cheap merino wool base layers

brucebanner

any recommendation for fairly cheap merino wool base layers? short and long sleeve, please.

fluff.

http://swrve.co.uk/baselayers.html ?

Endura do cheapish ones, also Ibex.

daviesee

Don't know if they are still available but there was a post a couple of weeks ago about Aldi's or Lidl's doing them cheap.
Good luck.

Thouroughly recommend merino base layers :P

orbeaorca

daviesee wrote:

Don't know if they are still available but there was a post a couple of weeks ago about Aldi's or Lidl's doing them cheap.
Good luck.

Thouroughly recommend merino base layers :P

They do merino tops but they are only 30% merino wool for something like 15 quid.
Rapha 100% merino base layer is 50 quid so its not really a good deal

softlad

not much merino in the Aldi ones - 30% I think....which is why they're so cheap. Given that you can buy a 100% merino base layer from Howies or Rapha for around £40-50, the Aldi ones at £15 actually represent pretty poor value...

edit - mr orbea got there first...

fluff.

Aldi ones ain't a base layer, they're a long sleeved outer jersey. Rapha will sell you their version of this sort of top for about 100 quid, not 50.

softlad

baselayer or jersey - still ain't worth buying it for the merino content...

priory

I have a bag full of Smedley thin pullies in various states of degeneration wich are brilliant. They can be found on ebay and twice a year at lea mills near Matlock they have a bucket sale where you can get a handful of seconds for about 10gbp each.
Makes a nice day out on the bike as well.

fluff.

softlad wrote:

baselayer or jersey - still ain't worth buying it for the merino content...

At 15 notes, I don't think people would be buying it for the merino content anyway, by that reckoning you should get some 100% merino socks for a tenner instead, might be tricky using them as a base layer but still. Anyway, wandering off topic here.

father_jack

softlad wrote:

baselayer or jersey - still ain't worth buying it for the merino content...

:roll:
It's £15. You pay the difference for a 100% merino top, and I'll have it. Bet you're the type who wouldn't buy 99.999% OFC speaker cable, rather paying £200 for some 99.999999% OFC instead.

daviesee

orbeaorca wrote:

daviesee wrote:

Don't know if they are still available but there was a post a couple of weeks ago about Aldi's or Lidl's doing them cheap.
Good luck.

Thouroughly recommend merino base layers :P

They do merino tops but they are only 30% merino wool for something like 15 quid.
Rapha 100% merino base layer is 50 quid so its not really a good deal

I missed the fact that they are jerseys, not base layers, and only 30%. Oh well.....

Rapha have a 3 for 2 deal on just now. That's how I got mine a couple of years ago.
Still expensive but better value for money. Brings them down to Endura prices.

morstar

All this 30% stuff is a bit one dimensional isn't it. My lycra isn't 100% lycra. Ffs, blended fabrics are in evidence all over the place.
No a 30% merino wool garment is not the same as a 100% merino wool garment. I think the wink from the first poster to point out the difference shows the comment was tongue in cheek but the argument appears to be gathering momentum.
Before we know it, crowds of angry Rapha bedecked cyclists will be burning 30% merino wool tops in Aldi car parks.

jairaj

I think Endura Baa Baa are the chea2pest I've found about £30-35 depends if you get short sleeve or long sleeve. They also do proper jerseys too for a bit more.

Mine are well made and soft to the touch. I have a few that are getting on for 1 year old and are still holding up fine.

snailracer

If they called them "merino composite fibre", I bet they'd sell like hot cakes.

rdt

morstar wrote:

Before we know it, crowds of angry Rapha bedecked cyclists will be burning 30% merino wool tops in Aldi car parks.

Yeh, and they'll set fire to them using these exquisite £65 Zippo lighters, which sport a discrete engraved "Paul Smith" logo...



They'll be a happy bunch, too, congratulating each other on the "good value" their lighters seemingly represent, in comparison to the £270 "Sex in the City" Birdie Blossom cushions bought by their wives...
http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/shop/paul-sm ... oduct.html


...and the £1500 Stelton "Statement" Bar set they themselves fell for only the week before...
http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/shop/paul-sm ... oduct.html

...although to be fair, the latter does feature the surprising innovation of a collection of statements by the British designer himself, engraved into the black surface to reveal their message in steel. Paul Smith asks us to consider thoughts such as "Take pleasure seriously" and "Start something new" as we enjoy our drinks. Will do, Paul.

If only the bar set was finished in a special carbon fibre surface, not "yesteryear's" titanium alloy, I might be interested myself.

eh

+1 Embers. I've got a base layer and pair of socks and they are great items.

Can't see the point of only 30% Merino , since at such a low level of wool you aren't really getting any of the benefits from it.

morstar

eh wrote:

Can't see the point of only 30% Merino , since at such a low level of wool you aren't really getting any of the benefits from it.

The point of blending fabrics in performance clothing is to attain a positive mix of properties.
A 100% merino wool garment will be a very good garment but not very compatible with modern care techniques for sports clothing. A 30% garment will be easier to wash and treat in a more consistent manner and will offer a different fit and feel dependent on what it is blended with.
Walking socks are a great place to see evidence of all types of fabrics working together to combine warmth, comfort, durability and easy care.
I'm confused by this thread.

rick_chasey

rdt wrote:

morstar wrote:

Before we know it, crowds of angry Rapha bedecked cyclists will be burning 30% merino wool tops in Aldi car parks.

Yeh, and they'll set fire to them using these exquisite £65 Zippo lighters, which sport a discrete engraved "Paul Smith" logo...



They'll be a happy bunch, too, congratulating each other on the "good value" their lighters seemingly represent, in comparison to the £270 "Sex in the City" Birdie Blossom cushions bought by their wives...
http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/shop/paul-sm ... oduct.html


...and the £1500 Stelton "Statement" Bar set they themselves fell for only the week before...
http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/shop/paul-sm ... oduct.html

...although to be fair, the latter does feature the surprising innovation of a collection of statements by the British designer himself, engraved into the black surface to reveal their message in steel. Paul Smith asks us to consider thoughts such as "Take pleasure seriously" and "Start something new" as we enjoy our drinks. Will do, Paul.

If only the bar set was finished in a special carbon fibre surface, not "yesteryear's" titanium alloy, I might be interested myself.

Pffft. Paul Smith have made, and do make, some really nice clothes. People should be glad that cycling, road cycling, is now cool enough that an excellent brand such as Paul Smith is is putting effort into cycling based products.

Sure, most people can't afford Paul Smith, let alone Paul Smith cycling attire, which comes with the double price tag of expensive performance wear combined with expensive styling. Don't hate it though! it smacks of wallet jealousy, which is not cool.

softlad

Father Jack wrote:

softlad wrote:

baselayer or jersey - still ain't worth buying it for the merino content...

:roll:
It's £15. You pay the difference for a 100% merino top, and I'll have it. Bet you're the type who wouldn't buy 99.999% OFC speaker cable, rather paying £200 for some 99.999999% OFC instead.

I don't even know what you're talking about.....I doubt if you do either.....

father_jack

Sounds like snobbery...ooh it's not 100% so must be terrible. As morstar pointed out mixes can be superior to those of 100%. Why do you think man made fabric/mixes were made?

softlad

fluff. wrote:

At 15 notes, I don't think people would be buying it for the merino content anyway,

I had a look at them in Aldi earlier today - they are being sold as 'merino' jerseys, so I expect that's exactly why people will be buying them....

anyway, never mind....

rdt

Rick Chasey wrote:

Sure, most people can't afford Paul Smith, let alone Paul Smith cycling attire, which comes with the double price tag of expensive performance wear combined with expensive styling. Don't hate it though! it smacks of wallet jealousy, which is not cool.

For sure, mocking the buyers of hilariously priced products is the sorry preserve of bitter penniless wasters.

Now, in fairness to Paul Smith, I've just had a poke around within my walk-in man-bag closet, and noticed I still have a Paul Smith example bought perhaps 15 years ago, and which remarkably shows virtually no signs of wear, outliving various other lesser metro man-bags I've owned. It's had some stick too, in its day, ferrying maybe several hundred 'shops' back from Netto and Farm Foods.

Stone Glider

We have these discussions at regular intervals where some declare something to be "rubbish" because it is either not the correct brand or pitched at a price point below that spent by the "rubbisher". Relax, you don't have to buy it, the buyer will be able to form their own opinion soon enough.

Brand snobbery is a marketting tool which plays on insecurities to establish in the buyer's mind that the extra money is well spent. Hence the hoopla when others suggest that an alternative is just as suitable and cheaper. Be happy with your purchase, let others be content with theirs.

priory

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JOHN-SMEDLEY-mens ... 5d2afa24fc

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=john+smedley

There are a lot available on ebay, 100% merino of the best quality

morstar

Stone Glider wrote:

We have these discussions at regular intervals where some declare something to be "rubbish" because it is either not the correct brand or pitched at a price point below that spent by the "rubbisher". Relax, you don't have to buy it, the buyer will be able to form their own opinion soon enough.

Brand snobbery is a marketting tool which plays on insecurities to establish in the buyer's mind that the extra money is well spent. Hence the hoopla when others suggest that an alternative is just as suitable and cheaper. Be happy with your purchase, let others be content with theirs.

I think you've tapped into the root cause of much discussion here but that is not the whole issue. My point is this assumption that the garment is inferior because it is 30% is nonsense. It may well be inferior to another brands 30% top but being 30% itself does not make it inferior to a 100% merino wool garment. It makes it different.
I spent years buying and selling high perfomance outdoor gear. Synthetic ruled. Forget the stink and less comfortable feel. All of a sudden natural fabrics come back into fashion. There are loads of great natural and synthetic fabrics out there making both good and bad garments.
My question would be to a customer who came into a shop saying they had to have 100% merino wool, ”why, what properties are you looking for?" frequently their perceived need is very different to their actual needs. Why is 100% better than 30%?

fluff.

Of course Rapha will happily flog you a Sportwool™ jersey, 40 % wool? Must be rubbish! I'm going to sew together a jersey from 100% merino socks instead.

softlad

blimey - there's a lot of chips on a lot of shoulders here.....

Just because someone has the audacity to suggest that a £15 / 30% merino top from Aldi might not actually be as good a purchase as everyone thinks, all of a sudden there are accusations of 'brand snobbery' flying around.

Aldi is just tapping into the psyche of the 'must have merino' brigade. At the end of the day, their 'merino' cycling top is just a 70% polyester knitted jumper with a zip-up neck. It doesn't even have any pockets on it. I'm actually suprised they're allowed to refer to it as merino, given that it contains less than one-third of the stuff...

Stone Glider

Like wot I said. Relax, no one is attacking you, "brand snobbery" is entirely a figment of your imagination. If the casquette don't fit, you don't have to wear it

fluff.

I think they are tapping into the cheap jumper brigade.

Rapha dont call their 125 quid shirts Sportpolyester, with added wool either.

brucebanner

I ended up getting the Icebreaker Oasis Crewe Base Layer. Very nice, and doesn't stink. I'll probably get an Endura (short sleeve), to compare it against my current one, or Icebreaker Atlas Short Sleeved Crewe Base layer. Does someone who has both care to comment?

How does a wool base layer get in the summer? If it's the same as the traditional base layers. I don't think I'll get an Helly Hansen-style base layer ever again.

P.S. I'll be start a blog to review some of the cycling stuff I've bought.

nickwill

100% merino sags when wet, and your pockets will be round your ankles. I on't know about the Aldi garments, but the best garments like Shutt and Rapha use Sportswool which has a merino inner layer with a man made outer face. The merino face wicks away the moisture and regulates the temperature while the man made outer section retains shape etc. This makes use of the best aspects of both types of material and IMHO is far superior to pure merino for a jersey. For a base layer, there is little to beat pure merino.