Designing TOUGH: I Might Not Be Smart, But I Am Tough
How we built the TOUGH / After the Climb jersey: a four-colour mountain road, topo sleeves and a joke on the back for whoever is on your wheel.
In this post
I might not be smart, but I am tough.
Every group ride has one. Not the lightest, not the one with the cleverest line through the hairpins, but the one who is somehow still there at the top. TOUGH is a jersey for that rider. It pairs a gritty mountain landscape with a joke on the back that most of us have told ourselves halfway up a climb.
Bib shorts sold separately.
Four colours, nothing else
The whole design is cut back to four flat colours, like a hand-pulled screen print: ink (#171915) for the collar, zip strip, sides and outlines; bone (#E6DECC) for the chest, back, road and snow; olive (#72745A) for the pine ridges and topo lines; and rust (#B45232) for the sun, the word SMART and the cuff bars. No gradients and no photo shading, so every shape reads clearly from a few bike lengths back.
The front: a road that won't straighten out
Black peaks rise on both sides of a black zip strip. On the left, a bone-white road switchbacks down the jersey; on the right, a rust sun sits behind the summit. Nothing has to line up across the zip, so the picture stays clean however the jersey sits. The Corbah wordmark is small and black on the chest, and repeated in bone on the collar.
The sleeves: topo lines and a pine ridge
The sleeves and side panels are charcoal with olive contour lines, like a trail map. Each sleeve has an olive ridge of pines and two short rust bars at the cuff.
The back: the joke
"I might not be smart but I am tough" runs across the back in brush lettering, with SMART in rust and a rust underline. Below it, a gritty stencil-style rider charges down a hill. The pockets get their own scene: olive and bone peaks, a line of pines and one more winding road.
On the road
Bone and charcoal stay clear against pine forest and granite, and the slogan is easy to read from the wheel behind you, which is exactly who it's for.
Bib shorts sold separately.
TOUGH joins Mont Ventoux Mistral in our Climbs line. If you want a real mountain to test it on, here are Europe's most legendary climbs.
Fit
A close race fit with a full-length zip. For reference, a 180 cm, 153 lb rider wears a Medium; see the size guide for the full chart. We don't do returns or exchanges because every jersey is made for you. If the size is wrong, keep it, and within 15 days of delivery you can order another size at about 20–60% off.
Get yours
TOUGH / After the Climb Short Sleeve Cycling Jersey, $59.95. Made to order in XS to 4XL and delivered in 5–6 weeks. Want your name or club on it? Customization is free on every order.
