Best value for money clothing brand?

courtmed

I'm fairly new to road cycling but feel like I've been pushing the £20 Tenn outdoors bibs I bought to give it a go a bit too far lately(!!). the pad is starting to get a bit iffy after certain distances as well as some stitching that's beginning to fray. decided I'm happy to spend a fair bit more on my clothes than those bibs & my also £20 Planet X jersey when that needs replacing.

was curious to know if there's a particular brand any of you would recommend, probably somewhere in the middle, that are seen as the best value for money? I'd imagine there's a point of diminishing returns somewhere around maybe DHB or Lusso(?) where you begin paying a lot more for slight differences in weight or, dare I say, the logo

edit : also, first post, so hi!

effillo

Best vfm item I every purchased were some Lusso aero bibs, £26 in the sale, think they were only around £40 full price though. A great pair of bibs that get great reviews in a lot of places, not sure about the rest of their range but going off these I'd give some of their other kit a shot.

DAZZ_A

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Yes you will definitely notice better quality the more you spend, but there are some brands which provide great quality in return for a smaller outlay.

I ride in a lot of DHB gear, the ASV Roubaix bibs I have are the most comfy I have ever had and are middle of the road in terms of cost.

mct88

+1 for DHB gear, usually delivers bang for buck in and out of the wiggle sales!

apreading

DHB and Decathlon clothing are pretty much universally aclaimed as the best value.

Lusso good value too but cant quite match those unless in the sales.

daniel_b

IMO, you need to try and hit it lucky with the sales, and or try and by out of season - ie buy end of line bibtights and jackets now for the winter, and in the winter look for your summer kit.

Bargains that spring to mind that I have picked up were some Craft bibs reduced from £100 to £30, and some Gore bibshorts reduced from £50 to £9 at Halfords.

More pricey, but still I would have thought generally considered as a vfm garment especially when in a sale, are Castelli.
I nabbed a LS Gabba jersey for something like £70, an Alpha jersey for £80, and an Espresso 3 jacket for £88, Sorpasso Bibtights for £54 - not suggesting for a minute these are cheap prices, but they are quality technical clothing, and a comparitively small percentage of their original RRP, be that inflated or otherwise is up to you to decide.

lincolndave

DHB I have to agree with the above posts. For the price unbeatable in my eyes, wiggle offer a first class service and returns if you order the wrong sizes

daniel_b

Good call on Funkier, I have a couple of their jerseys, short and long sleeve, and they are excellent vfm, especially when grabbed in the sales!

I bought a couple of Stolen Goat LS jerseys earlier this year in the sale, and they are awesome, as well as being a bit different.

Galibier are also well worth a look, uk based company, free postage and in my experience exceptional vfm.

Lusso was mentioned above, last time I checked (I don'ave any of their kit by the way) Merlin had their top end, or one of their top end shorts in small reduced from £100 to £47 I think it was - with cashback on top of course.
I gather the sizing on Lusso is generous, or perhaps just more real world, so realised it would be too big for me.

If you are an online clothes shopper, then I heartily recommend CRC, Wiggle, Wheelies and Sigmasport, as they all do, or at least did, free returns.
And on the subject of free returns, Conquest cyclewear do them too, just their bibshorts didn't work for me.

mrb123

I think it's just a case of shopping around rather than looking at one particular brand. DHB stuff is good value if RRPS are compared, but it is often full price or listed with only a small discount.

There are always bargains to be had if you keep an eye open. Last weekend for example most of the big retailers were doing 20% off Castelli and Sportful.

This time of year is often a good time to find good deals as a lot of places seem to do special offers during Le Tour.

rickeverett

Yeah, dhb

Calpol

DHB for me

Anonymous

MrB123 wrote:

I think it's just a case of shopping around rather than looking at one particular brand. DHB stuff is good value if RRPS are compared, but it is often full price or listed with only a small discount.

There are always bargains to be had if you keep an eye open. Last weekend for example most of the big retailers were doing 20% off Castelli and Sportful.

^ What he said

The best VFM will be a very decent quality item at a good price, and not discount stuff.
You don't really want to be dressed head to toe in one brand anyway, do you?

People like DHB because it is cheap, easy to get, and you don't need to go in a shop.
My wife has some nice DHB bibs, but only because they are their top of the range ones.

Same goes for Louis Garneau, Its only their top stuff thats any good.

Endura make some v nice stuff IMO, but I would avoid Altura like the plague!
Always exceptions to the rule of course. Evans had their Transformer jersey heavily discounted (way overpriced at RRP) recently, and I rate that.

meesterbond

I guess everyone defines value for money differently...

Thinking about bib shorts, the best VFM ones I've got are a pair of Assos S5s I bought years ago... expensive at the time but still going strong, still my 'go to' shorts for anything over 2 or 3 hours and still the most comfortable shorts I own.

kingstongraham

For me, DHB great value for money for bib shorts, last year's stuff from the Castelli café for jerseys.

iPete

dhb but many others are as good if the timing/sale is right.

On the flip side my 4/5 year old Assos Mille shorts are in great condition and have outlasted many others.

Chris71127

Rivelo on sport pursuit very good vfm

cantaloupe

Sportful

made in China and cheap as chips.

dombo6

Assos. Very well made and if they get damaged you can send them back for repairs.

step83

DHB is always good, some of the bits from PlanetX are good ive a jacket from there that's great. It is a case of timing the sales though with most stuff ive lucked out a few times but most of the offers are for stuff in odd sizes by the time I get to them.

jimnm

I picked up a couple of pairs of Limar nicks in Oz (cycling Shorts) they are really good value. I like Altura though.

the_cyclist_of_catan

In addition to DHB, I'm rather fond of my Torm jerseys.

akastana

cantaloupe wrote:

Sportful

made in China and cheap as chips.

only a couple of their rain jackets are made in china (plastic type ones) most stuff is EU.

crescent

Endura for me. I have several items of Endura clothing and don't remember hvaving to throw any of it out - great quality, mid range prices and excellent longevity. Gore also tick most of these boxes, in my experience.
Not a huge fan of Castelli, which I know is sacrilege to some cyclists. I find the quality questionable, the sizing mind boggling and the longevity quite poor when compared with others. It looks good though and I do own a few bits and pieces but not my first choice.

kingrollo

Funkier

kingrollo

Funkier

webboo

kingrollo wrote:

Funkier

I have a Funkier gillet which is fine but I also have a s/s jersey on which the zip started come off at the bottom after a couple of months.
I have Assos jerseys that are over ten years old and still going strong.

stu-bim

big fan of Pearl Izumi stuff and always something on sale on freewheel.co.uk

andyh01

I was looking for something similar

DHB (Wiggle in house brand) used to be better value, they've along with some others have gone for the more "premium" eg FNB bibs now start at approx £50-£80. Not to.mention now charge for returns u believe.

In the end, I went for FDX race day bibs £20 off eBay seem.ok for a couple hours training rides, only had them a month or so but so far seem.good vfm

pippi_langsamer-2

Assos, hands-down.

Sure, initial outlay is higher than others, but as hinted above, and experienced myself....best value for money doesn't necessarily mean cheap.

I've had various Assos items that were over 10 years old and looked almost as new as the day I bought them. Only sold as I wasn't using them anymore due to being given kit annually.

If you work out VFM on the basis of that and £/month, then Im sure Assos would far out-do any of your DHB/Funkier etc stuff.

bigmat

Pippi Langsamer wrote:

Assos, hands-down.

Sure, initial outlay is higher than others, but as hinted above, and experienced myself....best value for money doesn't necessarily mean cheap.

I've had various Assos items that were over 10 years old and looked almost as new as the day I bought them. Only sold as I wasn't using them anymore due to being given kit annually.

If you work out VFM on the basis of that and £/month, then Im sure Assos would far out-do any of your DHB/Funkier etc stuff.

My Assos shorts went see-through on the arse. Only pair of shorts I've owned that have done that. Same thing happened to my mate, and I have had the unpleasant experience of seeing it with a lot of other Assos wearers too. So I'm not sure I agree re their durability. Very comfy shorts though, still have them for the turbo.

trek_dan

AndyH01 wrote:

In the end, I went for FDX race day bibs £20 off eBay seem.ok for a couple hours training rides, only had them a month or so but so far seem.good vfm

Bought a pair of FDX leggings last winter just as cheapies to use for commuting and they are actually very good, easily equivalent in quality to entry level DHB or Endura etc