Back in 2016 i got the opportunity to work with Evans cycles on a really exciting collaboration. It was to create a range of bags under the Hoy brand, named after Sir Chris Hoy. Sir Chris Hoy is a Scottish former track cyclist and one of Britain’s most successful Olympians. He won six Olympic gold medals and eleven world titles in sprint events for Team GB. Known for his explosive power and humble personality, he became a national sporting hero and was later knighted.
Sir Chris Hoy partnered with Evans Cycles to launch the HOY bike range shortly after the 2012 London Olympics, with the bikes going on sale in spring 2013. The collection included three road bikes and four city or hybrid bikes designed for everyday riders. Prices ranged roughly from £550 for entry-level hybrids up to about £1,300 for the top road models. I was tasked with working with the team and Chris Hoy to design a range of bags to go with these bicycles.
The bags needed to appeal to the general public with an emphasis on more of a male market. There were about 4 bags in the range with a very specific 'tool' bag that was going to be used by Chris Hoy himself.
Sir Chris Hoy is now focusing on raising awareness about men’s health while continuing to stay active despite serious illness. In 2023 he was diagnosed with stage-four Prostate cancer, which later spread to his bones and was confirmed as terminal. Despite this, Hoy remains positive, taking part in charity events, campaigns and cycling initiatives that encourage early cancer checks and support research.
The range of bags i designed were mainly made from a matt black coated polyester fabric with the main interest coming from the webbing. The concept of the webbing came from the track markings from a velodrome. A velodrome is a purpose-built arena for track cycling races. Modern velodromes have steeply banked tracks with two straights and two curved bends. The banking helps balance speed, gravity and momentum, allowing riders to smoothly follow the track through corners. This lets cyclists focus more on race tactics rather than steering.
Between the track centre and the actual track there is the blue band (also called "Cote d'Azur"), minimum 10% of the track width wide. The blue band is not an official part of the track. Riders moving into this space in a race -attempting to make a "shortcut"- are disqualified.
This is a diagram of a velodrome including the different markings in the colours - light blue, red and black.
Even the zip pulls featured these lines in the correct proportions as shown on the velodrome track. As a designer i thought this was a nice way to bring in the achievements of Chris Hoy into the bags whilst still being able achieve a design that is both classic and minimalist without too much pattern or colour, this would also make the bags more commercial.
I was really happy with the end result, the logo was printed in a reflective ink and the styles included a wallet, rolltop backpack, messenger bag, tool bag and large duffle bag. If you have a design idea and would like to collaborate, please get in touch with me, i absolutely love designing bags!
jacqui@goodordering.com
