I really don’t know what has come over me this year, for the last 10+ years of riding I’ve been more than happy in cheapy crc sale tops and endura shorts, only replacing stuff when it actually wears through or gets covered in oil or blood. This year, I’ve become a roadie whippet and have spent a frankly obscene amount of money on kit. I’ve just sat down and worked out I could have actually bought a bike for the amount I’ve spent on jerseys, bibs, shoes, socks etc…

Is it just me? I’ve now got an entire chest of drawers for bloody cycling kit. And I’ve just bought another 2 jerseys because they look cool and are discounted down to normal (rather than silly) prices. Is this some sort of road affliction?

Is this some sort of road affliction?

Yes.. 🙂 I’ve just bought some of those Assos armwarmers, just in case…

Is this some sort of road affliction?

If I could afford it, I go online and order 1k’s worth of gear for mtb’ing right now.

I have some pretty expensive roadie winter kit but IME it’s worth every penny. Good quality bib tights, gore jacket and winter boots are worth spending the extra on. They make long cold wet days in the saddle a lot easier. I’ve had my MTB kit for donkeys but if I go for an all dayer on the bouncy bike I tend to use some of my road kit.

Life is too short for tiagra.
It’s easy to leave the house wearing nearly 1k of kit in the winter (sidi, assos, castelli,Le-col rapha etc) but it’s usually better performing kit than the bargain basement clothing like the Altura/lusso stuff I have binned because it seems to fall apart quickly or is just not up to the job.
There’s nothing worse than badly performing kit however cheap (though crap expensive kit is worse).
And if you ride regularly and all year round you need a fair bit of kit, I have 6 softshell’s but they all get used as they do different jobs and work at different temps/weather.

It’s only a bad thing if:
Your kids go hungry while you ride in £300 sidi’s
You buy it on the never-never.

As above, good quality kit makes a huge difference on the road. I bought a Castelli Sottile rain cape, that’s the transparent snug-fitting jacket, and I first used it on the London 100 shortened to 86 miles because of the American hurricane. I was amazed to find that despite the biblical rain I stayed dryish and comfortable, even when water was pouring over me like I was having a shower. It’s incredibly light, folds up small and is actually stretchy so it fits snugly and doesn’t flap in the wind.

Good kit on long rides, particularly in bad weather makes a big difference. Good kit needn’t be expensive.Expensive kit isn’t always good.

I needed a new set of gloves for a roadie week in majorca. In desperation spent £40 in a shop as I couldn’t find anything. Castelli ones. Amazing compared to the cheap ones I had been using. Saw them half price recently so I now have a glove supply to see me through the next few years.

I do tend to accumulate one make/model of kit in different colours when I find something really good.

Slight tangent: anyone know if/where Castelli bibs can be repaired? Thanks. 🙂

I only ever buy Assos shorts. They last for years and I find their pad all day comfortable.