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My nomination - Gore Phantom.
Used it loads over a base layer when cold - perfect.
Sunny (but breezy) road ride today and couldn't decide what top to wear...so zip off the arms and it's a windproof, full-zip jersey with pockets on the back for bits - perfect again!
Not cheap but so glad I got one when I did 🙂
What one piece of kit have you got that you couldn't do without?
Mine would be a neoguard and reverb
Both have been great purchases, not like that rubbish fender bender!
2013 Osprey Raptor - epic in every respect...
Osprey pack x2
Park Tool, AWS1C Hex Wrench Set - Had this for 19 years now and still going strong!
Bell slant helmet
Shadow+ mech
Endura Humvees.
Altura gilet, not sure of the name... Lives in my camelbak, better than a jacket for most of the year.
Also Altura attack waterproof shorts- got 3 pairs of these now, almost worn out the oldest ones. Lifesafer for winter riding, and not even all that expensive.
Windproof jacket.
Paul Thumbie shifter mounts; have them on two bikes and will probably get new DuraAce shifters for them if/when the time comes to change to 10sp!
Reverb
Mine would have to be my slx clutch mech really impressed with it and @ £39.95 cheaper then standard
Windproof jacket.
BTW I still have my 'cooltool' from way back in the 90's still in its neoprene pouch. Retro!!
S Works road shoes, I didn't want to wear such in your face slippers but my goodness do they make road riding sooo much better.
Salomon fast 3 jacket. Bought it in 2011 and its still going strong. Keeps me dry and warm and thanks to the vented under arms I never get too hot or sweaty. Use it pretty much every day for road rides. Only problem is its a bit big for me now, and it needs a hood to be perfect.
BBB heavy duty overshoes, made winter riding a lot more bareable.
MW81s, used them all last winter commuting, warm dry feet throughout... worth twice the price 🙂
Northwave Celcius Winter boots.
Northwave courier bag
An unbranded winter coat from ALDI. That thing has lasted me 5 years and is still absolutely ace.
Park Allen key set
Enduro Singletrack shorts
Sidi Dominators
Troy Lee XC gloves
perfect
Knee pads, cos after 20 yrs riding MTBs I'm still shit and fall off me bike a fair bit 😳
Endura humvee tops, Reverb seatpost and MW81 boots. All brilliant.
Oh, and Rubber Queen Black Chili tyres. Why did I persevere with Nobby Nics?
As others have said, osprey raptor pack for me.
Only just got it and after first ride I can't believe I persisted with my dakine one for so long
dropper post (mines a Rase)
thudbuster (2nd hand via stw)
xtr 9sp shifter
oh,
Trance (I've had 2 - so far)
Endura arm & knee warmers.
W.I. Eccentric Eric.
Track pump.
Decent Allen key set.
Selle Italia Flite.
CamelBak.
ODI Attack grips.
Recently got a Garmin 810 for the road. Was hesitant as it was quite pricey and I already had a 500. Now love being able to go for training rides and do a bit of new route exploring at the same time without the getting lost and frequent map stops.
Shimano AM51 shoes. 3+ years of all-season riding and they've been fantastic except in the wettest/coldest conditions. Super durable, too.
Dakine Nomad pack: Great storage capacity and nice bladder.
KS i950R dropper post.
Thule 561 rack
Berghaus windproof and Madison shorts (both bought in 2008 still going strong)
Osprey Viper pack
Northwave Celsius boots
Sworks road shoes , yes I know road bike stuff etc etc
But they are ace
Or dropper post
Reverb
Road bike
Spds for commuting
Edge 500 with cadence and hrm, Look Keo Max 2 have been a huge improvement over my Times
garmin edge 705 - very durable bit of kit, and prevented me from getting lost many times
Deuter race backpack - now 6 years old, no splits no tears and all the zips still work. Comes out with me on all my off road rides
Mobi pressure washer. Yes, I'm lazy.
Troy Lee XC Gloves,
Great fit, fantastic durability,
Troy Lee XC Gloves,
Great fit, fantastic durability,
Conversely mine fell apart during a 2 hour ride 😆 All the TLD stuff I've bought has been crap and over priced.
WOW !
That's a record surely, mine are paper thin on the palms now and I've been expecting them to wear through over the past month but they refuse to give up the fight,
All TLD kit I've had has lasted me a long time ? I either ride like a fairy or I should wash them more often ?
I wore them to day and they were crusty and salt stained with sweat,
The rubber star on the finger fell off about 18 months ago, the XC logo came off in the gravel when I had a moment over a year ago ?
I've got two more pairs waiting in the wings so I hope they last more than a fortnight ?
TLD Gloves, love mine will be getting some more
Hope Stuff just lasts
Yep the stitching all came undone on the gloves. And the jersey went bobbly really quick, plus the neck always felt like it was choking me. The moto shorts do look good though so I'm always tempted..
I've a few good bits, a Gore Bike Wear jacket, Blackburn Track Pump but the one bike related purchase that is better than anything is my Park workstand.
The days of turning the bike upside down and trying to adjust things were a nightmare.
NOT my Gore Phantom 2 jacket.Great jacket apart from Zip broke. you'd think it'd be good to go for that money, I saved ages to buy that jacket thinking it'd do me fine.. had to get a £12 replacement zip put in. if I wanted a shit zip, I'd've bought a shit jacket. Nice one Gore. I am now a beacon of bad words for Gore, from my one first experience of their stuff. My Aldi jacket and many other jacket zips works fine!
Great jacket apart from Zip broke. you'd think it'd be good to go for that money, I saved ages to buy that jacket thinking it'd do me fine.. had to get a £12 replacement zip put in.
Did you send it back to them?
Totally trashed the arm in a Race Face jacket then the pit zip broke, jacket was replaced FOC
no, Can't be arsed with all that. Why should I? I want it to ****in work for £110! I want to ride my bike, not wait for stuff/post stuff/wrap stuff to be posted back n forth and letters and crap, didn't pay for that. Just won't buy anything from them ever again. Got a cheap zip put in and good to go.. even the zip place said it was great quality/well made/double stitching etc. but it BROKE!! one thing that pishes me off is crap zips.
no, Can't be arsed with all that. Why should I? I want it to **** work for £110!
Nicely flounced there, part of what you pay for is backup and support with kit. Every manufacturer has issues. They might have just sent you a new jacket or repaired it FOC.
maybe you're right, I should buy quality and then send it back cos it's shit. I wanted to use it for a weeks holiday, but it broke 2 days before. and couldn't be arsed waiting about. so got a cheap zip put on it. I wouldn't have had to do that if it actually worked. it's a zip FFS! anyway, pished me off. That's my experience, YMMV.
MT90's.
Now going through their seventh winter & the sole hasn't fallen off like every pair of Shimano disco slippers I've had.
Aldi winter gloves from 2007 . Best glove ever
Garmin gps -'edge 205 and later 500 great bits of kit that just work
Garmin 800
Minoura repair stand
mt-81 waterproof shoes
endura singletrack shorts
scandal 29er
Lately, a pair of new Specialized RBX Comp bib shorts. Their fantastic pad fully protected my undersides on a usually chafeworthy sportive on Saturday.
Patagonia capilene crew, r1 pullover and traverse jacket. I have used this system, in various combinations, for xc skiing down to -15, to mtbing during the summer heat and everything in between. All for just over £100 from the patagonia outlet store. Whilst still not cheap, it is very good value for money.
Reba Forks
Elixir brakes
Big Wheels
Track pump
work stand
lots of tools.
Aldi winter gloves from 2007 . Best glove ever
+1
Indestructible and perfect for most winter rides. Not bad for £4.
Also +1 Reverb.
And Crossmax SX wheels / Maxxis Exo tyres (tubeless) combination is spot on for all mountain shredding. I'd have forgotten what punctures are if I didn't have any other bikes.
schwable marathon plus tyres on the commuter 1000s of miles through the mean, glass strewn streets of london and not a single puncture
track pump, from decathlon, took me ages to get one, all those the wasted strokes!
hydrapak plug and play adaptor so i can use my hydrapak bladder with a camelbak tube n bite valve #bestofbothworlds
Chrome long merino wool socks. Worn all winter on and off road. And now in the summer too.
IceToolz ball ended allan keys. Multitools have their place, but a proper set of keys is much better.
Garmin 200: All you need from a bike computer (as opposed to a HR and power meter) and the GPS is much better than my 500.
Oakley Factory Pilot gloves - £16 great for XC and trail use.
ODI locking last brilliantly an don't slip.
XT brakes - 3000 miles in not touched them aside for 4 sets of pads.
Shimano cable cutters 23 years old and still brilliant.
Park tools - all the ones I have are ace.
Turner Bikes - you pay for and get quality.
Santa Cruz - as above.
Less impressed by Racing Ralph's (snakeskin)
Standard Conti Cross Kings
Intrepid shorts - very pretty but the stitching g around the crotch is woeful.
GorePhantom jacket - the middle cargo pocket need to be beefier as it sags a lot.
Wife
Rockshox Reverb and chunky monkey 2.4 tyres run tubeless!
Disc brakes. Still. 14 years afetr I first got some.
Lusso roubaix 3/4 knickers have been ace on the cold early morning commute.
Answer Fall Line Gloves are simply brilliant for my hands and are somehow great for almost all four seasons, they only lose it in the depths of winter.
Shimano winter boots... coz everyone needs a good pair of winter boots.
Another vote for the Reverb. So far it's been ace.
My road bike has been a brilliant investment too as has some of the Scott roadie gear that I've picked up cheap; the pro level bibs are great and so is the windproof gillet.
Reverb
Garmin 800
Giro Athlon
And, of course, a 29er
Garmin 705
Assos bibs (still no equal for the most demanding usage)
SKS p35 Mudguards
Thomson Seatpost, no issues, no dramas, no fuss. Only other seatpost that comes close was an original syncros one.
Any Shimano SPD pedal, again they just work without any fuss.
Fox 2008 Float 32 RLCs. Still going strong with less than recommended maintenance. Again they just work.
Giant Anthem 2010 - my first MTB... where it all started
iGotU GPS logger and Strava/Veloviewer - motivation and exploration
Sealskinz waterproof socks with AM41s - keeps me riding all winter
Rebas - transformed by GT Avalanche
Dealextreme/Lightmalls XML torches - night riding on the cheap
Original Camelbak MULE. Still my favourite pack for 3 season cycling.
Gore Phantom - years old and still the most versatile bit of clothing I've ever owned
WTB Pure V saddle - the fact I've used one for 10 years plus and never notice it says a lot
Reverb - couldn't live without one now
Reverb
Endura MT500 Jacket
Mucky Nutz Front Fender Bender
Osprey Raptor backpack
Thule Roof/Bike Rack
tubeless kit
ks dropzone
Park track pump
Lululemon Big chief bike shorts
I have 3 pairs, 6 years old now and I dont imagine I will ever need to buy any other shorts in my lifetime
Another vote for the Reverb here.
Also, X9 2x10. Can't ride any of my 3x9 bikes any more 'cos it just feels weird and I can't find the right gears. 2x10 just feels so much more natural.
Time Z Control pedals - moving to these from SPDs sorted out a whole load of knee & thigh pains I was getting. Been using them for years now and they just keep on working and not clogging with gloop.
Up until this weekend I'd have voted for the Fender Bender as well but mine started rubbing on the tyre on every big landing or step this weekend and was driving me mad. Can't work out why as it's been fine for the last couple of years......
NOT my Gore Phantom 2 jacket.Great jacket apart from Zip broke. you'd think it'd be good to go for that money, I saved ages to buy that jacket thinking it'd do me fine.. had to get a £12 replacement zip put in. if I wanted a shit zip, I'd've bought a shit jacket. Nice one Gore. I am now a beacon of bad words for Gore, from my one first experience of their stuff
This happened to mine after 1 year. Emailed gore. told me to take it to evans cycles where i bought it and got given a brand new one.Awesome service
29er - finally a bike that fits me
Deore disc brakes - cheap but just work and hardly require any maintainence
Decent kevlar tyres that makes tyre fitting/removal so much easier
Reverb
Joe Blow Track pump
Bike stand
Maxxis Ardents
Dakine Nomad Pack "normal" ride pack. Allows me to properly obsessively compulsively organise.
Osprey Helios "v.big" ride pack/hill walking daypack. 10 years old and still perfect.
Osprey Hydralics Reservoir - super nice and easy to fill.
Hope Pro II hubs - just work.
Stans Flow Rims - make your tyres a nice shape.
Howies Outback Jacket - ace UK conditions winter jacket.
Howies Jacket/Gilet - used mainly as a Gilet
Cheap TMARS dropper - a revelation.
Shimano AM45 shoes - perfect for UK condition 9 months of the year.
Shimano MW80 boots - for the other 3 months.
Fox Incline Gloves - no fuss but last well and fit right.
Topeak Mini 8 multitool - just right.
Another vote for Gore Phantom
Shimano XC50N have been good too
Time ATAC pedals, bought so long ago I don't even remember when. So simple, nothing to go wrong, and never clog up. Perfect.
A Decathalon Back pack for £13 - I do remember buying that in 1998. Now on its umpteenth bladder, and hanging on in there, just.
Gore Phantom 2
Hope Pro2/magic 819 UST wheels
New Deore Brakes
North wave Celsius - felt very smug with the crap winter we've had!
Ooh- Perfect Curve Glacier gloves. Came slightly too late- already frostnipped my fingers riding through last winter- but they're nigh on miraculous in the cold. Do make your hands smell horrendous though.
Endura Helium Jacket
Reverb
Hope socks
Endura Humvee shorts
510 boots
ODI Ruffian grips
OS maps.
Hope Pro 2 hubs.
The XTR rear mech that I had from about 2003 that lasted 100s and 100s of miles until a crash wrecked it.
Skins compression bib tights.
Hope Hoops
Formula The One brakes
Specialized Pitch
Fox 36 Vans
Reverb (for £130 😉 )
Superstar flat pedals
Dakine Nomad
Pedros tyre levers