Castelli Clothing

Brushiemma10w

Amongst the cycling gear I have, the most comfortable are without doubt Castelli. That quality doesn't come cheap, but trawling thru Ebay etc, I've seen some cheap bibshort/shirt combinations that look tempting, but some state they are 'Made in China'.
I thought Castelli was manufactured in Italy but do they subcontract their manufacturing out to China or are these dodgey copies?
Anyone bought Castelli from China and can comment on the quality?

thegreatdivide

Once made the mistake of buying a pair of 'Chinese' Rosso Corsa gloves. They definitely weren't made in the same factory as the real stuff. :-(

Regardless of this incident I personally think that Castelli have gone way down in quality (and styling) of late which is a shame because I used to love their kit, and as far as I'm aware it isn't made in Italy any more, although neither are half the brands on the market so that's not the problem.

If you like Castelli you should try Giordana's Body Clone stuff - it looks cool and it really is 'Made In Italy' ;-)

Monty Dog

They're fake - "buyer beware" Some previous posts have commented on them - I think "odd sizing / proportions" sums their experience.

Bobbinogs

I think the adage "buyer beware" applies to anything bought off ebay and stuff made in China doubly so. There was a thread a few months ago about buying team kit off ebay which was obviously snide but some argued that it was worth the money nontheless given that whilst it may be of an inferior quality to the original, the price meant the kit represented better VFM. I have no problem with this argument but it is not one that I ascribe to as I would rather buy the proper kit (albeit just the odd item) for several reasons. Then again, I can afford it so it is relatively easier for me to take the "moral high ground". If circumstances changed for me then my opinion might alter too.

Brushiemma10w

Thanks for the warning gents....guess i'll pass.
I suppose the old adage "you get what you pay for" stands true, as always.

Other gear I have is Altura, which is more reasonably priced, but a bit 'same old same old'. Any other reasonably priced brands you'd recommend?

meanredspider

Brushiemma10w wrote:

Any other reasonably priced brands you'd recommend?

ShuttVR seem to get good reviews on here generally for their stuff and, better still, it's made in the UK. I can't comment on the shorts but the top I have is nice. Think there's even a discount code floating around (TDF15?)

Brushiemma10w

meanredspider wrote:

Brushiemma10w wrote:

Any other reasonably priced brands you'd recommend?

ShuttVR seem to get good reviews on here generally for their stuff and, better still, it's made in the UK. I can't comment on the shorts but the top I have is nice. Think there's even a discount code floating around (TDF15?)

Gotta link?

Andrew N

I can second meanredspider's Shutt VR recommendation.

They're a great outfit and the jersey I have is very nicely made.

They are at http://www.shuttvr.com/

Velonutter

I have bought a number of items from Chinese sellers, it is comfy and reasonably well made, cheap enough to ride with all the time for club runs etc.

For sure not as good as the genuine article but at less than a 1/3 of the price I can't complain.