Best and worst cycling kit purchases

[BoysofMelody]

My best: wind proof packable jacket from Decathlon - £10 and has proved an absolute lifesaver on many an occasion. Plus a Belgian style cap I wear under my helmet in winter made by Madison.

Worst purchases: The pear of bib shorts I've just bought from Evans' own FWE range. Absolute bloody agony in the bum cheeks after 20 miles. I thought the pad looked slightly thin, but didn't realise how quickly it would start to hurt.

What's everyone else's best/worst kit purchases?

With the dhb halterneck ones, you don't need to reach under layers, you just pull the back of your shorts down - they really do work, though if you are tall they can pull a bit on your neck

Hmm, might be worth a try. After riding 600km at the weekend and suffering some chafing, all healed now, they might work well. I have a kit wish list to compile...

Worst: anything from Mavic. The proportions are so strange. I've got jerseys that fit fine around my ample chest but are SO tight around the arms that they go numb!
Also weirdly wide waistband with very wrinkly elastic that is really uncomfortable after a while

Best: Gore jacket. Rolls into a tiny ball to fit in a pocket but is so warm and waterproof when on. I had a crash while wearing it once and it completely saved me from road rash, with barely a scuff on it.
And my bento with a waterproof cover. It is genuinely waterproof. I've been caught out in horrific rain and my phone has been bone dry inside. Also so useful to have keys to hand on the commute. I'm always surprised when I see a commuter without one!

spare
It is not just their clothing/accessories Mavic seem to be having a problem with.

I've been halfheartedly thinking about changing the wheels on my bike and the Mavic Aksiums I was looking at seem to have gone from being incredibly well built and reliable, to being completely hit and miss, with quality control seeming to be the problem

Adding another to the list, Campagnolo. I've just had a clear out and I've thrown out a jersey I'd rather set fire to than wear again. The zip is terrible.

Phew Flavia, glad it is only a jersey. DH is having another new frame made by Mercian (fortunately he does not drink or smoke 😀) and has gone to great efforts to have Campy everything, even ordering bits and pieces from the US that he can't get here.

He is such a fan that even DD (11) has got their wheels 😂, as I said, any other vices and he would be out of here, or on here LTB.

My DH is also a Campagnolo fan, my bikes have Shimano and his commute bike is SRAM. Agree about the decrease in quality of Mavic products.

For those of you who like bib shorts but not undressing to go to the loo have a look at the Gore ones. Some of them have a zip across the back which is very handy. 😉

I've never understood the love for Campagnolo stuff. Every bike I've had in the past 30 years has had Shimano components (ranging from their really cheap stuff to the lower end of mid range) and everything has always worked faultlessly. I have Shimano Sora on my current bike and the shifting is precise and reliable and rapid. I can only imagine how good the expensive groupsets are.

I get that there's a heritage with Campagnolo stuff, but I can't see how it could be that much better that it justifies the extra cost and the difficulties with compatibility.

Sorry for any initial panic there Barchester

I've got microshift and sram on my road bike which I do prefer to the sora on my x bike. I think it's the shifters though, microshift are smaller and easier to manipulate.

, DH would have not been convinced anyway Flavia - he builds his bikes to his own vvvv exacting standards, and, believe it or not the latest addition was at my suggestion (slight bribe in the beginning) to get him to raise money for a charity I am involved with.

DS loves the campag on his new road bike (a v pretty e bay bargain Bottechia), but all our other bikes are Shimano

Barchester I've married my bike builder too! Exacting standards is not the half of it, he has shed full of Park tools, about three bike stands and a large tool box on wheels. He could set up as mechanic no problem.

I think it is the only way to get what you want , although, I did have have to learn myself. I quite fancied some new brakes, DH refused to swap them, so I thought I will show you! And I did, five days of bike maintenance followed by a wheel building course over the winter/spring.

I only signed up for two days but the people were so lovely I kept going back. Remembering that makes me wonder why I surprised him with the Mercian appt. You have to pay a substantial deposit just to join the frame building queue, six months before you get your first appt.

Quite a few of the Audax people over here have Mercians. I'm more a titanium kinda girl.

I admire you all for your dedication to the perfect bike, I reckon the dating scene for bike mechanics must be pretty good

I admire you all for your dedication to the perfect bike, I reckon the dating scene for bike mechanics must be pretty good grin

My wife would be out the door in a new York minute if a hunky framebuilder was on the scene. He'd just need to whisper Titanium frame and full Dura Ace in her ear and she'd be putty in his hands

Flavia, DH - retired test pilot, many transferable skills he could probably land a job in a bike shop if he wasn't 50. He had a mtm audax frame two years ago Long, the new one is pure folly.

BoysofMelody start taking a few bike courses here and there and before long you'll both be happier than ever

fabulous, enjoy him Barchester

Enjoy him , what the man who refused to change my brakes.

I went to my local council adult ed run courses. The first two were quite elementary and I could do most of the things already (which sort of surprised me as I leave everything to my resident mechanic).

I really enjoyed the advanced courses which covered gears, headsets and bottom brackets and then advanced servicing and wheel building. Really cheap at £45 per 6 hour day.

I had a disaster this morning, I was using a bungee to strap something to my rack and unbeknown to me another bungee fell through the spokes on my front wheel. I only wheeled my bike out of the barn - 5 yards - before I noticed that the bungee had wound round the outside edge of my hub absolutely mashing the cable coming from my new dynamo plug . It needs rewiring! The odds on something getting stuck in that particular location must be miniscule.

Fair point! Those courses sound really good. I detest changing bottom brackets. First time one of mine went, it stuck fast when I was half way round a longish cycle and I was stranded in a field with the world's grumpiest goat until a nice man in a van gave me a lift to a train station. I now pay a bit more attention to maintenance

Ach, that is so annoying!

I posted on another thread but can anyone recommend a packable women's lightweight waterproof? Sounds like not Decathlon!

My best ever jacket is from showers pass. Not cheap but lightweight, very breathable and very waterproof.

Oh dear, not sure I can afford that! I'm mainly a commuter and find my warmer jacket does for 9 months of the year in the rainy NW.

I know, I listened to DH waxing lyrical about his for two years before I took the plunge and then bought in the sale. It is fab though, I commute some days most weeks (in the north) and just layer underneath it in the colder months. I never get too hot and sweaty in it which was the object of replacing my old jacket as I don't have showers at work so have to use wipes if I get hot in my way in.