THE SIMPLEST IDEAS: It occured to us that if we couldn’t find top quality cycling gear, in proper manly man sizes, then probably, no one else could, so we took a bit of a punt and set up a sportswear brand which didn't just do 'usual sizes' but also did bigger sizes. THE NAME: By happy coincidence Fat Lad At The Back had been the nickname of founding Fat Lad and Lad In Charge, Richard for around 20 years – He had other nick-names but none of those are publishable and anyway, in Yorkshire, Fat Lad At The Back is a term of endearment and we think a pretty cool name for a sportswear brand. THE GEAR: We didn’t just want to size up our gear, we wanted to redesign traditional garments so that they would properly fit and flatter the new ‘average’ size of cyclist and we wanted cyclewear which didn’t make the wearer look like a shrink wrapped chicken. The Fat Lad brand was created for Mr Averages, MAMIL’s with a 44” chest and a 38” waist but it quickly became apparent that there were bigger cyclists who needed something to wear too, so we introduced larger sizes. More and more Lads said to us, “as soon as I read it, I knew you were talking to me!” and a community started growing. THE LASSES: In no time, the lasses were saying “what about us?” so we began work on a women’s range which took into consideration women’s curves and women’s comfort. THE BULGE: Core to our success have been our customers. They help us develop our product range, they fill our social media with comments, hilarious one-liners and great photos, they take part in our photoshoots, they ride our Annual Sportive, they come and chat to us at events and they generally keep us on the right path. OUR VALUES: Sticking with the simple theme, our values are pretty simple. We're serious about our sportswear but we don't take ourselves too seriously. We make top quality sportswear in all sizes because all sizes cycle. We are the Fat Lads and Lasses At The Back, Join us and be proud.
