How old is your oldest kit?
Not necessarily cycling kit. I realised the other day that the Buffalo jacket I was wearing was around 26 years old. The salopettes (Mountain Equipment) and waterproof jacket (Patagonia) I'm reproofing (see other thread) are around about the same age. Obviously the garments don't get super heavy use but they've had plenty of hard days out. I have a Rohan windcheater that I bought in 1995 which has gone slightly 'crispy' and the elastic draw cords have degraded but it's still a perfectly good jacket.
I think it's worth bearing in mind that some kit you might be wary of shelling out on is likely to last you many many years if you look after it.
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I’ve got a club jacket I bought when I first joined in 1990 (haven’t tried it on since the late 90s and doubt it fits). I’ve also got the first proper wheelset I bought (again 1990) and my first proper new bike (653 framed Ribble) is hopefully in my friend’s shed somewhere. I leant him it a few years back so he could use some parts of it and it was just gathering dust, it was still in good working order at that time. I’ve also got a 30 odd year old frame tent in the loft, no idea what condition it’s in as I now have a much lighter tent. I should probably see if any local Scout groups can use it or get rid of it on Freecycle as it’s taking up lots of space I don’t have.
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Oh man those frame tents! I heaved one into the boot of a car a few months back. That was a freecycler in fact. Good way to get rid of things like that.
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Still have, and fit my old school rugby shirt from 1983/84. Use to wear it occassionally when coaching.
Son still wears a Sydney 2000 T-shirt that we bought in 1993 just after they won the bid. It's pretty holey now though!
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Cycling-wise, still got 2010 Endura FS260 jerseys which are almost like new, and even a pair of FS260 shorts from then (but they only get worn now in France as they are 'a little on the short side', but the material and pad haven't fallen apart at all).
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At 68 years old my main piece of kit that’s worth worrying about is 68 years old and is still working fine.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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I have some of those Endura bib tights but the pad is now flat as a pancake so I replaced them a couple of years ago.
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Cycling clothing: I've got a Gore Tool wind stopper jacket that saw daily commuting use through most winters since 2005. Still got a few years left in it although it could do with some reproofing.
Outdoor kit: an Ultimate Peapod tent that I borrowed from a school friend in the eighties. Some jakies came and took pot shots at us with an air gun after hours and I was kind of obliged to buy it. Thanks to the Chinese industrial revolution, I can now buy a new tent for less than it cost me to replace the Peapod. The ripstop nylon did its job though. My mate ended up having to beat the 1 inch dents out of the Trangia stove pans we borrowed that doubled as helmets.
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Cake is just weakness entering the body2 -
jungle knife, stiletto, m73 compass, bergen, even a buffalo windshirt, leica m6, leica bins, nikon f2as, breitling, all 30-50 years
my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny0 -
I still wear my prefect's tie from 1981 from time to time. Don't get any more respect now than I did then for wearing it. (I don't wear it while I'm cycling, BTW.)
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The base layer I’ll use to commute to work tomorrow is 25 years old.
Ive lots of old stuff, my camper is 57 years old and the awning is of the same era. I use old US cooler boxes in the van that are from the 1960’s.
2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner0 -
I’ve got 2 pairs of those shorts from around that time. I think of them as my new kit 😂 To be fair I’ve hardly cycled at all since 2017 and you probably do miles in a week than I’ve done since then.
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I think the oldest 'thing' I use regularly that was bought for me new was a mug with my name on, from Westward Ho! in about 1968. I got some very nice steel saucepans in my 20s that I think are the only things that people will want when I pop my clogs... they're still almost as good as new.
I've still got my Nora wellies that I used daily in the late 1990s in my previous life... the splendid thing about Noras is that the 'rubber' never perishes, so they are still good if I want to waddle into the Exe.
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My scout belt from 1984. Not exactly sport but still outdoor item.
Otherwise for sport my running vest from when I started running in school, 1986. Fits me today as good as it did the day I bought it.
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I have Rapha bibs that are at least 10 years old, although they are just for the turbo these days. This raises an interesting point though, is more expensive kit better quality and lasts longer? Having bought various bits of kit at all price points over the years, I would say that generally the higher end stuff like Assos, Rapha, Castelli etc. does seem to be more durable. I have found the mid price point stuff like Endura, DHB etc. is good kit but does seem to wear more quickly.
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Oh yes, a Scout belt from 1975. Good for opening beer bottles too.
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Had a pair of endura 3/4s which lasted me 13 years but eventually gave up the ghost.
Still wear a pair of spesh shoes which I bought in 2009 - black so for the rain.
Still use the same joe-blow track pump I bought in 2005, and the mini-pump I bought in 2009.
I still have a mercatone uno top my wife bought me for the first birthday I had when we were together in 2008. Still wear that one for shorter rides.
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To do a counter argument to the "if it's more expensive it lasts longer". I think that holds true to some extent for winter kit. I've got a first gen Castelli Alpha that must be coming up to 10 years old that I still wear frequently and have no doubt it will last another 10 more.
But I don't think it's true for summer kit, especially the ultra light stuff designed for hot conditions. You can get snags in the lycra just by looking at them. I tend to get more life out of mid range DHB that's made with basic, less breathable but more robust lycra.
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Yeah I think the style has changed too. Much tighter, hugging kit is never gonna last as long.
The rapha winter jersey I picked up in the 2014 summer is the best piece i've ever bought. Worn it every ride under 9 degrees ever since - hundreds and hundreds of rides. Aside from a bit of bobbling, it's as good as new.
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Interesting. My experience has been that it tends to hold true regardless of the intended season. I have two Rapha Pro Team jerseys for summer riding. Had four summer's of use, probably around 40,000km ridden across the 2 jerseys, and hundreds of washes and they are both like new, no colour fade or material wear. Same for other bits of lighter weight kit. I guess we all have slightly different experiences with our kit though.
With the amount of riding I do, and the number of times each bit of kit gets washed, I work on the basis that at least 3 years worth of use is good value to me.
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Not saying that more expensive stuff does not last longer, but I do not find 10yr particularly long. Cheap stuff easily last that long, plenty of examples....
Besides, I expect cycling jerseys to last forever. Unlike bib they rub against nothing, how do they possibly wear out?
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I recently gave my Assos wind block top to charity, it’s well over twenty years old but was getting rather saggy when you put anything in the pockets. I have a couple of 25 year old base layers and my ski gloves which occasionally get used on the bike are the same age.
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I don't like to wear 'nice' stuff to commute in, as in my mind my rucksack will cause premature wear. In reality, I've worn a Pearl Izumi track top that I bought second hand from eBay 10 yrs ago every day from autumn till spring and its absolutely fine :D
2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner0 -
2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner0
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10 years is a long time if you use it all the time, it's not if you're only using it a couple of times a year. Washing is the thing that kills any clothing but quite difficult to avoid needing to wash winter kit, especially when used on group rides where there is always at least one riders with too short / misaligned mudguard.
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Sweat and flexing wears out the lycra on cheaper bibshorts (DHB) - a couple of seasons and then you don't want to be wearing them in bright sunlight with someone behind you. I sometimes wonder if the lycra they use for chlorine-resistant swimming trunks might last longer.
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I think my oldest in regular use is my Javelin fibre pile jacket, bought when I was in Venture Scouts, so around 35 years old, still great.
VauDe rucsac bought in 1989 or 1990 is still good; as is the course rugby shirt I got at the start of my uni days, despite being my "working on stuff" top for many years now.
And when I restarted cycling a few years ago, I was pleased to find that I still fitted into my 20+ year old cycling tops with them being too embarrassing :)
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