Covid-19 affects us all. Here's how we deal with it

COVID-19 brings new challenges for everybody. It makes running a conscious cycling brand quite exciting to say the least.. Everything is different this year. How does it affect a small brand like Club V? Does it impact our decisions? How do we deal with production delays, order delays, no fitting possibilities, closed gyms.. without photo shoots or group rides on our calendar? In this article we share our challenges and how we deal with those on a day-to-day basis.

We are pretty sure you haven't noticed any of our struggles before: our stock is ready, new items are dropped every month and we are on plan for the coming season. Yet there are some challenges we are facing due to the pandemic that we just want to share with you. Just because we think you'll enjoy it and we think transparency is important. Hereby we present our biggest challenges of the past months:

Production delays

The factory's staff has greatest difficulty of handling all orders in time. Keeping a 1.5 meter distance is mandatory on the factory floor. In some instances this is technically impossible for example when it comes to working with machines. Then it is simply just not feasible to keep distance. The solution that has now been chosen is to work with fewer people at the same time. And fewer people at work = lower production. For the production workers, the company itself - and their clients these measures are quite a struggle. 
As a temporary 'solution' we have reduced some orders or split them in smaller batches to make it easier to fit in the production schedule. These so-called solutions are of course not workable in the longterm, but we are both grateful that we are both active and can still make conscious women's cycling apparel. It is what it is.. 

Delivery times

It takes longer than usual to receive orders due to peaking volumes at our delivery carriers..  *Take extra time into account when ordering in our online store. Unfortunately, we cannot do anything extra to speed up this process.

No fitting

We know all too well that your cycling outfit must fit like a glove. We are working on a female fit guide to help you order your new apparel from home. Due the lockdown in the Netherlands no fitting appointments can be planned at this moment. Yep: safety first.

No photo shoots

How we would love to prepare a photo shoot with our greatest ambassadors, organize a group ride and share the fun. Unfortunately this is really not possible. Instead we'll be enjoying solo or duo rides at a distance for the next few months (and oh - it means the world to us that riding outside is still possible in NL). Technically speaking photo shoot at 1,5 meters is also an option but to Club V, cycling is about socializing and riding together. That does not fit within the rules of the current lockdown. So, we wait for better times.

Closed gyms

Working on a strong body and prepping for the summer is also different this year than usual. No spinning lessons to sweat out or in our case to promote the new collection. Instead, we secretly dream of a Club V winter collection for next season. 

No Club V rides

Last but not certainly not least.. we can't wait to organise social rides and tours with you. We are already looking forward to the times when this will be possible again. 

No business as usual

Trouble in paradise? Sure.  Strangely enough we can't say that during corona everything is different than usual, since - funny detail - we only exist since July 1rst 2020. We just have no idea how business as usual should look like. 

But it will be okay, one way or another. We are grateful that we started this brand in 2020. Certainly in 2020. It makes us even more aware of how lucky we are to still be able to produce conscious women's cycling apparel, fulfill our orders and receive amazing reviews. 

Let's hope Spring comes early this year!

Stay safe.