Behind the Floragami Print: From Linocut to Jersey

Most cycling kits are designed to be seen from a hundred yards away. The Floragami kit is designed to be seen from a hundred yards away and from six inches, which is how close you'll be when you're asking your riding buddy, "wait, what is that pattern, exactly?"

That's the point. Floragami, our collaboration with Ardei Cycling, is a kit that keeps revealing itself the longer you look. And it all starts with a printmaking technique that's been around a lot longer than carbon fiber.

Floragami started the way most good rides do: a friend asking if you want to go. HaNa, the founder and owner of Ardei, reached out wanting to do something special together, a cross-brand kit both crews could ride in and share with each other's communities. There was no grand strategy beyond that. Just two small brands, a lot of mutual respect, and a chance to make something awesome with friends.

Relief printing, one layer at a time

If you've never made a linocut, here's the short version. You take a block (traditionally linoleum), carve away the parts you don't want to print, roll ink on what's left, and press it to paper. Whatever you carved away stays blank. Whatever you left standing carries the color.

That's relief printing: the image sits on the raised surface.

The magic happens when you want more than one color. You can't just paint in the lines. Instead, you print a layer, let it set, then carve the block further (or use a new block), and print the next color on top. Each pass adds depth. Each layer has to land in the right place on top of the last one. Early layers are broad and simple. Later layers bring in the detail that makes the whole picture snap into focus.

You can't skip a layer and fake it later. The image is built, pass by pass, and every pass is a commitment.

Sound like anything you know?

It's how we think about riding, too.

Nobody shows up in July with a finished season. You lay down a base in the cold months, boring miles, early mornings, a little suffering on a trainer. Then comes the next layer: longer rides, some climbing, a few hard efforts. Then the sharper stuff, the intervals and the group rides where you find out what you've got. Each layer sits on top of the last. Skip the early ones and the later ones don't hold.

The Floragami page puts it nicely: the detailing is cumulative and intentional, the same way it takes hours to build a strong rider. The print is a rider's fitness, translated into ink.

From block to body-mapped panels

This isn't a linocut look. It's a real one. The artwork comes from Ryan Lee of Ryan Makes Art, who hand-carved each color layer as its own linocut block, printed them, then digitized and refined the result so it could live on a body-mapped jersey without losing the texture of the carving.

Look closely and you'll find the two brands hiding in the print: a large Number 5 and a heron for Ardei, set among the traditional motifs of block printing, simple geometry and floral accents.

The palette is three colors that feel like they were pulled from a print shop shelf: forest green, electric cyan, and burnt orange. Stacked and overlapped, they give the graphic that deep, layered feel you'd expect from a press run. The print is sublimated and fade-resistant, so those colors are meant to stay put through the wash.

And because the whole thing started on paper, it ends there too. Every Floragami order ships with a little surprise tucked inside: a hand-printed piece of the art, pulled from the original blocks.

And it's not just a pretty print. The jersey is built with:

• Race fit for aerodynamic efficiency
• Body-mapped panel construction to keep it in place without distracting you
• Three rear pockets plus a zippered security pocket
• Ultra-lightweight, moisture-wicking fabric

The kit

Floragami is a limited release, so if you want to run the whole set, it's worth moving before sizes disappear. Ordering all three pieces together saves 20% (buy two and it's 15%), and the discount applies automatically in the cart.

• Floragami Cycling Jersey, $169. The hero piece, with all the pockets and the layered print.
• Floragami Cycling Vest, $145. A wind-resistant, packable layer in ecru with a linocut floral design on the back.
• Floragami 4-Pocket Cargo Cycling Bibs, $259. Ardei's first 4-pocket cargo bib, built around an Elastic Interface chamois, one of the most respected names in pads. Laser-cut hems and an internal silicone gripper keep everything in place, so it stays comfortable and holds up ride after ride.

Want to see the whole thing together? Browse the full Floragami kit collection.

Wear the layers

Here's what we like most about this kit. You don't have to explain it. People will notice the colors first, then the shapes, then the way it all fits together. Same as a good print. Same as a good season.

So build your layers. Put in the quiet miles. Add the hard ones. And when you roll up to the start line, let your kit say a little of what your legs already know.

Challenge. Connect. Celebrate.