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what are the companies/ products that are expensive but genuinely better made / higher quality and are actually much better value.
The tent thread made me think of Hilleberg. We sold ours for more than we paid for it after a decade (we didn’t need a 4 season tent and wanted space and ventilation ) but couldn’t find any other manufacturer that even came close on quality (the other brands seemed to have maintained the same price with ever cheaper materials).
The Grenson boots I bought last year feel like they’ll last forever, and can be properly resoled.
Hope brakes also repairable long term and sell for good money whatever their age
I'm impressed by Spoke clothing as they make it a proper range of sizes (which is also why I wear a fair bit of military surplus) so it fits, even if not the most stylish, so I’m much more likely to wear it until it wears out
(I love what Hebtroco do but no good if you’re anything but an average size - shirts/coats need short and tall sizes as well as trousers)
Hand tools (screwdrivers, chisels etc). I used to think the same about power tools, but the new Aldi / Lidl stuff leaves my 10-year-old Makita kit in the dust.
Michelin Cross Climate car tyres
Duralex goblets
Denby crockery
MSR stoves and tents - the more expensive Vaudé tents too.
Osprey backpacks
Lindt chocolate
Italian armchairs
EVs
Jotul wood burners
Sloggi underware (Madame's contribution)
Durex condoms
HP sauce
M&S chickpeas in a glass jar. (Also butter beans, btw)
Coffee grinders (Niche, Ode and Commandante).
Coffee beans, personal preference perhaps, but I prefer something interesting and well roasted which is usually more expensive than a supermarket bean.
Dog lead, Halti is a lovely tactile cotton and a mile away from the cheap nylon Amazon thing I had originally.
Dog food, Canagan, I don't have to feed my dog much, but she maintains a healthy coat and weight.
I'd say walking boots, but I'm still searching for something with cushioning, some degree of waterproofing and that lasts more than a winter/season.
Car tyres.
Jeans.
Running socks.
Mobile phones.
Meat.
Orange juice. I was in Valencia a few weeks ago, and you could get freshly squeezed orange juice in most bars and restaurants. So much nicer than even the most expensive from Tesco.
Kitchen knives.
Chopping up meat especially but also harder veg like carrots and onions. As soon as you use a decent quality chef's knife, you realise just how shit cheap knives are. Mine aren't exactly Michelin-star quality but they're good and well looked after and they're amazing to use.
Same with saucepans actually. I've got a really good one which must be 10+ years old now and it's still the first one I reach for when cooking. I remember the cheapo starter set of pans I got when I went to uni which were trashed after 4 years. Cheap pans are a false economy.
Bike tyres.
Bike brakes.
XT shifters.
Sunglasses.
Shoes (any, not just riding).
Bike tyres.
Bike brakes.
XT shifters.
Sunglasses.
Shoes (any, not just riding).
Edit: stainless Stellar saucepans. Ours are 20 years old, and they have just replaced for free a lid and a pan as the rivets were working loose...
Darn Tough socks ??
(do you have to send them to the US for warranty replacement? )
Defeet Woolie boolies and Wooleators (3” for riding &running, 6” for “smart” ) . I’ve been wearing them for nearly 20 years now and they’re what I always reach for in preference to anything else I have.
Hotels. In my experience anyway. I’m not including B&B/holiday lets however as price is no indication of quality here.
Bike chains
Bike cassettes.
Cheese. I'd have to be absolutely on my uppers before I'd buy mild cheddar instead of extra mature.
Washing up liquid
Tea
Kelloggs corn flakes.
Haircuts 😉
I,d have to be out of my mind to eat extra mature rather than mild cheddar
As a lifelong suffered of IBS and having had 4 surgeries down there related to cancer in the last few years...
Bog Paper...
end of thread
As a lifelong suffered of IBS and having had 4 surgeries down there related to cancer in the last few years...
Bog Paper...
end of thread
I would take a arse wash/bidet over big roll...
Composite sea kayaks. They are just nicer to paddle than ‘plastic’ ones.
Hilleberg tents.
As a lifelong suffered of IBS and having had 4 surgeries down there related to cancer in the last few years...
Bog Paper...
Izal Medicated is more expensive than the usual stuff. YMMV.
Shoes, tyres and waterproofs
Which is the best bog paper?
aldi coconut scented for me
Food generally and especially meat.
The extra special mention for meat is partly an animal welfare one. I'd rather have good food on the table than a nice car.
And whoever said "tea" absolutely nailed that.
Preferably loose leaf, which does not mean supermarket tea bag dust without an actual bag.
DIY: drill and screwdriver bits.
Cheap drill bits in particular are an abomination especially if dealing with stainless steel items or monel rivets.
I'd rather have good food on the table than a nice car.
If more people thought like this, the world would be a much better place.
Sellotape. In fact anything with R&D overheads rather than generic. Paying a little more for relatively cheap things is always the best reward on investment. But sellotape - don’t buy cheap, it’s just a false economy.
Tomatoes
Socks
Bread
Cereal bars
PHD sleeping bags. World class, made (not just designed) in the UK, and aside from the custom option most lines available in 4 lengths and 4 widths for perfect sizing.
Not just tyres. Road bike tyres. Good (expensive per gram!) ones are grippy, low rolling resistance and much more puncture proof that tyres of old/tubeless. Cheap tyres, limited grip and feel like you are pedalling through glue. Best road bike purchase
Binoculars and camera lenses.
Hand tools, particularly specialist wood carving tools and chisels
Abrasives
salt and pepper grinders
Tyres, particularly car tyres
Food. Good quality food. Everything from fruits and vegetables to meat, cheese and wine. Generally speaking the higher the price the higher the quality/taste.
Exposure lights
Paramo clothing
Chris King. Hubs, BB and Headsets, but especially hubs. Never, not once in 20y of riding have I had to replace a CK bearing. One set of MTB hubs is now over 20y old, has been through winters in the Peaks, Lakes and Quantocks and is still fresh as a daisy. Another is approaching 60k km of all year commuting (same with the BB) and is still going strong and smooth.
Standards obsolescence is the only way to really kill a King hub.
Tents - we bought a Nordisk tent in the Wiggle fire sale. Pitched next to another bell tent on the top of a cliff in the summer (no name generic one) - it was windy. Their main pole snapped, cutting their stay short. Didn't even bother the Nordisk with it's substantial poles. Same a few days later on another site, horrendous wind and rain. Quite a few shouts in the night, and far less tents by the time we woke up.
paint.
good quality one coat stuff works far better than diy budget stuff.
So much this – how DIY stores are even allowed to sell that shit they claim to be paint is beyond me.
Cheese
Tea Bags
I'm not an expert, but maybe coke and hookers?
Cheese
Nah, hard no. The Aldi West Country Extra Mature Cheddar is the best Cheddar I have ever eaten.
Vibram soles, to continue the rubber-based contributions.
Windproof clothing: the better Pertex stuff (Montaine, Buffalo...) is more robust than the cheaper fabrics. I've got a great Aldi windtop that was £7.00. I'm sure it won't take the abuse that my Pertex stuff has.
Ice cream (I should really say gelato)
Men's suits - if you have ever had a handmade suit you will know why
Fabric: wool > cotton > nylon
This bag: https://saddlebackleather.com/leather-briefcase-cl which I bough 21 years ago (it wasn't quite so extravagantly priced back then). It is still in daily use, and it looks better now it's old and battered.
Cheese
Nah, hard no. The Aldi West Country Extra Mature Cheddar is the best Cheddar I have ever eaten.
Try some Isle of Mull cheddar from a proper cheese shop.
Try some Isle of Mull cheddar from a proper cheese shop.
Okay, will do– if you promise to try some of the Aldi stuff...
Ohh, and I recently got a selection of cheeses as a gift (which included a Cheddar) from The Cheeseboard in Harrogate. The Aldi stuff is better.
Cheese
Nah, hard no. The Aldi West Country Extra Mature Cheddar is the best Cheddar I have ever eaten.
I'll give you that, but even Aldi have cheap generic rubber block cheese.
Are we still discussing toilet paper?
It's a great name for bumwad.
"Wipes out shit in just one shot".
I'll give you that, but even Aldi have cheap generic rubber block cheese.
I really enjoy nice cheese and you absolutely get what you pay for. I've no qualms in forking out for the good stuff. However I do have a weakness for bright orange, rubbery Aldi red Leicester. Sometimes, for a quick snack on crackers or on toast with thin sliced raw onion and a splash of Lea & Perrins it just hits the spot. Don't judge me!
Beer - a proper IPA
Something like this
While no first hand experience, others think that the Ceramicspeed “dry” headset bearings for daft integrated headsets are worth it. As they go in dry, apparently they are fit and forget and mean it saves replacing bar tape and cutting brake hoses at each headset service.
The same person said the Ceramic speed pulley/jockey wheel was a waste of time, but did look cool!
I promise
I assume it'll be easier for you to source the cheese than it will for me - where can I get it from?
However I do have a weakness for bright orange, rubbery Aldi red Leicester. Sometimes, for a quick snack on crackers or on toast with thin sliced raw onion and a splash of Lea & Perrins it just hits the spot. Don't judge me!
Yeah, I am with you – I love good/fancy cheese but it is all good – I like 'cheap' supermarket Wensleydale more than the 'proper' Hawes Creamery stuff, and bog-standard mature Cheddar works better in a cheese and ham toastie or an omelette than the Aldi extra-mature Cheddar I mentioned above.
You might struggle John. You'll likely only find it in independent specialist shops.
You might struggle John. You'll likely only find it in independent specialist shops.
Hmm, it is available in my local cheese shop – I wonder if it is the the one I got for my recent gift?
it looks better now it's old and battered.
not sure it would be possible to make that handbag look worse
Sussex Charmer is our go to for cheese. Well worth the extra over supermarket stuff.
Surely expensive is subjective - unless you compare the exact same item?
Practically - I'd say nearly everything apart from utilities. Almost everything that has broken or worn prematurely has been 'cheap'.
Cost, quality and value is almost certainly built in to these things - not to mention exploitation if very cheap. Which means something has to give.
I would second hand made suits - fit better, look better and retain their shape for a whole lot longer. A classic case of “buy cheap buy twice"
I would second hand made suits
But it must be really difficult finding someone who is identical to you in all measurements who just happens to be selling a suit.
Ice screws.
Running shoes and socks for sure
Surely expensive is subjective - unless you compare the exact same item?
Expensive is broadly subjective regardless. Arc'teryx kit is 'expensive' viewed in the context of general outdoor kit and if your end use is walking the dog or pottering around Cotswold footpaths on pleasant, dry days. It's arguably rather less 'expensive' if you're caught in an alpine storm, high on some ridge and the quality of fabric and design - say, how well the hood functions in terms of protection with simultaneous visibility - is suddenly very important indeed. I guess that's also 'value', but that's slightly different again.
Similarly, really good quality knives are 'expensive' per se, but less so if you're a professional chef who's going to be using them seven days a week, 365 days a year than if you're someone who cooks 'properly' once a week. The knives and the price are the same, the context is different. What is 'expensive' in that context is arguably relative.
People often conflate 'cheap' with 'good value' - the classic on here is to argue that, say, Rapha bib short are poor value because you can buy something from Aldi which does a reasonable sort of job for a lot less, but if you regularly bash out 200km rides and your shorts are the difference between being comfortable and being very much less so, then your idea of 'value' shifts. I bet I could sell you Rapha shorts at full price at the point where your Aldi ones suddenly feel rather less than great.
Bogroll be damned! Wet wipes are where it’s at, and expensive are definitely superior to cheap. We’re currently at my mother’s place in Cyprus which has its own septic tank so we’re not allowed to use them and it’s the thing I most look forward to after any trip here…
Wet wipes are where it’s at,
Fatbergs are where they end up being at !! Bidet FTW. Or at least, for a clean poo hole.
Plane tickets. We flew Jet2 rather than RyanScare or Sleazyjet this year and it’s a much more pleasant experience. I’ve only ever flown business class once, with BA, and it was short haul so not the true experience but I’d love to do a long haul flight in proper business just once.
Assassins
I learned that lesson the hard way - theres a bloke down the pub say's he'll kill anyone if you pay him £500. Turns out if you want someone in particular killed... that costs a lot more and is definitely worth leaving to the professionals. Someones definitely dead, I've just no idea who, meanwhile my arch nemesis continues to taunt me by being alive.
Running shoes and socks for sure
I tried a pair of £15 Lidl "Premium Running Shoes" yesterday.
Not absolutely terrible, in that they have decent support - but rather clumpy feeling and the insole needs trimming because the edge gave me a blister. And the laces kept coming undone. I will try my plantar insoles in them and swap the laces.
Can definitely see the value in my mid-range Mizunos by comparison though.
Fiskars scissors.
Bogroll be damned! Wet wipes are where it’s at, and expensive are definitely superior to cheap. We’re currently at my mother’s place in Cyprus which has its own septic tank so we’re not allowed to use them and it’s the thing I most look forward to after any trip here…
JFC. the message isn't getting through is it? Theres nowhere you should be flushing wet wipes, septic tank or no
