OreoCookie
Maximum Pace
- Dec 2, 2017
- 2,611
- 2,199
I don't have first-hand experience with Workman's but for some equipment you can go cheap. My buff is from Montbell and cost 1,000 ¥; cycling-specific ones were 2+ times as much.I have some Workman rainwear that was 5000 yen for jacket and pants. The quality is great, very close to Goretex. It's great for low intensity stuff like hiking. The same thing from Patagonia would be 20,000 yen.
Wiggle's housebrand DHB is another cheap option. Their cheapest pair of bib shorts cost me about 4,000 ¥, I think, although I cannot really recommend those. And Wiggle is very quick with deliveries.Workman's cycling stuff looks pretty good too. The other obvious route for cheap lycra cycling wear is AliExpress, where its 3500 yen for summer bibs and jersey. A long sleeve winter set with fleece lining goes for about 5500 yen. In my experience, they take about 40 days to arrive. In terms of quality I think they are similar to the cheaper stuff in cycling shops.
Yeah, and the quality difference is quite big. I bought a cheap pair of bib shorts from wiggle (for 4,000–5,000 ¥) purely for indoor training, but they are garbage. Once you have quality cycling clothes, you don't want to wear anything else, and the difference gets more pronounced if you want something that wears comfortably in very different weather. My 7Mesh bib shorts have seen everything from +40 degrees to 0 degrees and they kept warm/cool what they were supposed to keep comfortable (they are miraculous). My Pearl Izumi softshell jacket has kept me warm at -20 degrees in Canada (with plenty of layers below) to +28 degrees (on descents). My Roeckl winter gloves equally worked well from +5 to +15 degrees.As a general comment, the more climbing and descending you do, the more your wear will matter. You can go from overheating to completely freezing in two or three minutes cresting a hill. Under 8C and I'd want shoe covers, neoprene type ones. If you don't have them, or decent gloves, those pocket warmer things will do a job.
People who start out cycling focus a lot on the bike, on Ultegra vs. 105, etc. I say: go one level down and use the money that you have saved for proper clothing and contact points (saddle, pedals, handlebars/grips).