Today Only: Look Sexy, Fight Cancer with Twin Six

05.16.2011 | 12:01 am

A couple years ago I was talking with one of the Twin Six guys about how much they do to help with the Team Fatty LiveStrong Challenge fundraising. “Yeah,” the Twin Six guy said (I’d specify whether it was Brent or Ryan, but I can’t tell them apart), “If our donations were treated as a salaried employee, LiveStrong would be our highest-paid employee. Including us.”

Honestly, when I first begged them to create the first Fat Cyclist jersey, I had no idea that Twin Six would wind up being such a crucial part of Team Fatty, nor that they would take the fight against cancer so seriously.

But they have. In fact, they consistently amaze me with not just their clothing line (which I believe all right-thinking people in the universe would agree is in fact awesome) but with their generosity and commitment to doing the right thing. During the few years they’ve been working with me in fact, Twin Six has been instrumental in raising more than $132,000 for LiveStrong.

So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when Friday afternoon I got an email from them, saying:

Next Monday, May 16th, we’re going to donate 50% of TwinSix.com total sales for the day to LiveStrong. Not 50% of the profits, we’re talking 50% of our gross sales. If you could help us pimp that event we’d greatly appreciate it.

Gee, fellas, I dunno. Let me think about it for a second. Hmmmm. Well, OK.

What This Means

Today — and today (Monday, May 16) only — when you buy anything at all on Twin Six’s site, half your money — not half the profits, mind you, but half the of the money you spend — will go to Team Fatty’s LiveStrong Challenge. Not just on my Fat Cyclist gear (what little there is left of it), but on everything in the site.

For those of you who like examples, here’s one: suppose you buy $100 worth of t-shirts and jerseys. Twin Six will donate $50 of that. Wow.

So, if I may be so bold, may I recommend you spend your money today, as if there were no tomorrow.

And I’d like to present a few suggestions of some Twin Six gear I highly recommend, as well as one very sneaky tactic you might want to consider for your future Twin Six purchases.

We’ll start with the sneaky tactic first.

The Many, Many Clever and Sometimes-Sneaky Uses of the T6 Gift Certificate

When Twin Six said that everything on the site is fair game for the 50%-to-LiveStrong day today, they really meant everything.

That includes the T6 Gift Certificate, which you can purchase for any amount between $10 and $500.

And this gift certificate has a lot of uses, some of which may not have occurred to you (or to the Twin Six guys, for that matter):

• If you like the T-Shirt of the Month Program: If you get on the Twin Six email list, you’ll get a monthly notification of their limited-run t-shirt of the month. Why not buy yourself a big enough gift certificate that you can get the t-shirt of the month every month for a year?

• Do Your Christmas Shopping now. If you plan — as I do — to do most of your Christmas shopping on TwinSix.com, why not go ahead and buy Gift Certificates you can use later in the year when it’s time to buy those presents? As a bonus, your future self will thank your present self for doing some of that Christmas spending when you weren’t strapped with all those other end-of-year expenses.

• If you can’t find what you like right now: Suppose you like Twin Six in general, but can’t find what you want in the size you want today. Well, just buy a gift certificate and then use it when you do stumble across the most awesome jersey, ever, on their site.

• If you plan to buy a 2012 Fat Cyclist jersey: Each year Twin Six and I come up with a limited-edition Fat Cyclist jersey (and shorts and socks and bottles and a few other things). And we only make so many (that’s what the “limited edition” means. In a few months, you’ll have a chance to buy the 2012 version. But if you buy a gift certificate for yourself now (hey, nothing wrong with buying yourself a gift) and then use that gift certificate when the jersey pre-order begins, you ensure that half of your Fat Cyclist gear purchase — in addition to the LiveStrong donation Twin Six makes already for jersey purchases — will go to the fight against cancer. It’s legal double-dipping! [Update: We haven't settled on every item we're going to make this year, but it's a good bet that there'll be a jersey ($75), bib shorts ($95), socks ($12), a long-sleeve jersey ($95), and a few things we haven't decided on yet. Choose your gift certificate amount accordingly.]

Have I made my point on the clever uses of T6 Gift Certificates? I thought so.

Riding Stuff

You know, for the next little while I’m going to be just showing off examples of things I plan to buy as soon as this post goes live. And my tastes may not be your tastes, so you might just want to go and spend some time finding what you like over at TwinSix.com, comfortable in the knowledge that you’ll find things you like, and that no matter what you buy, half your money is going toward the fight against cancer.

That said, I personally believe I have pretty awesome taste, so here are a few of the riding-type items I love (and plan to buy) over at Twin Six, right now.

The Wool Motor : OK, I should come clean about this one right away: I already own this jersey, and I love it. It’s ultra-comfortable, the wool is light, and the design is classic and beautiful. Plus, I gotta say I’m a fan of the orange, black and white color scheme. It goes with a lot of my stuff.

The Cat 6: For one thing, grey and black look very stealth, and the splash of red (along with the much bigger splash of red on the back) gives it just a touch of attitude. For another thing, it’s a classy-looking jersey. For a third thing, it’s a great inside joke for those in the know. For a fourth thing, you can complete the kit with bibs, socks, and a cyclist’s cap.

The Speedy London: I like the way this jersey looks from the front, but I love the way it looks from the back. And hey, you may as well get the matching socks.

The Cross: This is another one of the jerseys that I have a hard time telling whether I like the front or back better. And honestly, for this one, I think I’m gonna have to show both. So here’s the back:

It’s just a beautiful, distressed-looking jersey that happens to have a little bit of history tied to it. Everyone should have one of these.

The School Girl: I’m definitely getting The Runner one of these. I just am, that’s all.

The Betty: Another one for the girls. I’m pretty sure it looks awesome.

Cotton Stuff

Twin Six isn’t just about on-bike clothing. Nosirree. They’ve also got an incredible selection of cotton awesomeness (mens and womens), making it entirely possible to be wearing Twin Six apparel every moment of your waking life.

Which I highly recommend.

Here are a few of the T-shirts I recommend you check out. And by “check out,” I of course mean “purchase.”

Riding Sweep: My favorite Fat Cyclist jersey ever. It’s funny because it’s true.

Speed Demon : It’s how we all feel, and what we all wish we looked like. Alas.

Fly: Tells the world what it feels like to ride better than words ever could.

Peace: I don’t think I could say this better than the catalog copy, and besides it’s so darn easy to just copy and paste once in a while: “No matter what issues you fight for, or flag you stand behind, bring a little peace to your part of the world with a two wheeled timeout, every day.”

Dark Stuff

In a poorly-illuminated, out-of-the-way corner of Twin Six sits the “Dark” section, where black is both the new and old black. I’m only telling you about this part of the site because I trust you won’t tell anyone else.

The Crank (Dark) : Is it a description of who you are or what you do? In my case, it’s both.

The Metal : Simultaneously understated and overstated. People will be mesmerized when they look at the back of your jersey. Also available in women’s style, as well as long sleeve (both mens and womens) and as a jacket. And arm warmers. And socks. And bibshorts: both men’s and women’s. Clearly, Twin Six is committed to this whole “metal” thing.

The Objective

Twin Six says they’d like to be able to donate $10,000 as a result of today’s event. Personally, I think that’s shooting a little low. I think $15,000 is a more likely number, which means $30,000 worth of sales in a single day.

To do this, it’s going to take more than just those of you who normally visit this site. You’re going to need to tell your cycling friends. And non-cycling friends. So Facebook it. Email it. Tweet it (Use the below button to make the tweeting easy:)

And more than anything else, spend some money at Twin Six. Show ‘em you love their stuff, and appreciate what they’re doing in the fight against cancer.