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Like many I went and bought some Aussie grit kit while they were flogging stuff off cheap, before going out of business (thanks to an STW-PSA).
I've found recently that I'm using the 'Flint Lite Gilet' I bought quite a bit at present (I wish I'd bought another couple) as it's an ideal Autumn into winter (and probably winter into spring) layer to mix with SS jerseys/baselayer/arm-warmers when the weather is less than consistent...
The problem is of course that Aussie Grit no longer exist, so what do I do when I inevitably wear out this very useful bit of kit?
I've spotted JE James are flogging Aussie grit stuff (I assume they scored this stock when AG were winding up) but naturally they're asking full price for it... And having paid a relative pittance I sort of don't want to pay much more (I'm a cheapskate).
Are there any other equivalent products from other brands at a "keener" price point?
Or should I just stump up the (probably not that unfair really) asking price from JE James? Knowing I like the item, before they completely sell out... (Note the Lite gilet is already out)
buy the one you want. if you split the total cost across the 2 you still have a bargain
There are some on Sport pursuit, but no idea on stock/sizes
https://www.sportpursuit.com/sales/cycling-jackets-gilets?p=3
Pay full price. It's good gear. If more of us had done so they wouldn't be out of business now.
I was as guilty. We all love a bargain but maybe we need to realise that ultimately, someone has to pay for quality.
Pay full price. It’s good gear. If more of us had done so they wouldn’t be out of business now.
I was as guilty. We all love a bargain but maybe we need to realise that ultimately, someone has to pay for quality.
I think you might just be right there, it was worth twice what I paid (half price) and yeah they'd probably still be going had People been willing to pay more... It's a real shame.
Nah, I like the gilet I bought, but the bib shorts were probably worth slightly more than the heavily discounted price but were nowhere near worth the £180 retail.
Morvelo seem to fill a similar niche, the Overland bibs are the perfect bibshort I had hoped the Aussie grits would be, at half the retail. I hear their gilets are good too
I'd have paid 100 quid for the bib shorts, but 180 was too much for a relatively unknown brand to be honest.
I reckon pitching premium too soon is a tough ask. Got 2 pairs, they are wicked! A pair of the non bib shorts, and a couple of gilets.
Morvelo is way too 'Edinburgh new money' for me. 😃
yeah I paid 20 mquid or so for the gilet, its deff worth more but the RRP's for most of the Aussie Grit stuff was rediculous so I doubt I'd have paid that!
they’d probably still be going had People been willing to pay more… It’s a real shame.
They went bust because of that logic.
I bought loads of the AG stuff and its patchy. The gillets are superb and I wish I'd bought 5 of each. The bib shorts were so so and I paid 50% which was no less than they were worth, 180 was crazy.
I bought some running kit including a jacket for my wife and it is literally the best running jacket either of us has ever seen. It was 45 quid , rrp was loads but I would buy another at full price in a heartbeat. I also bought the mtb jacket and its crap. Wrong shape, stupid off centre zip that flaps in your face etc. At full price I would have been gutted.
AG, some stuff awesome, some stuff very average.
Oh, forgot I have that jacket too. Agree re the off centre zip, it's a pita.
The bib shorts are brilliant though! Did the WHW in a day in them, they were perfect.
Morvelo is way too ‘Edinburgh new money’ for me
Lol, wasn't aware of their image, although they're going down the lumberjack shirt/tin dangle-mug bikepacking rabbit hole a little bit too readily for my liking!
But if it means a good fit and a quality dense pad for off-road duties they can have my money, new or otherwise 😎
Nah, I like the gilet I bought, but the bib shorts were probably worth slightly more than the heavily discounted price but were nowhere near worth the £180 retail.
Sorry I should have been clearer, I paid £22 for a pretty good Gilet (IMO) that was with 50% off of the already "discounted" price of £44 I apply the quotes to the word 'discounted' because I had assumed that the claimed RRP was just a made up silly high number, Officers Club style (remember them?). Intended to drive the idea of desirability for a reasonably priced item by implying it's actually more like a "limited availability, luxury item"...
£44 was probably a fair price for that Gilet, and what I understood to be the actual price... Did anyone ever pay the claimed 'RRP' for any AG products?
I did miss out on the Bib baggies actually, by the time I'd had a jersey and gilet at bargain bin "50% off 50%" price, the rest of you had hoovered them up...
I only recall the big discounts when the writing was on the wall. They were hardly the DFS of sports kit with perennial sales which brought the cost down from an inflated RRP to a number closer to their real value.
If you like it, then buy it, I say. There wont be any more in the future to sell at bargain prices, so buy 2 of what you want and by the time they wear out you will have found another brand to move to. If you have the money, spend the time doing what you enjoy wearing the clothes you want, no thinking I should have bought the AG stuff!
I only recall the big discounts when the writing was on the wall. They were hardly the DFS of sports kit with perennial sales which brought the cost down from an inflated RRP to a number closer to their real value.
Yep I had no real prior knowledge of AG before that first PSA. So judging the value of products from a brand I knew little about other than they were discounted From Rapha-esque numbers (minus the level of brand awareness), and then discounted further still was tricky... Meh, we live in a world with PX/OO Pricing habits I took a flier on some stuff that was either cheap good quality or a low cost risk and it turned out to be the former, but that bout of heavy discounting seems to have actually killed the company...
It's quite sad, the action that attracted would be future customers, went a bit far and killed the business.
I'm rambling now and I'm not sure if I'm criticising AG for having good products but poor marketing (and/or pricing?), or consumers (including myself) for only picking up on AG as a brand with products we liked, due to the bargains on offer as we essentially picked over it's still warm corpse. Or a bit of both...
Anyway, ramble over...