…anyone got any experience?

There seem to be loads on Instagram etc and in many cases it’s hard to guess what the quality is like.

Some seem likely to be decent, others are offshore companies shipping direct from China (no thanks), others seem to base their range on ripping off Rapha stripes, others just seem to have far too many designs (I assume the same as I do for restaurants with massive menus: all quantity and no quality).

But I’m struggling to find kit from the usual suspects where I like both the aesthetics and price (and everywhere hasn’t run out of stock), so…

Torm are pretty decent for jerseys.

Sigma is my go to place for clothing nowadays. Plain kit without logos or anything garish all over it.

Some seem likely to be decent, others are offshore companies shipping direct from China (no thanks)

You say that, but I accidentally ordered from one of those companies (i.e. saw a top I liked at a price I liked, ordered, then realised it took 30 days to deliver!). Anyway, the quality is good, the material is nice, the design is to my liking and the price was good (£30 iirc).

Think they sold under the Norfolk Cycling brand but the top says ‘Racjammer’ on it.

The only “new” brand I’ve tried recently is Rivelo. It appeared on SportPursuit and a couple of friends bought bib-knickers. They seemed happy enough, so I took the plunge too. Can’t fault them really. Pad is comfy (though that’s very much a personal thing), quality looks fine, stitching is all neat.

New Arrivals

These guys are local to Newcastle. Got a few friends who ride in the stuff (including the models). It looks quite nice but not idea on longevity.

Pactimo are quite a well known brand these days but I have shorts and a Jersey by them an it is really nice.

Really like the look of Torm’s range. Small brand, heard good things about the clothing and will be where I get my next long sleeve from when my current couple eventually fall apart. Not a big fan of the fast-fashion, ‘this season’s look’ approach from some brands tbh.

Torm are hardly a new brand though are they? Also started their lives as a Rapha rip off? Didn’t they have to adjust a design or two a few years back?

Some seem likely to be decent, others are offshore companies shipping direct from China (no thanks), others seem to base their range on ripping off Rapha stripes, others just seem to have far too many designs (I assume the same as I do for restaurants with massive menus: all quantity and no quality).

I’m not sure how it translates to bike clothing, but my experience of outdoor stuff is that you can get 70-80% of the way there by speccing the right fabric and getting the cut approximately in the ball-park, but what you can miss out on is the top 20% of refinement, getting the little details right, not beta-testing on your customers.

Something like Sport Pursuit’s own-brand, which is called ‘Fjern’ for example, uses decent fabrics like eVent and is great value, but the cut isn’t quite as nice as, say, Mountain Equipment or Arc’teryx. Pockets aren’t quite in the right place. Drawcords haven’t been specced not to catch on racked gear. Things like fasteners and zips aren’t as well specced. Even with start-up premium brands like, say, Jottnar, some of the initial pattern cutting was off so the fit was weird.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with Chinese-manufactured clothing – Chinese-designed clothing is slightly different. The factories out there have top-end machinery and years of experience making technical clothing for premium brands.

I guess what I’m saying, in an extrapolation from a parallel technical clothing universe, is that there’s no reason why a smaller, lesser known brand shouldn’t make perfectly functional clothing, but you may not get the refinement you’d expect from a Castei or Rapha. That’s not always 100% true, if you have a good designer, choose the right factory and know what you’re about, you may hit the bulls-eye from the off, but it’s often a learning experience.

The metaphysics of technical clothing eh… you can kind of tell I’m bored. And sofa bound.

Morvelo looks to have stock based on a cursory whisk through their website btw.

I have to say, being new to actual proper road kit, the cheaper stuff is very tempting. I have no idea how the big brands have created a culture of it being OK to charge £120 for a jersey, but chapeau to their marketing department.

I have no idea how the big brands have created a culture of it being OK to charge £120 for a jersey

Fit. Pretty much what BadlyWiredDog said.

My Goretex Shakedry Stretch jacket is pretty much the most expensive item of clothing I will ever buy. Whilst it just happens to outperform every rain jacket I’ve worn to date, the thing I’m most pleased with is the fit, I can stretch out on the bike and yet the jacket still covers most of my arse AND the cuffs still stay right down over my wrists. A previous jacket would have ridden up exposing the base of my jersey and probably also the cuffs of my gloves.

Same for other items, my Aussie Grit gilet is much longer than my old Bontrager gilet, meaning again, no unsightly back pockets bulging out underneath the hem etc.

Seems odd that cheaper brands can’t copy this, perhaps there’s just a diminished market for things that actually fit in a proper road bike position?

Torm are hardly a new brand though are they?

No, they’re not new, was more in response to

But I’m struggling to find kit from the usual suspects where I like both the aesthetics and price (and everywhere hasn’t run out of stock), so…

thought it worth a punt out there as I didn’t think they’re that well known. Could be wrong.

Also started their lives as a Rapha rip off? Didn’t they have to adjust a design or two a few years back?

I like that they don’t change the designs that much, simple classic stuff. Rapha started out repackaging classic road team jersey styling, they were hardly original themselves there. They just did it very well. I’d say horizontal bands on a top are more of general cycling culture thing. There is one Torm top that is a 100% Rapha colour combo but it also has the reflective on the right side for UK riding.

Thanks all. I’d forgotten Torm. The pockets are impressive if nothing else 😀 Mentioning brands is good: there are some I forget*, especially as road kit lasts so long that you don’t need to buy it that often.

What I’m after is a summer jersey which is predominantly white (and white, not “slightly cream”) but preferably with some sort of geometric/abstract pattern, and a visually compatible bib short (black with some white detail). Was hoping to get both for around £100 with some careful bargain hunting; I don’t want to spend loads because I wear 3/4s for 95% of the time and I agree £120 for a “basic” jersey is unnecessary.

The DHB Aeron short ticks the boxes but my reason for buying is that I have an older version of the same short and after a few minutes of pedalling it sends Jimmy and The Twins down between my leg and the saddle, which isn’t ideal 😐

And yes, fit is key: I like my Castelli GPMs in XL and my orginal Ride Journal Morvélo top in XXL, but I know there are some brands which come up short in the body/back. (My main objection to the direct-from-China outfits—pun not intended—is the likelihood of faff if stuff doesn’t fit; I realise a lot of decent clothing is made in the far east.)

* I think so far I’ve checked out Castelli, Rapha, Northwave, Santini, De Marchi, Alé, Morvélo, Torm, La Passione, Cafe du Cycliste, Sigr, Cinelli, Prendas, DHB, Assos, Stolen Goat, Shutt VR, Chapeau, Sportful, Craft and a few more besides… There are a few possibles in there, though nothing that’s really jumped out at me (I think deep down I just want the old Cinelli Caleido kit…)

Yep, my FB feed is full of ads for random bike clothing companies I’ve never heard of. Most is pretty garish, the odd one looks ok.

and a few more besides…

Once you got a pattern or colour in mind, then looking through a million brand catalogues can be a thankless task…

Also started their lives as a Rapha rip off? Didn’t they have to adjust a design or two a few years back?

A lot of new clothing companies did exactly the same. Lots of “ooh, Rapha are cool, we’ll make some stuff like they do”.

The most epic fail was a company called Limitless Performance who managed to publish a quite spectacularly sexist video advert to market their generic “looks a bit like Rapha” jersey and who got massively panned for it. They quietly shit down a few months later.

@Bez : have you tried Endura and Specialized? They both have decent jersey ranges at reasonable prices.

Geometric abstract, <£100

https://www.polaris-bikewear.co.uk/Polaris-Geo-Road-Bundle-p/pol01-6345-bun.htm

A lot of new clothing companies did exactly the same

Oh, fo’shure, I’m very much stretching my memory, but I’m pretty sure Rapha had a word with Torm in the legal sense for producing damn near identical kit, and that Torm had to bin a bunch of jerseys and come up with an obviously much more different design. Given that even now, from a distance they’re almost indistinguishable, you can imagine what Torm must have looked like before

I ordered a couple of tops from Breakaway Apparel recently who I saw on Instagram.

Completely unbeknown to me at the time, it was cheap Chinese stuff. The Breakaway site looks to be a UK based shop but in reality it’s a just a front end for some cheap Chinese stuff that comes directly from there. I expected it to be made there but the order actually came directly from China, which meant it took about 6 weeks to arrive. The quality isn’t great, but at £25 a top, it’s not horrendous. The fit is ok but the material is very thin and lightweight, however they were marketed as “summer” tops. Wore them a fair bit and they’re comfy enough. Not enough to get an idea on longevity.

It’s nowhere near a patch on my Morvelo stuff

I’m a big Rapha fan but recently thought I’d look at cheaper alternatives. La Passione, Le Col, Black Sheep, Pactimo and even “MAAP” from an Ali Baba store.
I’ve never really gotten on with Casteli, just a personal preference. Where I ride Rapha was hardly seen, but the last three or four years everyone is wearing it.
Wife just bought me a pair of Rapha shoes for Fathers Day. They look very nice to be honest. Not tried them yet.
Rapha Pro Team fits me very well. Snug in the arms and a nice length. Bibs are a tad long but that’s really me liking the Sean Kelly look of old.
Anyway, as much as I keep trying other makes, I keep going back to Rapha. La Passione good for the money, but just not quite the same level of fit as Rapha. Wide at the neck, slightly baggy waist.
The Chinese MAAP kit is fine for what it is, paid about £35 for shirt and bibs. Used indoors only, but seem decent enough. Materials are definitely lesser quality, Rapha and Le Col are very much smooth / silky, very good arm grippers, the fake MAAP top is supposed to be the same material but it’s not, also a lot looser in the arm. The bib shorts are comfortable enough, but strangely they have white stitching that is fairly visible.

Given that even now, from a distance they’re almost indistinguishable,

I can see the passing off argument whether or not the basic design is original to anyone – the stripe proportions etc. I wonder if it’s the single arm band that Rapha had a claim on.

Forget all these new entrants, go to prendas for good quality kit actually made in Italy (or Spain) or Lusso if you’re on a budget (made in Radcliffe !)

Yep Lusso stuff is great – especially the shorts.

And my friend runs this company – all printed and made in Italy at a firm in his home town (he designs it but now does it remotely from Oregon).

https://biciclista.eu/

I keep seeing ads for this lot: https://komraid.com

One of the few whose designs (some of) I might consider….

I think Rivelo is an in house brand of Sport Pursuit’s

I used Rivelo winter bib tights this winter and they were pretty decent.

the top says ‘Racjammer’ on it.

does it say that on the outside of the jersey? If it does, I want one.

im a complete 7mesh convert. The cut/drape/fit, call it what you will is superb. The designers have good form in the outdoor and exercise clothing markets.

It’s not cheap (but most of my purchased are made in the sale) but as was said above, it’s all about the final 20%. The compound jersey is fantastic, but it isn’t a road jersey

* I think so far I’ve checked out…

I’m a big fan of Lusso (already mentioned) and Galibier.cc are also very reasonably priced good quality too for road stuff.

does it say that on the outside of the jersey? If it does, I want one.

Sorry, freudian slip, it’s actually Racmmer, which if you squint is barely any better!

That said, I googled it, brought up a link for quirkyjerseys.com

I think it’s the same people, £30-£40 per top, lots of goofy designs but some of the geometric stuff and retro stuff is probably worth a punt for the money, the quality of mine seems great apart from the pull tab breaking on the zip (still useable, just a tiny bit fiddly).

I’m a little disappointed

Sorry, freudian slip, it’s actually Racmmer, which if you squint is barely any better!

Some of the direct from China stuff is total crap but also some of the kit from anywhere can be the same as most of it is made in China anyway.
My road kit is all Monton http://www.montonsports.co.uk and my MTB team kit is Primal which i think is made in the US both make really good quality kit.

None really “new” but

I have a couple of pactimo tops – really nice IMO

shorts – sportful currently. I was a castelli wearer ’til I tried some sportful and realised that the bottom of the leg on castelli was a tad too tight for me (there’s a sort of seam just above the gripper that I hadn’t really noticed until it wasn’t there one day. Pads are nice though, as are the posh sportful ones).

My road-boy club uses Kalas. I only have a race jersey but it’s pretty nice – thin, mind but a good long fir

@mick_r biciclista? I’ve got an order about to get sent to me next week. Gianni emailed me to say it was nearly done. First met them on Tuscany Trails 16 where they made the event jersey.

Hi aP. Hope the Biciclista order went OK – delivery can be a bit Italian but they are all pretty much made to order so not off the shelf.

The textile side is a long established company that makes sportswear. My pal Stefano started having team jerseys done for their local 24hr race (back in 2002 ish). We infected them with singlespeeds and the whole thing grew from there 🙂

Ripping off Rapha? Seems ok for Rapha to do it. https://inrng.com/2012/05/original-rapha-history/

I think a lot of the older road clothing brands are continental and aimed at the serious amateur (sized very small). Older British brands seem to be aimed at the commuter or bigger boned (cut quite square).

There is a few brands now making nice stuff that is aimed at a more natural build of cyclist with more tasteful designs and colours. Which was probably helped by Rapha which I am thankful for.

Although I do like a bit of the cluttered European pro team jerseys.

The one brand that I like and can be had for not stupid money is Craft. Don’t see much about but they were (or maybe still are) a pro team sponsor.

I didn’t know that about Rapha  @didnthurt, that’s really fascinating, thanks for sharing

I have a retro copy of St Rapheal jersey, I like it.

MAAP stuff is made in Italy. If its coming from China is it fake?