheel doesn't stop. When the order goes out the door, new shapes, cuts, colors, designs... are already being thought of... because Gobik it goes on a bicycle, and as the wise man would say, on a bicycle if you stop, you fall off.
