When is enough enough?

Matthewfalle

Right

With the prices of cycle clothing going basically mad - £300 for a pair of shoes, £200 for a helmet, silly money for tops and shorts, at what point would you turn around and say “ nah, bugger that - that’s stupid money”?

Already gone past my limit I can tell you that much,

shortfall

The price of some bike related kit is stratospheric but I guess it's because people will pay it. I make do with whatever I see on offer at the usual suspects like Merlin and Planet X. I don't give 2 fvcks if it looks cool or has the right label on it and I find that "own brand" stuff like DHB is usually of reasonable quality. YMMV

imafatman

Tried on every shoe in the shop. The only ones that felt comfortable were the £380 Lakes. That was a painful day for the wallet but my feet have been comfortable ever since.

However I still ride with my £35 Decathlon Jersey, it's decent quality and good price.

Looking at the price of some of the clothing it's ridiculous. £180 for a fucking bib short. £120 for a jersey. fark that.

In general I'm happy to pay for stuff if the quality is there and it improves my comfort or riding.

slowmart

Just wait until the Autumn and buy sale stock.

If you look at any group set, set of wheels, cranks etc, this seasons is always lighter, stronger and more expensive than last years. Thats not to say last years products were made of cheese but its mainly marketing BS which drives sales from the bling tarts.

That said, value is subjective and if you feel good riding a blinged bike with associated kit that's cool as well.

Then again MF, it just could be the start of old age and the causal link to increased moaning linked with advancing years.

pblakeney

Buy spares when on sale and keep a stock of consumables (chains etc), winter clothes in spring, summer clothes in autumn and only what you need, or is a significant upgrade on sale.
Most cyclists have much more than they need but can't help themselves.

mercia_man

I’m a fine one to pontificate. I spent £7,000 on a custom Italian carbon frame, Campag Record groupset and Cycle Clinic Wheels, thanks to an unexpected six-figure inheritance. Plus I bought a camper van. I guess many forum members may have done the same if they had been in my situation.

But I certainly agree with MF. Prices for cycle clothing are now simply stupid. Middle aged men who would previously have bought fancy golf clubs are now getting into cycling and are happy to pay silly money for a bit of Chinese polyester with a zip.

Even though I am comfortably retired with cash in the bank, my personal limit is around £100 for a helmet, £120 for bib shorts, £60 for a jersey, £100 for a rain jacket and £200 for shoes.

awavey

but it depends though doesnt it, take jerseys if Im buying dhb then no Id not spend more than £70, probably wait for them to go on sale, etc etc, but if Rapha or a.n.other small volume good quality kit designer produces a jersey I really like the look of then yeah Im happy to pay £70, Ive paid £130 for a Rapha short sleeve jersey FFS

Rapha released their Womens 100 kit on Tuesday,already alot of the sizes are now sold out,I dont know that it will necessarily restock, so what do you do, you buy it or you miss out and then yes you buy the shorts to go with it to be all matchy matchy, but it will never be discounted.

StillGoing

Helmet and shoe prices are ridiculous. Clothing wise, if there's enough of you, its worth setting up a shop with one of the manufacturers for cheaper options of decent quality shorts, jerseys etc. Of course, you're reliant on others changing their kit when unfit rather than wearing it with their backside showing through the thinning materiel. Likewise, cheaper to buy club kit if its decent quality.

sungod

who are you and what have you done with mf?

sloppyschleckonds

Midlife crisis, enough is enough. Sell it all and buy a Porsche

cougie

When I started cycling in the 80s you could afford to buy a pro standard bike pretty easily. Custom Steel. Top groupset. Sorted.

Nowadays it's an awful lot more expensive and I can't justify it.

I've been around long enough to know a 12 grand bike isn't 6 times as fast or 6 times as fun as a 2 grand bike.

Decent kit is good but you don't need to go mad. I mean a lycra top is a lycra top. How you can get them to cost £150 I don't know.

I don't mind the prices of the top stuff. They're probably subsidising the kit i buy.

DavidJB

I just dress head to toe in DHB

Frank Wilson

DH Gate, China shopping. The stuff has not let me down and is for nothing.

Matthewfalle

sungod wrote:

who are you and what have you done with mf?

I sold him to Mad Kim in exchange for some prime beach front real estate. We're going to make a killing selling it onto Dotard when time is right and they aren't exploding cannons onto it.

MF wasn't too happy about moving to North Korea but we send him regular packages of organic courgettes and lightly soiled lab coats to keep him happy.

Camcycle1974

I just buy good quality kit from the likes of DHB and Lusso. Fair prices and good quality. I do have a Rapha Jersey and a Gabba but both were a lot cheaper than retail. No way I'm paying £130 for a lightweight Jersey!

MiddleRinger

It's only money, if you don't spend it on awesome cycling gear you'll only waste it on other boring stuff...

Vino'sGhost

The worst one is helmets, they don’t really work but we’re all so convinced they will, or they might that we go and blow loads more money.

I refused to buy another, I refused to buy gloves, my kit is largely decades old and seems to have shrunk. All except shorts, I pay for good shorts

StillGoing

Vino'sGhost wrote:

The worst one is helmets, they don’t really work but we’re all so convinced they will, or they might that we go and blow loads more money.

I refused to buy another, I refused to buy gloves, my kit is largely decades old and seems to have shrunk. All except shorts, I pay for good shorts

Well helmets do work don't they. Head protection is always going to be more protective than your unprotected cranium.

paulwood

For me always good quality bib shorts. Shoes that fit well regardless of the price and decent quality sunglasses if I can afford them.

Everything else comes from the budget end of the market

shortfall

philthy3 wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

The worst one is helmets, they don’t really work but we’re all so convinced they will, or they might that we go and blow loads more money.

I refused to buy another, I refused to buy gloves, my kit is largely decades old and seems to have shrunk. All except shorts, I pay for good shorts

Well helmets do work don't they. Head protection is always going to be more protective than your unprotected cranium.

Well let's not get into that one, but can anyone point to any independent credible research and testing that links improved head safety to increasing cost of helmets? Is a 300 quid helmet any safer than a 30 quid one and if so why? Anecdotal evidence isn't really useful here.

pblakeney

philthy3 wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

The worst one is helmets, they don’t really work but we’re all so convinced they will, or they might that we go and blow loads more money.

I refused to buy another, I refused to buy gloves, my kit is largely decades old and seems to have shrunk. All except shorts, I pay for good shorts

Well helmets do work don't they. Head protection is always going to be more protective than your unprotected cranium.

Do be careful not to choke on that hook.

StillGoing

PBlakeney wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

The worst one is helmets, they don’t really work but we’re all so convinced they will, or they might that we go and blow loads more money.

I refused to buy another, I refused to buy gloves, my kit is largely decades old and seems to have shrunk. All except shorts, I pay for good shorts

Well helmets do work don't they. Head protection is always going to be more protective than your unprotected cranium.

Do be careful not to choke on that hook.

Sometimes its hard

Shortfall wrote:

Well let's not get into that one, but can anyone point to any independent credible research and testing that links improved head safety to increasing cost of helmets? Is a 300 quid helmet any safer than a 30 quid one and if so why? Anecdotal evidence isn't really useful here.

To the point above though re cost of helmets and the level of protection they afford; I completely agree. A carbon fibre or kevlar motorcycle crash helmet can be bought for less than some cycle helmets these days. It certainly seems that the industry has cottoned on to cycling's increased participation and decided to cash in. Certain brands are being fairer than others.

First.Aspect

Surely the secret was out that all cycle helmets have to meet the same safety requirements? The additional cost pays for the same things loads of people happily waste money on for the bike. I don't see the distinction.

£300 for shoes isn't unreasonable*. I have a couple at that price level. One pair 15 years old. The other pair eventually will be. I have a couple of much cheaper pairs. Either less comfortable or less durable.

There's definitely a long "tail" at the upper end of clothing prices though. I can believe that a £200 pair of bibs are marginally better made than the £100 ones I wear, in some way that only someone in the industry could possibly notice. But more comfortable? That's pot luck. And will they last longer? Not if they buy in the same pads they won't. Similarly, if the base price for a sportwool jersey is £70, hard to justify spending £180 for one I would say.

I think that there are a lot of Rapha-like brands out there at the moment, the great majority of which will not survive all that long, due to flagrant "all the gear and no idea" pricing.



*but someone on here bought those £900 Mavics…. ha ha ha, no really, ha ha....and they aren't comfortable?... you are killing me....

surfercyclist

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Midlife crisis, enough is enough. Sell it all and buy a Porsche

Been there, done it got the (Porsche) t-shirt.

Tiesetrotter

What a relief, finally I can get my socks to match my gloves ............ my world was so incomplete before this

fenix

Are they school socks ?

Who buys grey socks of their own free will ?

Tiesetrotter

People with grey gloves ......... come on man keep with the times. We haven't reached enough yet.

defever

I thought Lidl / Aldi cycle products were expensive...

who is this Raphael guy?

DeVlaeminck

First off aren't those socks/mitts a shade of blue not grey ?

Mainly though it's nice to have some nice kit but unless money really is no object you can get perfectly functional stuff for reasonable prices. If I'm out for 90 minutes after work on my own I don't really need to be wearing the latest cycling fashion Italian branded aero kit with high tech materials - but it's nice to have some kit you desire rather than need too. Personally I've never spent more than about £100 on shoes, about £80 on a short sleeved jersey, £80 odd on shorts etc and I've had Assos, Castelli, Cippolini stuff for that which for me has looked good, been comfortable and functional.

Tashman

I think so far I've not spen more than £30 on any individual piece of kit.
Polaris on/off sales seem decent enough kit for my needs on top of the Lidl/Aldi bits I got going with. Shoes and helmet both bought on offer and I'm good to go. I really don't see the need for spending a fortune if I'm straggling behind or on a solo ride.

sloppyschleckonds

cougie wrote:

When I started cycling in the 80s you could afford to buy a pro standard bike pretty easily. Custom Steel. Top groupset. Sorted.

No, you couldn't