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I'm trying to find some 'technical' (i.e. wicking, poly) clothing to wear on holiday while backpacking. Don't want to take anything cotton-based as it'll take ages to dry, so bike-specific clothing seemed ideal.
Any recommendations? I'm trying to avoid the DH jersey look with huge logos splashed everywhere. Dakine has some nice female jerseys - sadly that's not going to work for me - but all the men's jerseys are loud and horrendous.
Am I on a hiding to nothing with cycling kit? Where else should I look? I had a look in Rohan the other week but all their clothes were beige and tedious - I need some colour!
you pay a premium for 'cycling' specific technical garments
walking and skiing probably worth a look, tho walking tends to be less colourful as you have found with rohan.
EDIT: £125 for a howies hoody GTF
Have look in lidls - my local has a load of sking and jogging stuff still at the moment
I have to say tho I don't bother when backpacking - and I have done loads in different places. cotton t shirts are nice and comfy and don't pong. an airflow rucsack is a help
Another offering:
Go into M&S and look at thier technical T-shirts in thermal or marino or thermal/cotton mix.
Bahargin price £19.50 for pack of two..
They do undies and leggings too..
I tend to use the thermal all year round, wash until they fall off you then buy more.
Millets or TK maxx. I wouldn't go for cycling stuff. In fact I agree with TJ, for backpacking anything will do. Its quite nice to pick up cheap T shirts as you go along or give some away to the people you meet. Don't take anything you are too precious about.
Looked at Patagonia stuff ?
Do you have a Decathlon sports dtore near you? They have some pretty cool technical clothing. Quite reasonably priced too.
Craghoppers stuff is generally decent, and they normally have sales on (plus lots of it ends up in TKMaxx as well). Dries quickly and neat little features like loops for hanging it up.
Worth looking for bamboo stuff (I got mine from spokeshirts but they don't do them any more), I pretty much lived in mine when I was travelling for 4 months. Can wear for days, and again they dry quickly, better than merino in that regard.
That's most of my wardrobe. Just go to any nice outdoor shop. Most stuff that's aimed at the climbing or 'travel' market looks understated and stylish I reckon - they are usually big into earth colours.
Snow and Rock or Ellis Brigham, that kind of place. Although they are fairly pricey new, you can get some good stuff in the sales. Most of my newer stuff though is from REI in the US, which I love to bits 🙂
M&S Merino t-shirts are ace. I have one (albeit dog-chewed) and it's great for wearing in the summer, or under something else in the winter.
Also, I swear by Icebreaker merino boxers. I have three pairs. I love them.
I spent three weeks essentially backpacking around Peru in three merino tshirts from Decathlon. Light, comfy, pack small, dry quick, don't smell after a few days wear (unlike manmade stuff), reasonably cheap. Oh, I had a long sleeve one too for chilly nights.
Get down TK Maxx and get rummaging!
Decathlon, their standard technical t-shirts are about £5 each, merino ones not huge amounts more. All in plain colours and lots of sizes.
Decathlon or Berghaus.