Thread to tell everyone what bike gear you've just bought !

mrb123

Ordered a pair of Endura Pro SL bibs in the long leg variety. Last pair in stock at Biketart for 50 quid.

daniel_b

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21088047#Comment_21088047

Good find! Never shopped with biketart, be interested to hear how you find them, and also more importantly about the shorts - I understand (from other posts) the short material and construction has changed significantly from the original design.

mrb123

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21088095#Comment_21088095

Well, my report is not positive.

6 days on from placing the order, and having taken my money, they emailed to say that they don't actually have them in stock so refund incoming.

Afraid I won't be able to give any feedback on the shorts after all.

mrb123

Castelli Espresso jersey. Had my eye on these for a while and they now seem to be coming down in price. Good service from Balfes bikes - there is a £10 code if you sign up to their emails.

Jersey itself is pretty much bang on. Nice fit, snug without being restrictive. Lovely soft fabric, good length on the sleeves. Even a zipped pocket. Quite tempted by some of the bibs now...

pinno

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21086551#Comment_21086551

Seems a bit bulky for you back pocket. CO2 no?

pinno

Good to know that if I buy brake discs/pads/callipers/sensors for my old Porker, I can claim the custom charge back as it's safety equipment innit?

vincesummerskRoxcBTr

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21091306#Comment_21091306

The nano is pretty small.

daniel_b

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21089248#Comment_21089248

That's frustrating, clearly incorrect stock numbers :-(

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21091304#Comment_21091304

Oooh, love a Castelli jersey me - can I ask what size/colour you went for, and how do you find the fit compared to previous Castelli jerseys?

I very much like the bibs, but do not get on with the KISS pads at all, the Progetto X2 is one of my all time favourites though.

I have only good things to say about Balfe's.

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21091392#Comment_21091392

lol, I'm not sure if that fits into the same category 🤣

mrb123

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21093431#Comment_21093431

Went for the purple mist.

Size large for me at 6'4", 32 waist, 39 chest. Sizing is fairly typical Castelli, I'd get away with a medium in most brands but always a large in Castelli. These probably aren't quite as snug as some of their aero jerseys but certainly a nice close fit.

daniel_b

Quite a few people on here (I think) use Halo sports wash.

I suspect I have been using it for 8 years at least, possibly more.

Anyway, back in the day, not too long ago, I used to be able to frequently pick it up from the now demised Wiggle/CRC for £2.99 a litre, and even for that price of £1 more from Sainsbury's on occasion, though their stock could be sporadic.

The price has now rocketed, and the litre bottles can often only be found for in excess of £10 a litre!

I've found going direct, or through Amazon, you can buy 2 X 2 litre bottles for ~£30, so about £7.50 a litre, not cheap, but I feel it's worth it for the high value of a lot of the clothing items.

daniel_b

The above all turned up nice and quickly.

Not that interesting a purchase at all, but on connecting my Di2 bike to the etube app, spotted a load of firmware updates, well for both derailleurs, battery and shifters, could do the first 3 via bluetooth, but on looking up methods (As my shifters are not wired) I needed the below to carry out updates for the shifters.

1400mm one of these from Merlin - £23.95 inc delivery:

And these from Condor.

2 port junction box:

Tool thing - think I have one (Not sure if they have changed at all over the variants) but for the sake of a few pounds:

Had I bought everything from Tredz it would have been £55 delivered, but buying from Merlin and Condor made it £43.

It's very evident that we have lost the likes of Wiggle/CRC, PBK and others, choice and competition is down.

daniel_b

^The bits above required for the shifter update did the job, and managed it with no issues.

Been after these Endura FS260 mitts for an age, no decent offers on really, but then spotted them at BikeInn for a price slightly cheaper than in the UK, but then also spotted the Castelli jersey for a lot cheaper than in the UK.

I'll update with the level of service, I know some people have had bad experiences, and I haven't ordered from them in probably 6-8 years I would suspect, so will see how it goes.

Royal mail postage was 5 or £6, and vat is included so should be no lovely extra charges like last time with the helmet from Lordgun 💩

edward.s

Good luck with BikeInn. I am 3 for 3 terrible experiences with them, stuff not in stock when it said it was, lied to about lead times etc etc. All 3 orders when eventually forced a refund it took ages and several follow up emails before I got my money back. Never again for me.

vincesummerskRoxcBTr

I've had stuff from Bikeinn, had no problems apart from it takes a bit longer to arrive than from the UK.

vincesummerskRoxcBTr

A Core gilet from Rapha sale and a similar colour short sleeve Van Rysel jersey from Decathlon. Impressed with the feel and fit of the jersey for £30.

daniel_b

I've never had an issue with them either, so we'll see how this goes - I even had a high value refund and iirc that went fine, I might have had to chase once potentially, but that was some time ago, some Etxeondo bib shorts X 2.

I'll update in due course - in theory if everything goes smoothly, I think I am saving around £35 on the best prices in the uk for jersey and mitts, so for me, that's worth the risk.

Expected delivery is something like the 10th, so we'll see how long it takes, but not in a hurry for them, and knew that when I ordered - if they don't have the stock that is a different matter of course, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt at least until the 10th :-)

daniel_b

The mitts are now mysteriously not ready for shipping until October 15th 🤣

Still in zero hurry for either item, but will keep eye on it, but not a very good start to proceedings.

oxoman

Last order from bikeinn they got wrong. Ordered a 34 tooth ring and got a 36 and they didn't want to swap / refund.

daniel_b

Castelli have a new print for the fantastic Perfetto jacket - I won't be buying it for £280 or the £238 that Merlin have it for, but if anyone sees a billy bargain of something around 50% off I'd love to know :-)

https://www.merlincycles.com/castelli-perfetto-ltd-ros-2-jacket-aw24-324004.html

Noticeable that back in the day before they went to censored town, Wiggle and CRC would have likely been the place to go for bargains on these 😕 Guess still a chance (if any stock is left) there could be some deals in the new year sales.

PBK also gone of course :-(

Just seen Mantel have decided to cease trading with the uk as well, due to brexit 🤬

daniel_b

So, as predicted by others, the Bikeinn order is not going smoothly so far.

The shipping date for both items was yesterday, now the mitts simply say 'Apologies, product delay' despite the product page still saying it has them in stock in that exact colour and size.

I've messaged to ask what the status is, and also whether the jersey has been put aside for me, as that is now saying out of stock in my size 🤣

I'd say things have most definitely changed from when I shopped with them in the last decade 😬

*To give them their due, 10 minutes later they have already replied - we'll see what happens.

daniel_b

Well it dispatched (despatched?) in the early hours of this morning.

daniel_b

So both items from Bike/TradeInn did arrive, unfortunately the day after I left for Spain ironically 🙄

Luckily was able to redirect to my local post office, and collect upon my return.

The mitts are LOVELY, great fit, feel well made, bright and vibrant colour, very happy with them.

Pretty much the same story for the jersey as well.

Presuming should I order again I could get it sent to my parents and probably benefit from free postage, so might try that.

To be fair to the their customer services, they replied to be quickly on both occasions.

Whilst I am here, two items I have ordered from the pretty excellent Craft Cadence.

One was a kind of kickstarter-esque handlebar bag, they did not get enough orders to properly back it, but are making a limited number, so I ordered a couple for me and my partner.

The bags were £54 each, free postage, and I ended up getting a free multitool that looks very Lezyne like, that retails for £22.99, complete with chain splitter which is handy.

Secondly I ordered one of their rechargeable electric mini pump things.

The pump on offer was £59.99.

I have a couple of their cycling jersey pocket wallets which are excellent.

pblakeney

A cassette from Winstanley's as their Black Friday has begun and cheaper than elsewhere. Tried to find the other thread. Other shop's sales may beat it in future though.

mrb123

New set of handbuilt wheels for a forthcoming gravel build.

Hope hubs with some 25mm internal alloy rims.

Bought them from a seller operating on Ebay. Pretty impressed with them. Communication was good and they built exactly what I wanted. Wheels seem very nicely built and even came fully taped and with some tubeless valves in the box.

daniel_b

Finally Scott are due to have some of the aero plugs for their 2024 Cadence helmet that I bought in the spring, and I've ordered two sets from my fairly LBS - definitely the closest one that is a Scott dealer at any rate.

The helmet is black, so I've ordered one set, one I will leave as is, the other I will apply some yellow wrap too :-)

Lordgun had these amazing Scott glasses on offer, I already have a set, but for £70 (With REALLY good photochromic lenses) I thought it would be rude not to have a backup pair.

If Westbrook had them in stock, they would be £122, they have a £135 RRP.

Additionally, at Lordgun I spotted this Ale jersey for £48, and could not resist.

Alas the 15% Black friday code was not applicable to either item, but there we go.

Still not seen any decent deals on the 1040, thinking if there aren't any today, there will likely not be any in the UK below £399.

wakemalcolm

Nice, I've seen some bargains on Lord gun but hadn't heard of them: are they legit?

daniel_b

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21106748#Comment_21106748

Totally legit mate, and very good customer service and despatch times too, though as it is coming from Italy, it takes a bit longer to actually arrive, but I'll update when it does land at my door.

I've also never had any situations where I have ordered something apparently in stock to find out it is not.

Officially on their site it suggests that any order under £135 will have VAT included, and there won't be any fees when it arrives, orders over that amount are without VAT, and you'll be hit for import fees, and admin charges when it comes in. Postage IIRC, is around £7, which I think is reasonable, though depending on how much you are spending may not be.

I placed the order at 06:52 this morning, and it was despatched at 10:29 - pretty impressive imo.

Probably like you, I used to see their name, and think it was a scam site, but with far reduced options both uk wise, and European I have shopped with them several times since 2020, and always had a very positive experience.

The time Customs decided to charge lots of extra money was not their fault, and I got the money back from HMRC too.

wakemalcolm

Thanks for that @daniel_b.

Sounds like a good choice for medium price orders that offset the postage yet don't excite the customs man.

daniel_b

I've finally pulled the trigger on a 1040, waited around to see if there might be any deals, but so few retailers selling it, meant naff all in the way of decent deals in reality.

I was going to go with TradeInn, but it appears Garmin have decreed they are not allowed to sell to us here - which is slightly frustrating, as they had it on for £360.49, plus £7 postage - plus their silicone cases were WAY cheaper than anywhere here, which would have easily offset the postage.

Friday I could add it to the basket, and get to checkout, as of today I could only add it into the basket if it was on the ES site, though I dare say for anywhere else in proper Europe it would also have worked 😤

Anyway, I found a site selling it for £399, and not one I had ever heard of before - Team Cycles, seems to be a Trek based place, but I won't hold that against them.

SAVE5 knocked a whopping 5 entire pounds off of that, and going through TCB might chop a further £4.18 off (It's already tracked, but should be rejected as I have used a code, but often the retailers seem to miss this) as it were, so it could weight in at a smidge under £390, so only kind of £22 more than the TradeInn offering, if that was ever properly available - I do wonder if it might have gone through and then they would have been forced to cancel it.

Absolutely no offers over here on the official cases, the ones for the 1030 I picked up genuine Garmin items from Merlin for £8.50 each! These seem to be £17 across the board, so will bide my time, and or ask for one for christmas I think.

feelgoodlost

Team cycles are local to me and are spot on. Quite often find they sell stuff below RRP even without there being

A sale on. They seem to sell Rapha at below RRP as standard, which I don't quite understand