Beginner's Gear

Trinox

I am new to cycling and looking for gear (Helmet, clothes, shoes?) Not too expensive but not cheap. Thanks

nochekmate

Have you just sacked your butler and housekeeper?

There's a search facility on the forum & you may even push yourself to use Google.

antsmithmk

Wiggle--- DHB brand. Sorted

imposter2.0

Trinox wrote:

I am new to cycling and looking for gear (Helmet, clothes, shoes?) Not too expensive but not cheap. Thanks

Hi Trinox - Have you tried looking on the Internet?

fat daddy

if you don't have the internet, shops are quite good as well, you can go in , feel the clothes and try them on ..... they have prioces on them as well so can decide whats expensive and what isn't

supermurph09

Have you thought about Golf?

Bobbinogs

Don't worry Trinox, not everyone on here is in a Friday grump. There are some good suggestions above, as in looking at sites like BR's own gear review section and Road.cc has something similar. The best thing though is to define what your actual budget is and then work from there but a lot will come down to aesthetics and how much you want to spend...and only you can work that out. As stated above, DHB is a great start and don't overlook places like Aldi as they seem to come up trumps in a few areas. Failing that, use the search tool for specifics, like "helmet" but things like helmets have a very subjective fit so get yourself a few options and then head down to a local shop to try things on...and ride your bike :-)

Anonymous

Try Aldi or Lidl for cheap quality jerseys etc
Also consider going down to your local bike shop and trying on some kit

With regards to shorts I have found that you get what you pay for - the cheap ones don't always offer the best performance or comfort

As for helmets - ask yourself how much is your head worth ? You can pick up a good well known brand helmet for under £50

Good luck

imposter2.0

DALESMAN999 wrote:

As for helmets - ask yourself how much is your head worth ?

The graph for 'helmet retail price' versus 'protection offered' is not linear.

Anonymous

Point accepted. What I should have said is steer clear of cheap Chinese eBay "specials"
Or copies of well known brands There are some helmets on eBay which have been found not to comply with Eu safety requirements, they look good but are fakes.

I have a Lidl helmet purchased for £9.99 which comply with rules regs . Use it on my
MTB - and pleased with the product.

daniel_b

Welcome to the forum........

No idea what your price point is, as one persons cheap could be anothers expensive!

Assuming you have nothing to be starting with, I will pull a few off the top of my head.

Decathlon: If you have one near you, have a vast range of branded and own brand helmets, and also vast swathes of gear, shorts, tights, jackets, jerseys, socks etc etc

If you are after cheapy but decent gear, than Aldi and Lidl stuff is generally well regarded, BUT only on sale a couple of times each a year, and one of them had a cycle even in the past month, so maybe not ideal.
I have heard good things about TENN (Amazon) products, and also SPEG, but have no personal experience - looks like they sell through: http://www.cycle-clothing.co.uk/ or perhaps that is their own brand.

Other retailers who might well be worth a look, and a trawl of their sales:

Chainreactioncycles (Particularly good for shoes in my experience and if you spend over £99 and have BC membership you can enter a monthly code for 10% off)
Wiggle (Will price match a lot of places, and has the added benefit of free returns should it not fit)
Wheelies
Always Riding

(All 4 of them have, or at least had, best to double check) free returns, which is a complete boon when choosing clothes - at least until you know what size from what manufacturer fits you)

Ribble
Merlin
Evans (Free returns if you have a store you can walk into nearby)

Hope that helps,

Dan

jdee84

Daniel B wrote:

Welcome to the forum........


Decathlon: If you have one near you, have a vast range of branded and own brand helmets, and also vast swathes of gear, shorts, tights, jackets, jerseys, socks etc etc


I ve never spent very much on clothes i have plenty of decathlon stuff some of their higher priced but still reasonable bibs and have never had issues with any of it in rides from 1 hour up to over 6 hours so i d recommend their stuff.

Also got some sale altura bib shorts from merlin that have been excellent

fenix

DHB kit on Wiggle.
Planet X kit too.

Something like that.

tangled_metal

I like Tredz too, seem to do this cheaply and stock a decent range too.

Go outdoors has got into cycling now. If you have a big store near you it might have a decent stock of cycling kit. They price match with an extra 10% off. Makes for some good bargains. Take a smartphone and Google anything you like. Go to the checkout and show them the better price. They will sell you the same product (has to be same spec) 10% cheaper than the best you can find. I've got over 60% off some good cycling brands like moon lights.

I'm personally riding in ALDI jerseys and softshell jacket. I've also got back up lights from them, a Garmin GPS 25, base layers and skull caps from them too. I think I've got Lidl cycling shoes, certainly Lidl or ALDI cost £10.

I also use endura shorts, IIRC Humvee baggies. Still wearing them on my.commute but looking for cycling trousers or possibly tights to wear under them for when it eventually gets cold enough.

tenohfive

I've got about £70 worth of Tenn,Aldi own brand (Crane), Lidl own brand (Crivit) that I just don't use. Bought when I was starting to get into it but as soon as I upgraded to mid-range stuff (dhb ASV range, Endura, Gore, Galibier) I found it all stayed in the drawer. The only slight exception is some of the Decathlon stuff - I still wear some of their jerseys, and a pair of their bib shorts (there is apparently a big difference in the Decathlon range mind - my stuff is their budget range.)
And I do use some of the Aldi accessories (bike lights, gloves) daily. Fit (top half clothing) and comfort/pads (bottom half clothing) appear to be where the sacrifices are made with the likes of Tenn etc, rather than features.

I initially was reluctant to pay £50-60 for a pair of bib shorts but once I start upping the mileage and time in the saddle it almost became a necessity.

AnthonyCo

Have a look at Rogelli clothing. It's of Italian make, really good quality and they have a very sharply priced entrance range.

kj00

See also www.decathlon.co.uk