Mlada Boleslav is the name of the picturesque little village located a few miles north of Prague, in what in those days was known as Czechoslovakia. It was here, in 1943, that Čestmír Kalaš was born.

He got his first bicycle at the age of twelve, and it did not take long before people started noticing his superb talent on the bike.
His cycling efforts rewarded him with numerous wins in both local and national competitions. By the age of twenty-one, he found himself cycling for the National team.
 

After several years competing for the National team, he began cycling more for himself, and now is very active in veteran competitions. Today at an age well past sixty, his bicycle still gets no rest – it will always be his playground.

But, Kalas’ interests also include athletic clothing. In the late eighties, while the communists were still running the country with an iron fist, Mr. Kalas began relations with a Swiss company, Assos. They had built a reputation for their high quality sportswear, and therefore Kalas approached them with the idea of jointly developing a cyclist collection. In 1987, the first Kalas collection was on the market.

This was not a wide collection, but the quality was excellent. In the beginning most of the sales were limited to the Tabor region, a small town 90 kilometers south of Prague. The sales were moderate, and rumors of this new collection quickly began to spread throughout the cycling world. 

After the “Silk Revolution” in 1993, when the Czech people once again became their own masters, Mr. Kalas also wanted to become his own master. He started up his own company and introduced Kalas Sports Wear.

Kalas’ idea was to develop sports clothing of the highest quality that was designed for the individual needs of the athletes. With his own sporting background, he knew the difference between good and bad equipment. Having been exposed to the elements – sweating and freezing due to being ill-equipped – he knew what was needed to achieve optimal performance.

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This new collection was an immediate success. Kalas became a brand name synonymous with quality. Soon people from other countries started to show interest, and export quickly became his largest market. Kalas kept himself updated on the latest in design and quality to keep his company in the forefront of technological development, and he managed to establish Kalas as one of the best brands on the market.

In the year 2000, Mr. Thor Haraldsen took the collection on an excruciating test. This 13,000 kilometer cycle tour spanned from Oslo, Norway to Beijing, China. He endured more than 100 days of rain, mud, dust, sweat, and burning sun. He was so impressed by the durability of the Kalas Sportswear that he became the sole importer of these products in Norway.

Today we find Kalas products all over the world, and they are no longer limited to cycle wear – they have branched out with competition wear for most sports.

Many champions have crossed the finish line wearing Kalas. During the last World Championship for Road Cycling, four medals were pinned onto Kalas jerseys, including the gold medal in MTB. And, we predict that in the future you will notice more and more Kalas logos in competition at large tournaments, championships, and of course, at the Olympics.

There is no reason YOU should not be as comfortable as the professionals. We welcome all athletes to the world of Kalas…!

Cestmir Kalas in 2006