Being a fairly new player, my biggest restriction right now is coins.  Since I have a TON of energy, I figure I might as well level up champions for combining or otherwise spending them.

My biggest issue with this is that in order to level them as quickly as possible, I want to load them up with gear.  However, it is SO expensive to remove the gear after I have maxed them.  So, I am wondering, if I spend those champions on upgrading other champions, if they still have the gear on them when you use them, does the gear automatically get stripped from them or do you lose the gear that was on them?