What Is a Crit? Why Our Partnership with Legion of Los Angeles Matters
Crit racing is road cycling at its most intense.
Short laps. Hard corners. Constant accelerations. Split-second decisions. Riders fighting for position at full speed, over and over again, until the whole race feels like a pressure cooker on wheels.
That is exactly why AMS is so excited to become the official bartape supplier of Legion of Los Angeles for 2026 and 2027.
For 2026, the team has chosen AMS Sterrato Bartape, while some riders have selected Tessel, our new bartape model launching in the coming weeks. At the same time, we are already developing a specific model for Legion for 2027.
This is not just a team partnership. It is a product partnership. A performance partnership. A culture partnership.
First, what exactly is a crit?
A criterium, or crit, is a road race held on a short closed circuit, usually in a city-center or urban environment. Riders repeat the same lap again and again, carrying speed into corners, sprinting out of them, fighting for position, and staying switched on every second.
There is nowhere to hide in a crit.
You need power, of course. But you also need timing, nerve, confidence, handling and the ability to make the right decision instantly. Brake too much and you lose positions. Hesitate for half a second and the race moves on without you.
That is what makes crit racing so exciting to watch. And so brutal to race.
“What makes criterium racing special is the intensity. Every lap demands focus, every corner is a chance to gain or lose positions, and the race can change in an instant. It’s fast, technical, unpredictable, and puts riders and equipment to the test from the first lap to the last.”
— Cory Williams
American crit culture has its own energy
If you grew up in Europe, road cycling usually enters your imagination through mountain passes, spring classics, Grand Tours, old roads and old stories.
The American crit scene feels different.
More urban. More immediate. More electric.
The fans are close. The action stays visible. The atmosphere feels tighter, louder and more alive in the moment. It is road cycling with city energy. Less ceremonial. More explosive.
That is a big part of what makes Legion so interesting.
Their official name is L39ION of Los Angeles, with the “39” referencing 39th Street in Los Angeles, where Justin and Cory Williams grew up. The name says a lot already. LA is not just where they race. It is inside the identity of the team.
And you can feel that identity.
I still remember when the L39ION x Rapha collab dropped. I was immediately in love. What impressed me most was that even though crit racing is not especially popular in Southern Europe, most of my cycling buddies loved the L39ION spirit and aesthetics instantly.
It felt 100% LA. Cool AF.
That says a lot. Before people even understood the format deeply, they already felt the energy.
Why AMS and Legion make so much sense together
Legion is not interesting only because they are fast. They are interesting because they race with power, confidence, style and intent.
They helped push crit racing further into culture, not just into result sheets.
That matters to AMS.
We care about performance, but we also care about identity. We like products that work, but we also like products that mean something. We like athletes and teams that put equipment under real pressure. Real racing pressure.
And crit racing does exactly that.
In a crit, bartape is not a cosmetic detail. It is not just something that sits on the bike and looks good in photos. It is a key contact point between rider and machine.
When the pace is high, the corners come fast, and the sprint is full gas, grip, feel and confidence at the bars matter more than ever.
“I love crit racing because there’s nothing like the adrenaline of diving into corners at speed, fighting for position, and making split second decisions. The atmosphere is electric, and every race feels like a battle that rewards skill, confidence, and commitment.”
— Justin Williams
Why bartape matters so much on a crit bike
Crit riders do not use bartape passively.
They load the front end in corners. They sprint violently. They fight for position. They ride with sweaty hands, high heart rates, huge commitment and no margin for vague feedback.
A good bartape has to deliver when the racing gets technical and explosive.
It has to give traction when the rider is fully committed. It has to feel consistent under pressure. It has to inspire confidence, not just comfort.
That is why this partnership is valuable far beyond visibility.
Working with Legion gives AMS direct feedback in one of the most demanding road racing environments there is. It helps us understand what riders actually need when the pace is violent and the decisions are instant.
That is how better products get made.
For 2026, the team selected AMS Sterrato as the main bartape choice, while some riders have already chosen Tessel. That already tells us something important: even inside one elite team, preferences are nuanced. Feel matters. Surface matters. Texture matters. Feedback matters.
And that is exactly where product development gets interesting.
From race partnership to product development
The best partnerships do not stop at exposure.
They improve the product.
That is exactly what we want here.
Not just AMS logos on race bikes. Not just a nice announcement. Not just social content.
We want to learn from riders who push equipment hard. We want to understand what they feel, what they trust and what they need when the race is full gas.
That is why we are already developing a dedicated Legion bartape model for 2027.
Because if a product can earn its place in a Legion crit bike, it has already passed a serious test.
Why this matters beyond crit racing
Most riders will never race a U.S. crit at the front like Legion.
But that is not the point.
The point is that when a product gets better under elite racing pressure, everyday riders benefit too.
Better grip. Better feel. Better confidence. Better control.
That matters whether you are sprinting for a city-center finish line, pushing through a hard local group ride, or just trying to feel more connected to your bike every time you hit the drops.
Final thought
Crit racing is one of the purest adrenaline formats in cycling.
It is fast, technical, unpredictable and brutally honest. It rewards power, but also nerve. It rewards fitness, but also timing, handling and total commitment.
The American crit scene has built a real culture around that energy.
And Legion has become one of its clearest symbols.
That is why this partnership feels right.
It puts AMS bartape into one of the most demanding environments in road racing. It gives us feedback from riders who race hard and think deeply about feel. And it pushes us to keep building better products.
